Renegades

Marissa Meyer
Book 1 of the Renegades Trilogy

First, my pet peeve. I got tricked, and it was my own fault. But then it happened again. I just assumed this was a one off. I even saw that Meyer was famous for a 4 part series called the Lunar Chronicles. Why would I assume this was a single book? Don't know, but I specifically thought how nice that a sci-fi/fantasy writer would break the mold and write a single book. I had no evidence pointing me that direction, but that is where I went. With about 50 pages left, I realized my mistake. There is no way this could wrap in 50 pages. At the end, at least there was an ad, "Don't miss the thrilling conclusion to Renegades, coming November 2018". Ah, relief. A 2-book series, and I can get the 2nd already at my library. [Spoiler Alert] False advertising. The same thing happened at the end of the 2nd book, with the "exciting conclusion" coming in Fall 2019. Now this story will rattle around in my head for the next 8 months.

As to the book, it is good. Classic dystopian, young-adult storyline with teen hero/heroine who are exploring who they are as people, and slowly falling in love. The world Meyer has created is one were people with special powers (called prodigies) have finally come out into the open. These people have been around for all of history, but were generally killed as witches, or hid their talents. Nova (our teen heroine) is part of a group called the Anarchists. Her uncle was a powerful leader of prodigies who fought for the right to be openly prodigious, and in the process destroyed government and civil order as part of the fight. Adrian (our teen hero) is part of the Renegades. These prodigies banded together to stop crime and restore order. His dads are two of the five supreme council members who have also fallen into governing since their crimefighting was successful.

The tension (in addition to the normal teen dating) here is about government, freedom and authoritarianism. The Renegades have power, and good intentions. The have strict codes of conduct to ensure Renegade prodigies are abusing power. But they do everything. The result is that normal people have become reliant and do not have a self-sufficient culture (a kid trips and falls in the street, don't help the kid up but call in a Renegade patrol and walk away). The Anarchists promote individual freedom for all. They fear power (even benevolent power) and are sure the Renegade authoritarian structure will lead to disaster. But they also crave and abuse power.

In this context, Nova and Adrian both walk (secretly) in both worlds. This first volume introduces the world, introduces our protagonists and their private dilemma's. I guess I can't say whether this is outstanding until the entire thing is done.
3 stars (out of 4)