BZRK [NOOK Book]

( 33 )

Overview

Love The Hunger Games?  Action-adventure thrillers with a dystopian twist? BZRK (Berserk) by Michael Grant, New York Times best-selling author of the GONE series, ramps up the action and suspense to a whole new level of excitement.
 
Set in the near future, BZRK is the story of a war for control of the human mind.  Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a ...

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BZRK

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More About This Book

Overview

Love The Hunger Games?  Action-adventure thrillers with a dystopian twist? BZRK (Berserk) by Michael Grant, New York Times best-selling author of the GONE series, ramps up the action and suspense to a whole new level of excitement.
 
Set in the near future, BZRK is the story of a war for control of the human mind.  Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a goal:  to turn the world into their vision of utopia.  No wars, no conflict, no hunger.  And no free will.  Opposing them is a guerrilla group of teens, code name BZRK, who are fighting to protect the right to be messed up, to be human.  This is no ordinary war, though.  Weapons are deployed on the nano-level. The battleground is the human brain.  And there are no stalemates here:  It’s victory . . . or madness.
 
BZRK unfolds with hurricane force around core themes of conspiracy and mystery, insanity and changing realities, engagement and empowerment, and the larger impact of personal choice. Which side would you choose?  How far would you go to win? 

Praise for BZRK:

“YA fiction at it’s best. … It's a combination science fiction/adventure/thriller all written brilliantly to entice the reader into a terrifying world.” –Examiner.com
 
“Squeamish as I am, Grant has me hooked with the compelling characters that populate the Go BZRK storyworld.” –Michael Anderson, WIRED magazine
 
“Grant utilizes contemporary themes and memorable characters, along with the possibilities of emerging technology to craft aningenious world not too far removed from our own. … The intelligent presentation will likely appeal to a broad audience.” –PopCultureGuy
 
“If you are anything like me then BZRK will blow your mind. … BZRK is very different from pretty much any YA book out there at the moment, and the closest I can come to expressing how it is continuing to play on my mind almost two weeks later, is to liken it to William Gibson's Neuromancer which had a similar effect on me many years ago. BZRK is a gamechanger for YA literature.” –The Book Zone
 
“This novel is full of the intricacies of the human body and non-stop action on all fronts. … An intricately written science fiction thriller, BZRK offers an in-depthlook into a war raging deep within the human body.” –Deseret News

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Author Michael Grant (Gone) described the plot of his new BZRK as "a battle for the soul and freedom of the human race carried out simultaneously in the world we know, and in a world that you're never going to expect. It's a world where if you make a false move, you're going to lose your mind.... It's going to be vast, bloody, and beautiful." We can also tell you that this 400-page near-future fiction features a subversive cult committed to achieving "sustainable happiness," a pair of conjoined twin sisters searching for a missing sibling, and a cartoonist driven half-insane by his nighttime vision. The rest you will have to uncover by yourself. Bound to be a word-of-mouth bestseller.

— Brian Monahan

School Library Journal
Gr 10 Up—In the 21st century, war is covertly being waged and the fate of humanity is at stake. The conjoined, middle-aged Armstrong Twins, who head the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, want all of humanity to be as connected as they are. Rebelling against this vision is a shadowy organization, BZRK, which is somehow linked to McLure Industries. When Sadie McLure's brother and father die in a mysterious plane crash, leaving her the heir to the company, the 16-year-old finds herself pulled into the conspiracy. She and another gifted recruit, Noah, are trained by BZRK to fight with biots-minuscule genetically engineered extensions of themselves-against mechanical nanobots controlled by the teen hackers of AFGC. Their success will determine society's future. Grant cleverly blends the science of Michael Crichton with the international espionage of Anthony Horowitz's "Alex Rider" series (Philomel) in a sci-fi thriller that will hook teens. There's plenty of gore here, and frequent high-tension battles within and between human hosts of nanobots and biots. No one in this war is a hero, which keeps readers wondering if there really are "good guys." This moral nuance doesn't extend to the Twins, described as "Satan playing with DNA" and "fused together in a way that made the mind rebel." This ableism mars an otherwise engaging novel, which is the first in a series.—Gretchen Kolderup, New Canaan Library, CT
Publishers Weekly
In Grant's (the Gone novels) launch of a SF spy series, when Sadie McClure's father and brother are killed in a gruesome plane crash, she is pulled into the titular secret organization her father ran, fighting a war on the nanotechnological level to save humanity. All members of the organization take names of people who famously went insane, so the newly-minted Plath gets teamed with (and romantically linked to) fellow recruit Keats. As they finesse their skills of observation and precision, and learn the art of emotional detachment, they are also trained to operate their "biots," biomechanical extensions of themselves. The organization uses the biots to fight the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation. Silly name aside, the latter organization has no scruples (their top recruit, Bug Man, is a rapist and murderer). Grant doesn't shy from moral compromises and brutal violence—heroes and villains alike suffer death and dismemberment—but he also draws into sharp focus the psychological toll that these events take on the characters. An entertaining, smart thriller with a conclusion that points to the next installment. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
* Grant, who showed a flair for grandiose conceptual gambits in his Gone series, here goes big by going small. With science as soft as pudding (though, really, who cares—pudding is delicious), he envisions nanotechnology so advanced that brains can be rewired, memories manipulated, and senses hacked by robots and gene-spliced creatures the size of dust mites. A war between two ultra-secretive, competing ideologies—one championing free will, the other promising enforced happiness—is being fought “down in the meat,” and Grant gleefully exposes the biological ickiness of the body going about its everyday business in paranoia-inducing scenes of nanobots scuttling across spongy brain matter or plunging probes into optic nerves. At the same time, he doles out eviscerating loads of violence on the macro level as two teens are enlisted to help stop a maniacal baddie and his team of “twitchers,” who are planning to infiltrate the heads of the world’s most powerful nations. With simmering pots of sexual tension, near-nonstop action, and the threat of howling madness or brain-melting doom around every corpuscular corner, Grant’s new series is off to a breathless, bombastic start. - Booklist, Starred Review

“YA fiction at it’s best. … It's a combination science fiction/adventure/thriller all written brilliantly to entice the reader into a terrifying world.” –Examiner.com
 
“Squeamish as I am, Grant has me hooked with the compelling characters that populate the Go BZRK storyworld.” –Michael Anderson, WIRED magazine
 
“Grant utilizes contemporary themes and memorable characters, along with the possibilities of emerging technology to craft aningenious world not too far removed from our own. … The intelligent presentation will likely appeal to a broad audience.” –PopCultureGuy
 
“If you are anything like me then BZRK will blow your mind. … BZRK is very different from pretty much any YA book out there at the moment, and the closest I can come to expressing how it is continuing to play on my mind almost two weeks later, is to liken it to William Gibson's Neuromancer which had a similar effect on me many years ago. BZRK is a gamechanger for YA literature.” –The Book Zone
 
“This novel is full of the intricacies of the human body and non-stop action on all fronts. … An intricately written science fiction thriller, BZRK offers an in-depthlook into a war raging deep within the human body.” –Deseret News

Praise for Gone, by Michael Grant:

An ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

"This intense, marvelously plotted, paced, and characterized story will immediately garner comparisons to Lord of the Flies...A potent mix of action and thoughtfulness-centered around good and evil, courage and cowardice-renders this a tour-de-force that will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless." - Booklist

"If Stephen King had written LORD OF THE FLIES, it might have been a little like this...Excited to see where [Grant] will take [the reader] with this new series." - Voya

ALAN Review - Zachary Oswanski
Sadie and Noah are caught up in the fight to control the world. After being recruited for the freedom-fighter organization BZRK, these two must help battle against the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation. The AFGC is using nanotechnology in attempts to unify the human race and bring peace and cooperation to all mankind. BZRK works against AFGC, using biots to fight the nanobots in order to preserve humans' "freedom to be miserable." Sadie and Noah must learn how to fight both in the "micro" — inside the human body—and in the "macro"—the real world. Grant weaves together elements of modern times and his own inventions to create a world in which humans battle for control on a microscopic level. What happens outside of the view of human eyes could change the fate of the entire world population. It rests on the shoulders of Sadie and Noah to decide. Reviewer: Zachary Oswanski
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781606843130
  • Publisher: EgmontUSA
  • Publication date: 2/28/2012
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 400
  • Sales rank: 41,259
  • Age range: 14 - 17 Years
  • File size: 605 KB

Meet the Author

Michael Grant

Michael Grant has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family in the USA, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn’t tie him down. His dream is to spend a whole year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. He lives in Marin County, California, with his wife, Katherine Applegate, their two children, and far too many pets. You can visit him online at themichaelgrant.com.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 33 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(17)

4 Star

(8)

3 Star

(3)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(4)

Your Rating:

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 34 Customer Reviews

  • Posted March 19, 2012

    A Must Read!

    If you're a fan of Michael Grant's GONE series, this time he takes things to a whole new level! BZRK is the first book in a strange, highly twisted trilogy -- only most of the action takes place *inside* the human body. There are good guys and bad guys, of course; Noah and Sadie are part of the food guys, while the Armstrong Twins lead the bad guys. And then there are the bots -- nanobots and biobots and incredible battles that take place inside people's bodies . Things get very intense very quickly, and the whole book is one amazingly insane roller coaster ride -- not to mention a book you'll have a tough time putting down!

    6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 19, 2012

    Awesome book!!!!!!

    Um okay use a place to write book reviews to argue. But whatever the book was spectacular! It had plenty of completely unexpected twists and tons of action. It is definantly a little disturbing at times and certainly not for the weak of heart. But if you like books like the hunger games and Grant's Gone series, you will love this book. Amazing! I can't wait for Michael Grant's next book by the way. It's Fear, the 5th book in the Gone series, and it comes out April 3rd. Read that series if you liked this book!!!! And for all those who haven't read BZRK or the Gone series you should!!!!!! DFTBA!!!!!! Haha nerdfighter reference :)

    5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 4, 2012

    BZRK

    Hey "Anonymous" - first if you are so sure of your opinion, why go unsigned? Second, why be a hater. Did you bother to read the in depth article by the author and why he is developing the story along several technologies besides the book? Third, most apps cost ar least $.99, now you want B& N to give their books away for free too?
    The app is fun, haven' t started the book, but have bought it. Seems some people, in my mom's words " think the world owes them a living,"

    4 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2012

    This thing sucks dont get it

    I got a sample, read it. Then i went back and bought the whole thing, but i still only got the freakin sample!

    I paid 10 dollars for 2 chapters!

    It sucks do not buy it. I garanty u will want your money back!
    This makes me hate Barnes and Noble.

    Next time time you want a book, i suggest going to BAM.

    3 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 30, 2012

    Amazing

    A very unique concept that catches your attention right away. I look forward to a sequel. I was sad to see it end.. a great read...

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 18, 2012

    REALY

    This site is for book reviews not arguments and stupid posts.

    3 out of 13 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 10, 2013

    Amazing.

    Someone said this book doesn't start introducing the characters (no exposition). This book is not written under some reader-appealing structure; you can tell that Michael Grant writes because he has great and orginal ideas to explore and put down on paper, unlike most popular YA writers with romance-driven plots.

    If you can handle a book that plunges right into an intense world, then you will like this. If you like philosophical stories (which is kind of impossible not to be) with thought-provoking ideas, especially those challenging human nature, you will like this. If you appreciate English literature (Keatings, Plath, Lear, etc.) you might notice all the allusions he makes, and oh, you will like them, too.

    This is a great book. For those who can handle its awesomeness.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 3, 2012

    Hi

    ME WANT THIS SO BAD!!!!!!

    2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 21, 2012

    Goood

    This rocks

    2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 3, 2013

    ?

    Ok... i just started the book, and there is abslolutely NO exposition. No characters are introduced, and its confusing. I dont think i will be finishing

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 29, 2012

    Yup

    FREAKING AWESOME!!! So much better than the game. They need to make this a movie. But itll most likely be rated R :(

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 28, 2011

    Cool i guess

    1 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 2, 2013

    Had a hard time connecting with the characters initially, but it

    Had a hard time connecting with the characters initially, but it had a slow burn that gave way to intense, fast paced action. I am excited to read the next.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 30, 2013

    Great book. Cant wait for next one.

    This aspect of science fiction is amazing. Literally opens up a whole new world.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 15, 2013

    YA means Young Adult

    I read this and was delighted and drawn into the story. Nanotech is on the cover of this week's journal Science and is going to impact our culture in the next few decades. Ben Bova's newest book Farside and Ken MacLeod's The Cassini Division come to mind.
    However, I'm troubled though that my precocious 10-year-old found iBZRK in the library after reading the Gone series and wants to read it.
    A generation ago I read Robert A. Heinlein's juveniles and loved them but read Time Enough for Love, Number of the Beast and Stranger in a Strange Land probably before I was old enough to understand them.
    The best way to say this is that "Some themes are not suitable for young teens or preteens."

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 7, 2013

    Bunch of ape

    This book sucked through and through.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 30, 2013

    Wow...

    Great

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 4, 2013

    I disagree with some of the authors finer points of philosophy

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 18, 2013

    Good idea, horribly executed.

    Too dirty to have 15 year old characters. Action takes place inside the characters minds making it horribly boring/hard to follow.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 2, 2013

    Alexander

    (Makes sense as to why not. xD How have you been? Dreams, school, the usual?) <p> Before a comment could escape pat his lips, she turned inside her room, shot his butler a look of angst, then turned on heel to his room's direction. That princess did littl less than imbed herself into his thoughts the more she spoke. Even know, though his mind should be on the plans, preparations, politics, and the usual muck-up of the ball cerimony, Alex could not help but think of the girl with the red dress and a pretty name to fit her dimeanor. As his thoughts occupied him of Miss Starr, his feet found their way, retracing their previous steps al the way to his room. Before he decided upon becoming angry with Lacuna for her curtness, he found himself at his chambers, then he let out a sigh. "Alex, sir, you think too much..." he smirks, remarking to himself how silly love was, and that he should ever fall into it at all. In the spirit of repitition, he found himself doing things he always did for sleep. Undressing, then setting the older clothes into the basket in the corner of the room; letting the windows open to keep himself cool overnight; and reading to himself a poem and a prose before he slept. In his dreams, eflectively, he dreamt of long conversations with stranger girls, the long, drawn out contest between poloticians of the petty kingdom, and the process of tuning himself to be agreeable th his father's preferences... a dream Alex may have regared a nightmare was rescued from such a sense, and a peaceful complextion stayed with him for the remainder of the sleep. <p> (l'm sorry l make no sense, or skip past the interesting details you would otheerwise be treated to, but l am a bit tired, and writers block is a bit<_>ch...)

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