What do you think?
Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers #4
The Ultimate Escape
Julio Cortez has left the Net Force Explorers to move with his family to a new home. But when he and his family are held hostage, the team has to convince the world that Julio's in danger. And if no one will listen, they'll do anything to rescue the Cortez family themselves!
181 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 27, 2020
Un ragazzo torna nel suo paese di origine dove regna un regime che reprime l'uso di computer e della Rete. Qui viene rapito assieme alla sua famiglia.
Riesce però a mandare un messaggio di aiuto ai suoi amici della Net Force Explorers durante la simulazione di una battaglia aerea.
Gli amici dovranno quindi indagare per scoprire dove è tenuto prigioniero e cercare di vincere le successive simulazioni per sperare di reincontrarlo ed ottenere nuovi indizi.
Riesce però a mandare un messaggio di aiuto ai suoi amici della Net Force Explorers durante la simulazione di una battaglia aerea.
Gli amici dovranno quindi indagare per scoprire dove è tenuto prigioniero e cercare di vincere le successive simulazioni per sperare di reincontrarlo ed ottenere nuovi indizi.
April 24, 2026
The fourth Netforce Explorers book is a noticeable step up from the last one, the writing's sharper and I actually stayed awake through it. The author spends too long cataloguing planes, but that's a minor gripe.
My real issue is the target audience: marketed as young adult, yet the story isn't compelling enough for teens and too thin for adults. I'm genuinely unsure who this is for. 2.5 stars if I could.
My real issue is the target audience: marketed as young adult, yet the story isn't compelling enough for teens and too thin for adults. I'm genuinely unsure who this is for. 2.5 stars if I could.
March 25, 2017
I liked this one better than #3 in this series, it seemed to get into the action right from the start rather than giving Lota of expositional stuff at the beginning. Also the author has a thing with planes and flying :-) very detailed
February 3, 2019
une histoire assez brève -250 pages - dont le seul intérêt est qu'elle explore et exploite le monde virtuel et la passion des ados pour les jeux videos en la mêlant à une trame politique ...
August 24, 2013
War games as summer camp education
Together with his parents Julio Cortez returns to his country of birth: Cortequay in South America. This country has missed any technological advancement since the last twenty years and is currently organising its first democratic elections. Julio's father is a candidate for the presidency, but the opposition will stop at nothing to keep him away from power. At home Julio's Netforce friends miss him terribly. Certainly during the flight simulations organised at a summer camp, the absence of Julio influences their results during the fierce simulated air battles. Julio has always been their champion. During one of these simulations, suddenly Julio appears with the message that he got kidnapped in Cortequay. But his friends are not sure what they can do. How can they get in contact with Julio? How do they convince people that Julio and his family are in grave trouble? And most of all: is Julio's message authentic or only a trap set in a world where nothing is what it seems?
Although the story of The Ultimate Escape starts from a great idea, the whole story is lacking much credibility. The denouement is so lame that even the first chapters give you a good idea on how the story will end. But the most worrying part of this novel is its setting. Knowing that this book is written for a young audience it is quite disturbing to see that replaying war battles is considered as a very educational and important way of learning history. Even more, German students are by default forced to replay World War II battles as part of the German forces. This way they are considered to try and reverse the outcome of the war. I do not know what the authors were thinking, but such a simplistic view on the world, can hardly be seen as a good starting point for a novel aimed at youngsters. How wrong can you get?
Together with his parents Julio Cortez returns to his country of birth: Cortequay in South America. This country has missed any technological advancement since the last twenty years and is currently organising its first democratic elections. Julio's father is a candidate for the presidency, but the opposition will stop at nothing to keep him away from power. At home Julio's Netforce friends miss him terribly. Certainly during the flight simulations organised at a summer camp, the absence of Julio influences their results during the fierce simulated air battles. Julio has always been their champion. During one of these simulations, suddenly Julio appears with the message that he got kidnapped in Cortequay. But his friends are not sure what they can do. How can they get in contact with Julio? How do they convince people that Julio and his family are in grave trouble? And most of all: is Julio's message authentic or only a trap set in a world where nothing is what it seems?
Although the story of The Ultimate Escape starts from a great idea, the whole story is lacking much credibility. The denouement is so lame that even the first chapters give you a good idea on how the story will end. But the most worrying part of this novel is its setting. Knowing that this book is written for a young audience it is quite disturbing to see that replaying war battles is considered as a very educational and important way of learning history. Even more, German students are by default forced to replay World War II battles as part of the German forces. This way they are considered to try and reverse the outcome of the war. I do not know what the authors were thinking, but such a simplistic view on the world, can hardly be seen as a good starting point for a novel aimed at youngsters. How wrong can you get?
August 4, 2011
admittedly, i wasnt a huge fan of this book but it is well written. i feel that had i read this when it came out, i may have given it a more favorable rating. however some of the concepts within the book still ring true today. this book follows the net force team, a bunch of kids, through their flight simulation contest. however things begin to go wrong within the simulation that shouldnt be... and it parallels some of the societal and political issues occurring at the time.
November 29, 2016
In het begin dacht ik dat dit een niet erg boeiend kinder SF zou worden, maar naarmate het boek vorderde werd ik verrast door de wat duistere toon achter het verhaal. Het hele SF gebeuren is wel vergezocht, maar toch vond ik het niet storend. Ik zat aan vier sterren te denken, totdat het einde het verpest. Waarom is het zo kort door de bocht en met 0 respect voor een van de personages. Echt een misser.
Want to Read
September 22, 2012I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11418033
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11418033
December 11, 2012
Not as good as I remember the others to be, but still nice to revisit the Net Force Explorers :D
April 11, 2013
Good book that had my interest until the end. Brought the conflict to an abrupt end. Poor resolution after all of the build up to the climax.
December 17, 2015
Young adult at best. Overly simple, not believable, and kind of silly.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews