Ones and Zeroes

Reviewed by: Will Brown - Falmouth Memorial Library, Falmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 8, 2016

Review

Ones and Zeroes, the first of the Mirador series, is the near-future story of Marisa, a girl in search of answers about her past, and the Cherry Dogs, a obscure team who play in the most popular VR fighting sport who get a spot in a highly publicized tournament. I expected Ones and Zeroes to be a story focused on the fighting within the game, but what I found was a remarkably nuanced, mature and gripping tale that pays attention to everything from Marisa's parents and their failing Mexican restaurant, the mysterious car accident Marisa was in as a child that injured both her and the child of a local mobster and her father's rigid silence on the topic, all the way to the illegal and surprisingly realistic machinations of the mega-corporation buying up all of the utilities in Marisa's city.

Marisa is a driven character who attempts to hack her way to the secrets about the childhood accident that left her with a cybernetic arm and an unknown connection to a local mob family. While her curiosity gets her drawn into something much bigger than her or the Cherry Dogs, she never forgets the driving forces of her own personal life or the moral questions that surround her. The story never ignores the impact of the choices the characters make or the overwhelming odds stacked against them. A gripping, rich, and surprisingly nuanced story, a must-read for serious science fiction or dystopia fans.

Overall Book Score: excellent