I picked this up with pretty low expectations, a product of dystopia fatigue. Woah boy was I proven wrong. Mark my words, this one should hit big. Hopefully Harry Potter or Hunger Games big. I blew through over 400 pages in a single afternoon, forgoing dinner in order to find out what happened next.

Insignia is everything that the dystopian genre was made for. Kincaid cribbed right from the headlines: countries run by dirty corporate money, wars fought with public funds for private wealth, and a world nearing ecological collapse, where food and even water itself is copyright protected.

The plot dragged me at a breakneck pace towards the triumphant finish: a high-stakes battle fought by teenagers piloting spaceships with computers implanted in their brains. The rest is just as enthralling: high-stakes hackers, diabolical corporate fatcats, and grizzled war veterans vie for the exploitative control of the young soldiers billed as the charismatic face of a war fought for corporate profit. While the battlefields are in space, the war is over Democracy and free will -- both for sale to the highest, and most ruthless, bidder.

The Occupy Wall Street generation will find plenty here to mesh neatly with their political ennui, bleak economic futures, and lives ruled by technology. Plus, with a full cast of vibrant secondary characters, teens are sure to find someone to relate to.

Highly, highly recommended.