David Davies's Reviews > 7th Sigma

** spoiler alert ** Its basically several short stories that follow Kimble (the main character)over the course of 6 or 7 years as he grows up from a runaway boy (escaping an abusive father who we never meet, he's already been living on the streets for a while when we first meet him) of about 11, while living in an area of the USA that has become kind of primitive due to metal eating bugs that cover a huge are of the country. Because of the bugs people have to do without many of todays technologies such as cars, telephones, radio and such and have to live a more primitive life (people who want to enter the area have to be without even metal fillings as it can cause the bugs to swarm and attack to get at the metal)
Kimble has several adventures while growing up, including meeting different forms of the bugs (which seem to be evolving into new shapes, like a not-dog, not-crow, not-mule as he terms them) and helping out the local law as a underage spy, all this while learning aikido with his sensei who moved to the area after a bad divorce who decides to start a dojo.
All in all a great read. I havent read the author's Jumber stories but if they are this good i'l give them a go.