Warcross

Marie Lu’s young adult science fiction Warcross (2017) is the first book in the Warcross series. Set in the future, bounty hunter Emika Chen takes part in an international online game to track down her mark. Lu writes primarily dystopian and science fiction for young adults and is well known for her bestselling trilogy, Legend. Kirkus Reviews included Warcross on its Best Teen Science Fiction books of 2017. This guide references the 2017 Random House edition.

Plot Summary

Eighteen-year-old Emika Chen lives in New York City in the not-too-distant future. To control worsening crime, police subcontract the apprehension of lesser criminals to bounty hunters. Gifted in coding and hacking, Emika uses her smartphone to track a gambler worth enough bounty to pay off her debt and avoid eviction. She succeeds in catching him but does not receive payment because another bounty hunter claims the target before she can. She and roommate Keira commiserate about their impending eviction but intend to enjoy the opening ceremony of Warcross championships that evening. Famed 21-year-old Hideo Tanaka invented Warcross, an online game popular worldwide with players and spectators, as a way to experience his NeuroLink invention. NeuroLink glasses allow the user to experience the world with an enhancing layer of virtual reality as well as the fully virtual land of the game Warcross, in which two teams battle for the opponent’s Artifact.