---
product_id: 5346334
title: "Insignia: A Thrilling Middle Grade Sci-Fi Story About an Unlikely Gamer Hero and Earth's Survival"
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---

# Insignia: A Thrilling Middle Grade Sci-Fi Story About an Unlikely Gamer Hero and Earth's Survival

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## Description

desertcart.com: Insignia: A Thrilling Middle Grade Sci-Fi Story About an Unlikely Gamer Hero and Earth's Survival: 9780062093004: Kincaid, S. J.: Books

Review: Wonderfully fresh and fun! - Wow. I picked this book up after seeing it on GR or Shelfari or something but not really knowing anything about it. I was not just pleasantly surprised, I was totally wowed. This book just really impressed me. I was a little skeptical about the premise, but somehow Kincaid pulls it off insanely well. The characters were fantastic, unique, flawed and charming and well-developed. We see so much growth in them, or just a deepening of Tom's understanding of them, throughout the book. Characters who started off completely obnoxious and despicable became characters we could grudgingly respect, and then even admire. Characters who seemed weak showed remarkable resilience. Tom as a character showed incredible growth, while not becoming Mr. Perfect by the end, either. He is flawed and admirable and fascinating in all the right ways. Not to mention the fantastic dialogue and witty banter and pranks and schemes and all of that ridiculously fun stuff that emerges in a competitive group of teens living in close quarters. I absolutely adored Wyatt and Yuri, Vik and Beamer, their interactions, their conflicts, their deepening friendships. Not only were the characters superb, but the story itself was wonderful. I didn't really know what to expect. I know there is kind of a "boarding-school" sub-genre in YA, but this didn't have the shallow pettiness you so often see in those kinds of stories. The world Kincaid builds is fascinating and well-thought out, revealed sufficiently but not in a heavy-handed sort of way. There is a plausible reason for why teenagers are being used in this war, and -- unlike some YA dystopias -- this futuristic, sci-fi story actually has an interesting, reasonable, and suitably thought-provoking backstory. The politics of it all makes sense. Even if I can't picture it happening now, I *can* picture something like it happening. There is a lot of wonderful subtlety here, too, like the Machiavellians being oh-so-Machiavellian. One little prank a couple of characters pulled just had me grinning because it was so sly and manipulative and....Machiavellian. And for once I found myself completely unsure of where the plot was heading or what twists the author would take to bring us there. There were parts I was biting my nails and flipping pages as fast as I could, because I couldn't figure out any way for the characters to escape their predicament. My favorite YA books this year have all been books that don't read like carbon copies of 10 other currently popular YA books. This is definitely in my top 5. I can't wait to see more of Tom & Co. in the future. I'm a huge fan.
Review: Definitely Fun! - I enjoyed Insignia. It's entertaining from the video game aspect and interesting from the technology/sci fi. There's even a good bit of politics, which actually isn't boring and seems somewhat plausible. Basically, Tom and his dad get by from travelling around and gambling with games. Tom's actually a bit of a genius with it, but he hates that life. So when he's asked to go to the Pentagon Spire to train to become one of the people who control the ships in space in the war between Indo-America and Russo-China, he accepts. Even if that means getting a computer put in his head. For the first time in his life, Tom has friends, a home, and something he can accomplish and feel good about. But there are some problems with this new lifestyle, most of which I can't say without giving away too much, but there were plenty of edge-of-your-seat parts. Tom is a good character. Yes, he has major problems with authority, because he and his father have always been let down by them, but he definitely evolves throughout this book. He's the underdog, in a way, a kid off the streets surrounded by a bunch of bright kids whose families all have connections to the government and the few corporations left in the world (who basically control everything). His mother left him and his dad when he was very young. He had bad acne and didn't fit in at school. It seems easy enough to relate to Tom in some way (although I could imagine a bit more of a problem of him fitting in with everyone at the Spire). The other characters don't seem to personality-driven, and are rather fleshed out by their sort of backstory or image. You've got the Indian roommate and the once-insane teacher and the bully who excelled at wrestling. They're overcliched or so different that that's all you think about them. Plot-wise, it's interesting. There are a couple things going on at once, and it's pretty diverse in what happens. I had to love some parts (such as Tom being given programs that change his personality) and try to figure out how they'd be stopped at the same time. Morally, everything seems to be gray, and there's no real right or wrong. There are actually a ton of villains, some that are pulled out of nowhere, and sometimes the villains aren't always bad. It's a lot more realistic when the Russian kid at the Pentagon has his mind scrambled (he goes around calling everyone by different names) and was never advanced to the next level of training, just because his nationality might make him a spy. I found parts of this book to be a bit more mature than expected. I don't know how many twelve-year-olds would fully follow the whole political scene, with corporations basically coming before everything else, a split that largely goes down to democracy vs. Communism, bombs killing off everyone in the Middle East, the destruction of hundreds of soldiers in different countries because of the computers in the brain being allowed by any government, etc. While everything is explained (and repeated a couple times) for clarification, I don't know how much of this I would fully understand if I was younger. And it's my understanding that kids read books about people a little older than they are, and Tom is only fourteen. Stylistically, it's an easy enough read, though. This book does set up the rest of the trilogy, but it also has a good amount of plot. A bunch of loose ends are tied up here, but some definitely continue, and there's no silly cliffhanger at the end. It was definitely worth the read, and I will continue reading this series.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #188,905 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #367 in Teen & Young Adult Dystopian #431 in Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy #664 in Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction & Dystopian Romance |
| Book 1 of 3  | Insignia |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (946) |
| Dimensions  | 5.31 x 1.08 x 8 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| Grade level  | 8 - 9 |
| ISBN-10  | 0062093002 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0062093004 |
| Item Weight  | 12.8 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 480 pages |
| Publication date  | June 4, 2013 |
| Publisher  | HarperCollins |
| Reading age  | 13 years and up |

## Images

![Insignia: A Thrilling Middle Grade Sci-Fi Story About an Unlikely Gamer Hero and Earth's Survival - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91mbqcypitL.jpg)
![Insignia: A Thrilling Middle Grade Sci-Fi Story About an Unlikely Gamer Hero and Earth's Survival - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hK3BqZHfL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wonderfully fresh and fun!
*by J***H on November 11, 2012*

Wow. I picked this book up after seeing it on GR or Shelfari or something but not really knowing anything about it. I was not just pleasantly surprised, I was totally wowed. This book just really impressed me. I was a little skeptical about the premise, but somehow Kincaid pulls it off insanely well. The characters were fantastic, unique, flawed and charming and well-developed. We see so much growth in them, or just a deepening of Tom's understanding of them, throughout the book. Characters who started off completely obnoxious and despicable became characters we could grudgingly respect, and then even admire. Characters who seemed weak showed remarkable resilience. Tom as a character showed incredible growth, while not becoming Mr. Perfect by the end, either. He is flawed and admirable and fascinating in all the right ways. Not to mention the fantastic dialogue and witty banter and pranks and schemes and all of that ridiculously fun stuff that emerges in a competitive group of teens living in close quarters. I absolutely adored Wyatt and Yuri, Vik and Beamer, their interactions, their conflicts, their deepening friendships. Not only were the characters superb, but the story itself was wonderful. I didn't really know what to expect. I know there is kind of a "boarding-school" sub-genre in YA, but this didn't have the shallow pettiness you so often see in those kinds of stories. The world Kincaid builds is fascinating and well-thought out, revealed sufficiently but not in a heavy-handed sort of way. There is a plausible reason for why teenagers are being used in this war, and -- unlike some YA dystopias -- this futuristic, sci-fi story actually has an interesting, reasonable, and suitably thought-provoking backstory. The politics of it all makes sense. Even if I can't picture it happening now, I *can* picture something like it happening. There is a lot of wonderful subtlety here, too, like the Machiavellians being oh-so-Machiavellian. One little prank a couple of characters pulled just had me grinning because it was so sly and manipulative and....Machiavellian. And for once I found myself completely unsure of where the plot was heading or what twists the author would take to bring us there. There were parts I was biting my nails and flipping pages as fast as I could, because I couldn't figure out any way for the characters to escape their predicament. My favorite YA books this year have all been books that don't read like carbon copies of 10 other currently popular YA books. This is definitely in my top 5. I can't wait to see more of Tom & Co. in the future. I'm a huge fan.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Definitely Fun!
*by E***L on November 21, 2012*

I enjoyed Insignia. It's entertaining from the video game aspect and interesting from the technology/sci fi. There's even a good bit of politics, which actually isn't boring and seems somewhat plausible. Basically, Tom and his dad get by from travelling around and gambling with games. Tom's actually a bit of a genius with it, but he hates that life. So when he's asked to go to the Pentagon Spire to train to become one of the people who control the ships in space in the war between Indo-America and Russo-China, he accepts. Even if that means getting a computer put in his head. For the first time in his life, Tom has friends, a home, and something he can accomplish and feel good about. But there are some problems with this new lifestyle, most of which I can't say without giving away too much, but there were plenty of edge-of-your-seat parts. Tom is a good character. Yes, he has major problems with authority, because he and his father have always been let down by them, but he definitely evolves throughout this book. He's the underdog, in a way, a kid off the streets surrounded by a bunch of bright kids whose families all have connections to the government and the few corporations left in the world (who basically control everything). His mother left him and his dad when he was very young. He had bad acne and didn't fit in at school. It seems easy enough to relate to Tom in some way (although I could imagine a bit more of a problem of him fitting in with everyone at the Spire). The other characters don't seem to personality-driven, and are rather fleshed out by their sort of backstory or image. You've got the Indian roommate and the once-insane teacher and the bully who excelled at wrestling. They're overcliched or so different that that's all you think about them. Plot-wise, it's interesting. There are a couple things going on at once, and it's pretty diverse in what happens. I had to love some parts (such as Tom being given programs that change his personality) and try to figure out how they'd be stopped at the same time. Morally, everything seems to be gray, and there's no real right or wrong. There are actually a ton of villains, some that are pulled out of nowhere, and sometimes the villains aren't always bad. It's a lot more realistic when the Russian kid at the Pentagon has his mind scrambled (he goes around calling everyone by different names) and was never advanced to the next level of training, just because his nationality might make him a spy. I found parts of this book to be a bit more mature than expected. I don't know how many twelve-year-olds would fully follow the whole political scene, with corporations basically coming before everything else, a split that largely goes down to democracy vs. Communism, bombs killing off everyone in the Middle East, the destruction of hundreds of soldiers in different countries because of the computers in the brain being allowed by any government, etc. While everything is explained (and repeated a couple times) for clarification, I don't know how much of this I would fully understand if I was younger. And it's my understanding that kids read books about people a little older than they are, and Tom is only fourteen. Stylistically, it's an easy enough read, though. This book does set up the rest of the trilogy, but it also has a good amount of plot. A bunch of loose ends are tied up here, but some definitely continue, and there's no silly cliffhanger at the end. It was definitely worth the read, and I will continue reading this series.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by J***S on April 6, 2021*

I love the characters, are so funny and interesting as well

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*Last updated: 2026-03-05*