Relentless sci-fi thriller enters scary world of nanotechnology

BZRK
By Michael Grant
Published by Electric Monkey/Egmont
ISBN 9781405259934

Michael Grant, author of the best-selling Gone series, ups his game to a higher level of thrills with BZRK, a mind-blowing dystopian sci-fi adventure for older teens. It is a roller-coaster ride that will appeal to gamers as well as thrill-seeking readers.

Grant's storytelling style and plot are just what teen readers, who seek up-to-the-minute, thrilling fiction, want. And with BZRK, Grant lets his imagination rip.

At the centre of BZRK, we have a world where nanotechnology is conquering areas where humans have not been before. Nanobots can enter the human body through the eyes, mouth, nose and ears to do work or investigation. In fact, much of the plot of BZRK takes place inside the human body.

In 1966, Hollywood made a movie called Fantastic Voyage in which a group of scientists are miniaturised and injected into a human body. Grant has taken this idea and run out of the field with it. The next time you feel a speck of dust in your eye it could well be a nanobot entering your body. Scary!

There are well-defined good guys and bad guys here. In the villains' corner, there is the Armstrong Corporation, headed by Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins who have money, power and technology on their side. What the Armstrongs want is world domination. They plan to infiltrate and rewire prime ministers, presidents and chief executives. Once that goal has been achieved, power can soon be transferred to the Armstrong Corporation.