Saving Thanehaven, Catherine Jinks

Saving Thanehaven, Catherine Jinks.
ISBN: 9781606842744
Read November 4, 2013

Juv-YA: TRON-like world of programs come to life inside computers.

Noble is a knight, sworn to save the princess from the evil wizard, but he's never really thought much further than that. When he meets Rufus on the way in, he's introduced to the concept of free will, and from that moment on, he's pretty much screwed.

Readers will catch on to Rufus much more quickly than the programs will, but even knowing what he's up to - he's pretty impressive. Like a human sociopath, Rufus changes his tone and watches what he says and pretends to care, before moving on to the next target.

Speaking of that, the title and bookends are a little misleading - the beginning of the story is set in Thanehaven, and Noble is very much a man, er, program, of his time, er, game. The action doesn't stay there very long, however, and in no time flat, we've moved through a couple more games, and been introduced to the weird world of visualized computing hardware and software.

If you watched the TRON reboot and wondered what the other programs did in their daily lives, this one is for you. If you got a little huffy about how there could be a world inside of programs and algorithms, I would suggest you steer clear. As far as I could tell, the analogies are apt, and the information is correct, but I can easily see computer-geeks getting very bent out of shape by the implications of the locations as they are envisioned.

My major quibble surrounds the lives in the real world - naturally we aren't able to see much, but the real Rufus in particular seems unaware that bricking his friend's computer for a perceived slight is a smidge of an overreaction. I would have liked to have a bit more attention given to that situation.

Overall, an enjoyable short read that is surprisingly funny, with a metaphysical twist at the end for a punchy garnish.
(also published on Amazon.com)