Secret Realms

Having only read a few sci-fi novels in my lifetime, I took a chance and read "Secret Realms" by Tom Cool. I was very impressed with it. The author spent great effort in being very detail-oriented. It was obvious that he had the technical knowledge to go with his military background in creating a plot that had depth and high interest. I found the concept of growing up in a virtual world almost mind boggling, but accept its plausibility; the concept took me into new territory of thought as I read it. I would highly recommend (and already have recommended) Cool's book. I have already put in an order for his first book, "Infectress," and am looking forward to receiving it.

This is truly a great book. I am not just saying this because the author of Secret Realms is my Uncle (and yes our name really is cool.) Secret Realms combines good action, an interesting plot, and a good cast of characters. Althought this is probably something that will never happen on this earth it is very fun to read about. All of the tecniqualitys of it are great. If you liked this book I recommend you read Tom's other books which include Infectress, and Solider of Light. Hope you like this book as much as I did.

No one can deny that the provisions for modern (global scale) warfare are closing the gap between the training simulations and actual combat with a bewildering rapidity. Secret Realms deals with the use of an enclosed virtual simulator which has been designed for the purpose of developing the entire human potential for tactical and strategic thinking in select individuals who have been ruthlessly isolated from actual real-life experiences in their virtual simulator from infancy (a project implemented by those ultimate pragmatists, the Chinese). I personally have little use for computer games, but the author has managed to make the virtual trainee's imaginative environment fascinating, and more important, has made the characters alive and important to the reader in their bizarre context. Tom Cool has combined first-rate story-telling with an exceptional visual imagination to produce a great story.

This is a very good book that is well setup for an ongoing series. I found the characters believable and interesting. The concepts playout with some basis on reality. There is a military tone to the book but it is an important part of the story. Looking forward to the next book.