History Hackers: Omega Squad 2 (Charlie Carter, Pan Macmillan)

Thursday, 11 October 2012 Unlocked content from the archive. Books+Publishing

The Omega Squad continues the popular ‘Battle Boy’ series. Now 13, Napoleon Augustus Smythe is a Battle Agent, part of the Time Troopers team called the Omega Squad. Following on from book one, the team discovers a new threat—someone is stealing historical figures from the Battle Books and it looks like their nemesis, Time Broker Horace Horologe, is involved. History Hackers has everything you’d expect from the Battle Boy books: imaginative sci-fi scenarios, super-high-tech gadgetry and epic historical battles (this time, with a twist). Its story about creating humans from digital DNA, however, is only one piece of the puzzle. Targeting older readers (9–10 + years), Charlie Carter (aka children’s writer John Heff ernan) delivers an expanded, more sophisticated Battle Book universe. It takes things to the next level with an overarching conspiracy plotline involving the shadowy organisation MANIC—the intricacies of which may baffle new readers but satisfy fans with a growing interest in the world around them. It’s a clever continuation of a series wanting to grow up with its audience rather than be left behind, while the unanswered questions surrounding MANIC—and who the Omega Squad’s real enemies are—should bring readers back for more.

Meredith Lewin is a Sydney-based freelance proofreader and reviewer who has worked for a children’s publisher

Category: Reviews