Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers

Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers or Net Force Explorers is a series of young adult novels created as a spin-off of the military fiction series Tom Clancy's Net Force.

Plot

In the year 2025 the Internet and its virtual reality network have to be policed by the Net Force to prevent computer-terrorists from sabotaging it. Sometimes they need help, which is where the Net Force Explorers come in; they are the young people's auxiliary for computer whiz-kids who have made it through a tough training program. These include Maj (Madeline) Green, David Gray, Matt Hunter, Mark Gridley, Leif Anderson, Megan O'Malley, Catie, and Charlie. They are led by the kindly ex-marine commander, Captain James Winters, who has secrets of his own. Together, and separately, these young people solve cyber-crimes and defeat international terrorists while creating virtual worlds, playing high-tech computer games, and even entering a race.

Though the emphasis of the series is on the Internet, and its virtual world, there are occasional glimpses into the future of the world in general. In one novel, there is a reference to a spy from "flat-films" and his assistant who used to make gadgets for him, probably a reference to James Bond and Q. The novel states that when the scientist character died, he was replaced with a hologram version of himself, a prediction of the future of Bond movies. In another novel, the characters are involved with a TV-series that appears to be a future version of Star Trek with a different name.

Net Force Explorer novels

Virtual reality

Almost the entire story of each book is set in "Cyber-Space," and personal Virtual Reality systems called "Veeyars." An introduction to the system comes from these abridged opening pages of the first book, Virtual Vandals.

"The April sky was a bright, cloudless blue, marked only by the thin white contrails of an aerospace plane's jet engines. Matt Hunter squinted his brown eyes, staring up from the Camden Yards stadium.

An elbow in his ribs brought his thoughts back to earth. 'Nice job on these seats, genius,' Andy Moore complained.

'You'd think that after renovating this place, they'd put some comfortable padding out here,' David Grey added.

Leif Anderson stretched back in his seat. 'It's comfortable enough from where I'm sitting.'

Matt gave his friend a blow. The seat which Leif seemed to occupy was actually empty, the space filled with a hologram. Leif was actually sitting in his parents' apartment in NYC, no doubt sprawled in a very expensive Computer-Link chair. An Implant beneath his skin connected him to the World Net, allowing his image to be seen here in Baltimore, while he experienced everything that was happening nearly 200 miles away."

See also