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Virtual Kombat #2
Virus
Scott nearly died playing Virtual Kimbat. Hunted by drones Scott's on the run when he comes across a gang of techno-hackers who share his wish to destroy VK.
122 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
1 person is currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Chris Bradford
94 books928 followersChris Bradford is the bestselling author of the Young Samurai, Bodyguard and Soul Series.
Chris is renowned for his inspiring author events and ‘method writing’ style. For his award-winning Young Samurai series, he trained in samurai swordmanship, karate, ninjutsu and earned his black belt in Zen Kyu Shin Taijutsu.
For his BODYGUARD series, Chris embarked on an intensive close protection course to become a qualified professional bodyguard.
And for the Soul Prophecy trilogy, Chris travelled extensively to experience first-hand the cultures featured in the story – from living with the Shona people in Zimbabwe, to trekking the Inca trail, to meditating in a Buddhist temple amid the mountains of Japan.
His books have been published in more than 25 languages and been nominated for 30+ book awards, winning among others the Northern Ireland Book Award 2011, the Hampshire Book Award 2014 and the Brilliant Book Award 2014. Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior was deemed one of Puffin’s 70 Best Ever Books, alongside Treasure Island and Robin Hood.
To discover more about Chris or book an author visit: www.chrisbradford.co.uk
Chris is renowned for his inspiring author events and ‘method writing’ style. For his award-winning Young Samurai series, he trained in samurai swordmanship, karate, ninjutsu and earned his black belt in Zen Kyu Shin Taijutsu.
For his BODYGUARD series, Chris embarked on an intensive close protection course to become a qualified professional bodyguard.
And for the Soul Prophecy trilogy, Chris travelled extensively to experience first-hand the cultures featured in the story – from living with the Shona people in Zimbabwe, to trekking the Inca trail, to meditating in a Buddhist temple amid the mountains of Japan.
His books have been published in more than 25 languages and been nominated for 30+ book awards, winning among others the Northern Ireland Book Award 2011, the Hampshire Book Award 2014 and the Brilliant Book Award 2014. Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior was deemed one of Puffin’s 70 Best Ever Books, alongside Treasure Island and Robin Hood.
To discover more about Chris or book an author visit: www.chrisbradford.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 15, 2019
Ich war schon vom ersten Teil positiv überrascht. Den zweiten habe ich nun endlich lesen können. Und was soll ich sagen? Ich habe die Shortstory ohne Unterbrechung verschlungen. Sehr kurzweilig, aber dadurch hält die Spannung bis zum Schluss und ich hoffe auf einen dritten Teil.
August 9, 2022
really cool book about a game called virtual kombat where you die in real life if you fail in the game,
but a hackergroup want to bring virtual kombat offline permanently. For 10+ i should say
but a hackergroup want to bring virtual kombat offline permanently. For 10+ i should say
June 5, 2021
In this second book of the series, Chris Bradford doesn't miss a beat. An overview of Book 1 is given at the start as 'Update v1.1 - key data for new and returning gamers.' In this way, readers who can't remember all the key details of Book 1 are able to pick up where they left off (or if they didn't get to read Book 1, they can still read Book 2 - and hopefully get to Book 1 at some stage).
Bradford's control of the plotline is awesome. 'Virtual Kombat' is a global fighting game 'so real it hurts', and we feel every blow, punch, sting and betrayal along with Scott and his friends. This is a future, dystopian world that is realistic enough to feel like it could happen.....and each book in the series is short enough for anyone to read and enjoy it.
Bradford's control of the plotline is awesome. 'Virtual Kombat' is a global fighting game 'so real it hurts', and we feel every blow, punch, sting and betrayal along with Scott and his friends. This is a future, dystopian world that is realistic enough to feel like it could happen.....and each book in the series is short enough for anyone to read and enjoy it.
January 17, 2019
This follow up to previous title Gamer is fast paced, exciting and adrenaline filled. Perfect for reluctant readers that are into gaming and Dyslexia friendly as well. Barrington Stokes formula for getting great authors to write shorter, accessible books for them is certainly a winning one and none of Chris Bradfords high octane style of writing is lost in this series.
May 15, 2019
2.5 Stars - it was okay, just went through the motions. For me, not up to Chris' usual standards.
Read
September 24, 2020It's pretty good for people who want to read a short book
February 24, 2021
I enjoyed the book but I found the first sections quite confusing. Lots happened and I was not clear at times who was who. I enjoyed the latter parts of the book.
January 13, 2024
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Scott, who lost his friend Kate to the virtual reality game Virtual Kombat run by the evil developer Vince Powers, is back on the streets trying to survive after escaping Powers' orphanage, which was a cover for killing children in order to feed interest in the popular game. Now, he is being chased by robotic wasps as he is trying to get the word out about the dangers of the game. He runs into his nemesis Stick who is about to destroy him when a girl appears with an electromagnetic pulse weapon to disarm him. Java is working with Pentium Powers, Vince's brother, who is trying to close down his brother's horrible game. Pentium, who is in a wheelchair due to injuries, developed the game, but didn't realize that Vince would use the PlayPods for children, whose brains are not strong enough to withstand the equipment. The kids, including Pac-Man and Spam, hack into Virtual Kombat to try to take it down. They need to take a computer virus and release it in the Crown in the last level of the game. With so many players, they hope to go undetected, but can only reach the Crown by playing the game. Scott's skills are useful. He manages to defeat the Reaper using Trigger Time techniques, and the group runs across Ginger Ninja as they defeat riddles, tigers and sharks. Scott even thinks he sees the dead Kate, aka Kat-Ana, but is this just a residue of her personality that was left in the game. Probably not, and at the end an incident occurs that could mean the end of Virtual Kombat... or does it? Considering there is one more book in the series, we can assume it's not over yet!
Strengths: Bradford is very good about having lots of exciting scenes in his books, and he paces his stories very well, moving from adventure to adventure in a very smooth fashion. We get a decent amount about Scott's motivations, but because this is a short, high interest, low reading level book, there is not the level of character development we find in this author's Bodyguard series. For the intended audience, this is perfect, because they would rather have this type of nonstop, video game action. The villain is clear, the children work together, and there is a satisfying conclusion with the promise of further adventures.
Weaknesses: This may only be available in paperback. Parts of this were hard for me to envision because I don't play video games, and there were occurrences in the scenes that didn't make as much sense because of this. I've read enough Minecraft novels to know that the life levels have something to do with progress in the game, but I don't quite grasp the full impact. Kids who play games won't have this problem!
What I really think: This is a great book to help emerging readers who enjoyed graphic novels like Hansen's My Video Game Ate My Homework Adventures, Game On! and Nisson, Johnson and Darnell's Power Up! build their reading skills before moving on to Brady's Trapped in a Video Game and Ross's Game Over.
Scott, who lost his friend Kate to the virtual reality game Virtual Kombat run by the evil developer Vince Powers, is back on the streets trying to survive after escaping Powers' orphanage, which was a cover for killing children in order to feed interest in the popular game. Now, he is being chased by robotic wasps as he is trying to get the word out about the dangers of the game. He runs into his nemesis Stick who is about to destroy him when a girl appears with an electromagnetic pulse weapon to disarm him. Java is working with Pentium Powers, Vince's brother, who is trying to close down his brother's horrible game. Pentium, who is in a wheelchair due to injuries, developed the game, but didn't realize that Vince would use the PlayPods for children, whose brains are not strong enough to withstand the equipment. The kids, including Pac-Man and Spam, hack into Virtual Kombat to try to take it down. They need to take a computer virus and release it in the Crown in the last level of the game. With so many players, they hope to go undetected, but can only reach the Crown by playing the game. Scott's skills are useful. He manages to defeat the Reaper using Trigger Time techniques, and the group runs across Ginger Ninja as they defeat riddles, tigers and sharks. Scott even thinks he sees the dead Kate, aka Kat-Ana, but is this just a residue of her personality that was left in the game. Probably not, and at the end an incident occurs that could mean the end of Virtual Kombat... or does it? Considering there is one more book in the series, we can assume it's not over yet!
Strengths: Bradford is very good about having lots of exciting scenes in his books, and he paces his stories very well, moving from adventure to adventure in a very smooth fashion. We get a decent amount about Scott's motivations, but because this is a short, high interest, low reading level book, there is not the level of character development we find in this author's Bodyguard series. For the intended audience, this is perfect, because they would rather have this type of nonstop, video game action. The villain is clear, the children work together, and there is a satisfying conclusion with the promise of further adventures.
Weaknesses: This may only be available in paperback. Parts of this were hard for me to envision because I don't play video games, and there were occurrences in the scenes that didn't make as much sense because of this. I've read enough Minecraft novels to know that the life levels have something to do with progress in the game, but I don't quite grasp the full impact. Kids who play games won't have this problem!
What I really think: This is a great book to help emerging readers who enjoyed graphic novels like Hansen's My Video Game Ate My Homework Adventures, Game On! and Nisson, Johnson and Darnell's Power Up! build their reading skills before moving on to Brady's Trapped in a Video Game and Ross's Game Over.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews