Mindstormer

by A. J. Steiger

Overview

IN A FUTURE WORLD WHERE TRUTH CAN BE MANIPULATED, YOUR MIND IS THE BATTLEFIELD

When Lain Fisher wakes up in a hospital bed, she can’t remember anything from the past few months. It’s no ordinary amnesia. As a trained Mindwalker, Lain knows all about wiping memories – she just never thought it would happen to her.

When two young men break in and take her away, she's not sure if she's being rescued or kidnapped. One of them, Ian, she knows. The other, Steven, is a stranger to her...but he claims they were friends. More than friends.

Outside, the world has changed beyond recognition. Right is wrong, enemies are allies, and Lain's erased past may be the key to fighting a totalitarian state with the power to manipulate the human mind. The only thing she knows for certain is that she needs her memories back. Her life depends on it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780749266
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Series:	Mindwalker Series
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

A. J. Steiger majored in Fiction writing at Columbia College, Chicago and her lifelong interest in psychology and social justice issues led her to write Mindwalker and Mindstormer. She lives in Willowbrook, Illinois.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An intelligent debate on the morality of technology developed with good intentions versus its access to power and control, and on advanced weaponry’s ability to dehumanize destruction. It is a timely and cautionary story in which the concepts of freedom and accountability are prominent despite existing at the mercy of politics."


—Booklist

Editorial Reviews

a fascinating concept with totally believable characters, all handled with intelligence and skill'

SFX

‘An intelligent debate on the morality of technology developed with good intentions versus its access to power and control, and on advanced weaponry’s ability to dehumanize destruction. It is a timely and cautionary story in which the concepts of freedom and accountability are prominent despite existing at the mercy of politics.’

Booklist

‘An intelligent debate on the morality of technology developed with good intentions versus its access to power and control, and on advanced weaponry’s ability to dehumanize destruction. It is a timely and cautionary story in which the concepts of freedom and accountability are prominent despite existing at the mercy of politics.’

Booklist

03/01/2018
Gr 9 Up—When readers last saw 18-year-old Lain Fisher in Mindwalker, she was headed to Canada to join the resistance movement against the all-powerful Institute for Ethics in Neurotechnology (IFEN). Now, three months later, she is a prisoner at IFEN and her memories of the past several months have been erased, including all memories of Steven, the boy whose story of abuse and trauma turned her away from IFEN in the first place. The majority of this fast-paced second novel is devoted to exploring Lain's introduction to the resistance, known as the Blackcoats, her time training with them as a soldier, and the events that led up to her capture and memory modification by IFEN. Throughout, introspective Lain grapples with right and wrong, sacrifice and necessity, duty and ethics, and must decide how far she is willing to go to fight for the Blackcoats' cause. At center stage is Lain's relationship with Steven, which is strained by their induction into the Blackcoats' ranks. To complicate matters, Lain's best friend Ian also joins the resistance, creating a love triangle that is sure to appeal to teen romance fans. The ending seems to set the stage for a third entry in the series, but an awkward tacked on epilogue suggests that this is the end of Lain's story. This sequel poses some interesting ethical questions about human rights and war tactics. VERDICT Recommended for fans of romantic dystopian novels or those who enjoyed the first installment.—Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

School Library Journal

2018-04-03
Can an uprising continue when one of its public faces has her memories altered to believe it's terrorism?In this sequel to Mindwalker (2015), Lain, now 18, wakes up in a white-walled room with no memory of how she got there. Soon, unfamiliar people in holomasks, claiming to be her allies, come to rescue her. The truth emerges: Dr. Swan, Lain's guardian, wiped her memories so she would forget the atrocities his organization, IFEN, committed. After taking a pill to restore those memories, Lain escapes to the Citadel, the Canadian stronghold of the Blackcoats, a majority-teen resistance group. There, as Lain learns more about government-sanctioned IFEN's illegal experiments and the Blackcoats' plans for catalyzing political upheaval through violence, Lain questions which group really has the best interests of the United Republic of America at heart. Is freedom "the easy choice" or "a contract signed in blood?" Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part Hunger Games, this plot-driven, romance-laden tale of youth empowerment will surely please genre fans. Though characters remain on the extreme side, Steiger (When My Heart Joins the Thousand, 2018, etc.) better develops the sequel's dystopian United States and more deeply interrogates the systems of oppression it uses to isolate its citizens based on mental health. The cast assumes a white default. The Blackcoats' leader, Zebra, uses a wheelchair but is rarely seen.A relevant read for the youthquake generation. (Dystopian romance. 12-adult)

Kirkus Reviews

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