Jamie Russell, Battlefield (SkyWake, #2), Walker Books, March 2022, 320 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406397529
Ace gamer CASEY_FLOW is in trouble. Marooned on a distant planet, she and hundreds of other teenagers are forced to play hit game SkyWake for real, fighting alongside the brutal alien Red Eyes against the mysterious Squids. Casey is determined to rescue the other gamers and return to Earth – but when the Squids beg for help, she’s faced with an impossible decision. Casey and her teammates are battling for their lives… but which side should they be on?
Battlefield is the second instalment in Jamie Russell’s SkyWake series, following on from 2021’s Invasion. Action-packed and full of adventure, humour and intrigue, Russell has delivered a second act to his epic trilogy that will leave readers gasping for more.
By this stage in the story, we’re familiar with central character Casey, a natural born leader even though she often finds herself plagued by self-doubt. Now she’s faced with an even more difficult situation, where she’s questioning not only her choices but also her loyalties. To succeed in her mission to bring her friends home, she must unlock a secret strength that lies dormant inside and learn to trust in her own ability. It’s a theme familiar to most of us – when every choice we’re faced with looks bad, do we have the courage to trust ourselves and our own instincts?
SkyWake joins the ranks of works such as The Last Starfighter, Ender’s Game and Armada, in which gamers discover they are being trained for a real life war. Russell’s outing brings a new twist to the genre – the ones doing the training are not the nicest of beings. Russell writes with a confident and polished style, evoking the atmospheres of danger, terror and wonder of the story’s teenaged protagonists embarking on a journey light years from home.
The series will appeal to readers in the 13-16 age bracket, or anyone who loves a good sci-fi story about real-life video games.
Reviewed by Christian Price
