Stephen Baxter, The Web: Gulliverzone

Stephen Baxter, The Web: Gulliverzone - February 7, 2027 is World Peace Day celebrating two decades of people embracing give peace a chance as espoused by the World Peace Movement. Globally, people look forward to galas to attend.

Sarah has many events to choose from, but what she looks forward to is that the greatest web-based theme park GULLIVERZONE is free. She looks forward to spending the day playing there though she expects to suffer from websickness from spending too much time in the specially designed web suit, but gladly will put up with the nausea and headache she anticipates having. However, instead of the good time that her father insists she share with her younger brother George alias Byte, Sarah finds their lives in danger from the Empress of Lilliput. Sarah accidentally learned that the evil Empress has tinkered with the web theme park's computer program with viruses manifesting and evolving into living beings that further her agenda; only Sarah is in the way and she must be deleted.

Though the sibling rivalry is over-killed, young readers will appreciate this delightful fantasy that looks at "reality" inside the web. Sarah is a terrific young heroine while her foe is as malevolent as they come. The storyline is fun for the older audience too as award-winning Stephen Baxter (yes that Baxter) provides a fascinating thriller mindful in some respects of Robert Elmer's fine young adult web tales.

Starscape, May 2005, $5.99

ISBN: 0765349418

Harriet Klausner