Under Siege

Morris Nelson, 16, has been plucked out of school for Christmas and forced, as he sees it, into the torture of a broken-family holiday. His father is gone, and the boy has to shuttle between relatives with his distraught mother. But at Uncle Patrick's house, Morris finds something that takes his mind away from his troubles: a beautiful model castle, part of a computer war game. Morris makes contact with one of the toy warriors, to whom he appears a god. Explaining the warrior's autonomy as a detail of the sophisticated game, Morris still cannot help but intervene. His meddling, however, is futile, and only serves to show him something about human experience when he sees that he cannot save the models he has grown to love. As is common with computer-game novels, the narrative never quite melds the game with troubled real life. Although Morris's story doesn't seem to reach any meaningful conclusions, the game promises to continue under a new guise. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)