virch

Mind-bending, fast-paced YA sci-fi with heart.

In the year 2154, virtual reality is an enticing escape… but just for the privileged. For others, like sixteen-year-old Liv, reality means living by a contaminated bay that’s sickened her little sister to the brink of death.

Liv is determined to find a cure. She ventures to a mysterious tropical island to infiltrate a tech empire owned by the world’s most powerful man.

When she encounters his son, Wolf, she’s shocked. He isn’t the shallow celebrity portrayed in the virtual world—he’s an idealist with heart, committed to righting his father’s wrongs. And when Wolf promises to help save her sister, he might just capture Liv’s heart, too.

But as Liv and Wolf confront a danger beyond anything they could have imagined, they must unravel the deadly scheme at the core of the tech empire. And their world starts to crumble . . . just as they’re falling in love.

Rooted in futuristic science and ancient wisdom, Virch explores truth and illusion, human and environmental rights, and the forces of love behind it all.

praise

*Kirkus Review Editor’s Pick* (Sept 2024 issue)

“Quick pacing and naturalistic dialogue, along with a series of authentic twists and turns, make for an action-packed yet frequently philosophical look at what makes us human. An expert blend of SF yarn, thriller, and romance that results in a compulsively readable and imaginative novel.”

—Kirkus, STARRED (full review here)

Virch offers a masterful blend of fast-paced adventure, epic world-building, complex relationships, and ideas that might just blow your mind – or at least your perceptions of reality! Written in beautiful yet snappy prose, Resau’s novel is refreshingly engaged with the damage that greed, inequality, overabundant technology, and environmental abuse can wreak on a planet. Inhabitants of Virch’s futuristic world must come to see the beauty and fleetingness of all things —and reading this book is a reminder that we must too.

— Joanne Rendell, Co-author of the System Divine Trilogy

“Nothing is what it seems in Laura Resau’s beautifully written new science fiction novel. As always, Resau deals with social issues just as deftly as she handles provocative ideas that keep the reader guessing. Highly recommend this new foray from a masterful writer.”

— Amy Kathleen Ryan, Author of the Sky Chasers trilogy

"A whirlwind novel that combines everything I love—characters you want to root for, fiery relationships, and mind-bending concepts—into a fast-paced, lyrically written sci-fi adventure. This is a book people will be talking about."

—Todd Mitchell, American Fiction Awards winning author of The Namer of Spirits 

“An intricate race for redemption and love, VIRCH had me questioning my own reality in the most entertaining way. Get comfy, you won’t want to put this book down!”

—Leigh Statham, author of the Daughter 4254 series

"Brimming with lyrical prose and the sweetness of first love, this sci-fi will leave you breathless and asking yourself: real or not real?"

— Emily Layne, Author of Of Starlight and Bone

“What a cool, twisty, mind-bending novel VIRCH is! Laura Resau has built an immersive future world that will keep readers guessing about what's real with every page turn--and asking big questions about where our own high-tech society may be heading. High stakes, layered characters, and sweet romance round out a story readers will find impossible to put down. I won't soon forget Liv, Wolf, and the incredible world of VIRCH!”

—Tara Dairman, Author of The Girl from Earth’s End

“VIRCH is a mind-blowing world-saving adventure/romance/sci-fi journey of reality, ethics, human nature, and love. ALL THE STARS!!!”

— Melissa Taylor of Imagination Soup

“Adult and YA readers alike will find so much to adore. Indeed, I find it so thought-provoking (what is real? Could our world be virch? By extension, in what ways do we tell ourselves stories that are real to us, but perhaps could use some investigation?) that I can't stop thinking about it. Plus, as with all Laura's books, there is flat-out fabulous writing. There's attention paid to craft, artistry, sensory detail, setting, and wise reflections about our interior lives / motivations / yearnings. And on top of all that, it's just a twisty-turny great STORY! Highly recommend.

— Laura Pritchett, PEN USA Award winning author

resources

Read Laura’s guest post about VIRCH for YA Books Central here.

Read Laura’s guest post about her revisions on VIRCH at The Writer’s Attic here.

Read the full starred Kirkus review:

In Resau’s SF novel, a teenage girl travels to a tropical island to learn the secrets behind a tech empire and save her dying sister in the process.

The year is 2154 and 16-year-old Liv is on a mission to save her younger sister, Shell. Sickened by living in a “contaminated, off-limits zone by the Chesapeake Bay,” Shell is preserved in a state of suspended animation in which she’s “technically dead with the potential for revival.” But in only two months, her “hibernation” will max out and Shell will die forever. This compels Liv to join an internship program on a remote island, ostensibly to learn about the dazzling technological advances of the Virch Empire, the tech company responsible for making the virtual-reality lenses almost everyone wears.

In reality, however, Liv intends to find a cure for her sister. She finds unexpected help when she meets Wolf, the rogue son of the Virch Empire’s founder. Disillusioned with his father’s work and at odds with his corrupted brother, Spiro, Wolf teams up with Liv as they stumble upon plans for Project Dragon—a horrific bioweapon that could help Wolf’s father gain the immortality he so desperately seeks. With Liv’s visionary lucid dreams guiding the way, she and Wolf struggle to find answers as they become increasingly unsure of what is reality and what is illusion.

Resau has created a heroine who is smart, determined, and vulnerable—a dynamic combination that is sure to keep readers hooked. While there are some lighthearted moments (high-tech gadgets like the virtual reality “virchlenses” exist alongside old-fashioned hand sanitizers), the majority of the novel is a tense save-the-world journey leavened by a budding romance. Quick pacing and naturalistic dialogue, along with a series of authentic twists and turns, make for an action-packed yet frequently philosophical look at what makes us human.

An expert blend of SF yarn, thriller, and romance that results in a compulsively readable and imaginative novel.