The Siege

by Mark Alpert

Overview

"Adam is an unusual hero—and he faces a frightening question: Computers can't kill—CAN they? I'm still shaken by the answer. Will the near-future really be this terrifying?" —R.L. Stine, bestselling author of Fear Street for The Six

Mission: Sabotage.

Adam gave up everything for a new chance at life. Now with a cutting-edge digital mind, he is smarter, faster, better than a normal teen. Except Adam is anything but invincible. He's indebted to the government program that gave him this ability—and freedom comes at a price.

Adam and his teammates, the six Pioneers, swore to defend humanity against Sigma, the most ruthless artificial intelligence program ever designed. The Pioneers are all that stand between the AI and world domination. But Sigma has an advantage. It has learned about human weakness, and its new weapon? Betrayal.

In this war between good and evil, the battle lines have been drawn…but someone is about to switch sides.

Praise for The Six:

"Questions of principle, power, and possibility keep this look at our modern, hardwired existence fresh and fascinating." —Booklist, STARRED review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492647829
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Series:	The Six , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Mark Alpert is a contributing editor at Scientific American and the author of several science-oriented thrillers for adults: Final Theory, The Omega Theory, Extinction, and The Furies. The Six is his first science thriller for young adults. He lives with his wife and two teenage kids in New York City. Visit Mark online at markalpert.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Alpert’s series is a fascinating tale of humans vs. technology, a conflict that is often missing from YA sci-fi offerings. Give to readers looking for a technology-driven sci-fi story. This series can also be used as a bridge to Isaac Asimov’s adult "Robot" series." — School Library Journal

"An action-packed novel, perfect for both middle and high school readers, especially boys…. Both The Six and The Siege are quality read-a-likes for reluctant readers and audiences who enjoyed Illuminae (Penguin Random House, 2015/VOYA August 2015), enjoy robotics, science, and a dash of romance and action." — VOYA Magazine

From the Publisher

07/01/2016
Gr 7 Up—In The Six, readers were introduced to Adam, a young teen with muscular dystrophy. When Sigma, an AI created by Adam's father, goes rogue and threatens the future of humanity, Adam, along with five other terminally ill teens, agrees to undergo an experimental procedure that will meld his body with a weaponized robot. In the latest installment, Sigma is back and smarter than ever—it now understands human betrayal and plans to use it to its full advantage in the next stage of its war against humanity. Will Adam and the other Pioneers be able to stop Sigma again? Alpert's series is a fascinating tale of humans vs. technology, a conflict that is often missing from YA sci-fi offerings. Give to readers looking for a technology-driven sci-fi story. This series can also be used as a bridge to Isaac Asimov's adult "Robot" series.

School Library Journal

2016-05-04
Adam and the other sentient, robot Pioneers return to battle evil Sigma, who targets Adam's hometown and everyone he loves by pitting the Pioneers against one another. In this mission, the Pioneers are acutely aware that their high-tech bodies are prosthetic—not immortal. Their vulnerability, combined with civilians' fear of or pity for their robot forms, raises unexplored comparisons to their former disabled bodies. But while the Pioneers frequently explored the differences between their human and robot selves in The Six (2015), here they could well be humans with superpowers. Adam's emotions are analogous to humans', but his analyses could dull readers' reactions. The rules of robot romance (robo-mance?) are clever, but it's unclear how—even with sensors—the Pioneers can feel emotions so intensely without organs. However, if neuromorphology can apparently outstrip some laws of physics, mechanics may be moot. This superpower creates another deus ex machina, which suggests ominous consequences for technological evolution but also cheapens Adam's earlier vulnerability. Though emotion is technically crucial to the plot, action overwhelms it. Fans of Transformers might enjoy the robots' diverse weaponry, but Adam's dense blow-by-blow battle narration also makes the action potentially hard to visualize. (Robots seem to be able to process onslaughts of information effortlessly, but readers may not.) An abrupt cliffhanger sets up the next book. Worth reading for its unanswered questions if not for its heart. (Science fiction. 13-16)

Kirkus Reviews