Hover Car Racer

Hover Car Racer
Author Matthew Reilly
Cover artist Roy Govier
Country Australia
Language English
Genre Science fiction, Sports, Thriller novel
Publisher Pan MacMillan
Publication date
 2004
Media type Print (Hardback and Paperback)
Pages 438 (hardback edition)
ISBN 1-4050-3621-4
OCLC 64449525
823/.914 22
LC Class PR9619.3.R445 H68 2004

Hover Car Racer is a Sci-fi/Sports/Action story written by Australian author Matthew Reilly, originally released as a free fortnightly online serial, and later published by Pan MacMillan in 2004.

The novel, as the book title suggests, is about Hover Car Racing, a sport developed in the early 21st century. The fictional technology of the Magneto drive uses the Earth's magnetic field to counteract gravity. The Magneto drive is used in all forms of modern transport, from cars and buses to cruise liners - and a new breed of racing vehicles, which have evolved from Formula 1 racing cars.

Plot

Jason Chaser is an fourteen-year-old independent hover car racer, who along with his autistic adoptive little brother, Bug, compete in regional races in their hover car, the Argonaut. They hope to one day reach the professional circuits, even though they are outclassed by faster hovercar models.

During a local derby, Jason catches the eye of Scott Syracuse, a representative from the famous International Race School, who is impressed with Jason's skill. He offers the team a place at the IRC. Jason accepts, and he and Bug got to Tasmania to study hover car racing alongside the fastest amateur racers in the world. Jason is paired with the Scottish Mech Chief Sally McDuff, who manages the pitwork, and is mentored by Syracuse. To Jason's disappointment, Syracuse stresses theory and strategy rather than practice on the track.

During the first few races, Jason is outclassed and bullied - both on and off the track - by the other racers who all consider him inferior: the perfect Xavier Xonora who wins every race; his aloof classmates Isaiah Washington and Horatio Wong; and Barnaby Becker, an arrogant competitor from Jason's hometown. Jason's only friend is Ariel Piper, the only female racer in the IRC, who faces discrimination from other students and teachers, including Principal Jean-Pierre LeClerq.

At the IRC, the top four racers go on to compete for a chance at the New York Masters, a professional hover car race, which could land potential contracts and earn recognition from sponsors. Unfortunately, Jason and Ariel face several counts of sabotage as they try to rise in the ranks. However, Jason and Ariel both manage to qualify for the Sponsors Tournament, a stepping stone to the Masters, alongside Barnaby and Xavier. Jason gains Syracuse's respect and as a reward, Syracuse introduces Jason to Umberto Lombardi, the boisterous but friendly owner of a private racing team. Ariel and Jason's friendship becomes soured when Ariel agrees to spend the night with Fabian, a ruthless, yet influential French professional racer.

In the final IRC races, Jason beats out Ariel in a match and Fabian rejects her for being a loser and implies that women aren't good enough to race professionally. Jason and Ariel make up and she continues to support him in the rest of his matches. Jason continues on and beats Barnaby by default after Barnaby's team is caught tampering with Sally's magneto drives on camera. In the final round against Xavier, Jason loses, but the crowd cheers more loudly for him than Xavier, respecting his hard work. Later on, Lombardi offers Jason and his team the opportunity to participate in the third race of the Masters Series, the Italian Run, as part of his team. Jason and Bug eagerly accept.

While preparing for the race in the Argonaut-II, Jason meets Dido Emanuele, a beautiful Italian girl whom he begins a relationship with; and Ravi Gupta, a sly bookmaker who constantly questions Jason on his strategy. Fabian challenges Jason to one on one match, but Jason has Ariel secretly take his place in order to redeem herself. She soundly beats Fabian and smugly reveals herself to embarrass him in front of the media. During the Italian Run itself, Jason encounters trouble constantly, which culminates in his tailfin spontaneously exploding in the final race, which causes the Argonaut-II to crash into the water. Jason narrowly manages to save the Bug from the doomed Argonaut-II when another car hits the wreckage and is knocked unconscious for two days.

Jason recovers quickly but he admits to Dido his fears about racing. Back at IRC, several other racers begin playing dirty tricks on him to shatter his fragile confidence. With the help of Bug and Sally, Jason rebuilds his confidence and rises up the school racing ladder once more.

The night before the final race, Jason overhears Principal Jean-Pierre LeClerq and pit manager Werold Smythe discussing planting a virus on Ariel's pit robot, revealing to be Jason and Ariel's saboteurs. Jason warns Ariel and the attempt to plant a virus on her pit robot backfires. Jason manages to gain a lead over Barnaby, whom he needs to beat to qualify for the Masters. Barnaby attempts to kamikaze Jason but Bug manages to run over the finish line before Barnaby can win. The final four are Xavier, Varishna, Ariel and Jason. LeClerq and Smythe are sacked from the Race School after their sabotage is discovered. Jason realizes Dido has been feeding Xavier and Barnaby information about his fears and strategies and he breaks up with her.

Jason, Ariel, Xavier and Varishna head to New York to compete in the Challenger's Race, where the winner will have the chance to participate in the New York Masters series. Jason and his team strategize on how to defeat Xavier but contend that he is a perfect driver. After watching the tapes, Jason realizes that Xavier's downfall is his arrogance. In the race, Ariel and Varishna are eliminated but Jason takes advantage of Xavier's arrogance to overtake him.

After teaming up with Lombardi's team, Jason and Bug head to the New York Masters and slowly climb to the top of the rankings. Their efforts are made more difficult by Fabian, who despises Jason after the earlier humiliation, and Fabien's team-mate Etienne Troveau. Jason joins them and the current world champion Alessandro Romba in the final race. After managing to trick Troveau and Fabian into crashing and eliminating themselves, Jason pulls a slight lead against Romba, only for the Argonaut to suffer from another tailfin explosion meters from the finish line. In a last desperate maneuver, Jason uses his car's ejector seat to fire himself across the finish line, thus winning the championship.

Romba genuinely congratulates Jason on his win. It is then revealed that Ravi Gupta is responsible for the tailpin explosions, having tried to ensure his bets on Jason would win. As Team Argonaut accept their victory, Lombardi gives Jason a full-time racing position with Team Lombardi.

Major themes

The novel is aimed primarily at a teenage demographic. It bears some resemblance to Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game or Harry Potter, with each of these novels featuring harrowing situations thrust upon young protagonists in a school-like environment.

The book was originally released for free online, in eight parts, before being published in hard-cover format. It was followed by a paperback edition in 2005 to appeal more to a younger market. The first part of the story can be read here.

Teaching Resources

A package of teaching resources was created in early 2006 by Brendan McKinnon.[1] The resources are aimed at giving students from the age of 12 to 16 a more thorough understanding of Hover Car Racer and help them to improve their skills in the areas of English, Geography and History.

Included in the resources are:

Film adaptation

Disney bought the rights to the film when the book was still only a manuscript, and has begun the screen-writing process.[2] Currently it is unknown when the movie will begin production, though the rights are still with Disney as of 2010.

In January 2012, it was announced that Dan Harris was working on the script, which will be entitled "Hovercar".[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/resources/TN-HoverCarRacer.pdf
  2. ↑ Dunkley, Cathy (Jul. 21, 2004). Disney hovers over 'Racer'. Variety.
  3. ↑

External links