Champion

Marie Lu

Book 3 of the Legend Trilogy.

Final installment, and we pick up 5 months later. June is in training for the Senate leadership in the Republic, Day is hanging out with his brother Eden, both getting treatment. A cease fire has been negotiated with the Colonies and work is proceeding on an actual peace treaty. And then there is another plague outbreak, blame abounds, peace is off the table and the war is full bore again. June is obviously part of the mix as part of her senate work, and Day is pulled back in. Battle, Tension, Clever Solution, Resolution.

What I probably find most interesting about this trilogy is the presentation of 3 distinct societies that have developed in this dystopian future. There are the Colonies "A Free State is a Corporate State" where people are "free" to choose which corporation to work for. Every part of life is commercialized. For example, call the police whenever you want and they will, as a fee for service, investigate your crime or protect your victimization. Can't afford the fee, the police don't exist. Same with food, education, housing, etc. So clearly an "other" class will exist. There is the Republic, that began under martial law to quell riots, and maintained the authoritarian ruling structure. Here the military and the wealthy have power, and the "others" live in squalor, or don't live at all. The power structure institutes mandatory trials at age 13 to sort the populace into privileged, poor, and expendable. Finally there is the society portrayed from Antarctica, technologically and militarily superior. Obviously a cultural melting pot with no native populations, this society is built on the gamification of cultural norms. Every citizen gains points for doing things beneficial to society (going to school, picking up litter, being respectful, etc.) and has points deducted for poor behavior (cheating on a test). The computer keeps track and peoples rank in society (including wealth and standard of living and political power) is based on the accumulation of these good points. In addition, your point total and every increase/decrease based on your actions is publicly visible at all times. We did not spend enough time in Antarctica to see the "other" class, but I was thinking about the difference between people who had to get all their points 1 at a time by watering plants, compared to those who could gather 100's by completing school, or some other task that was not commonly available.

I guess I like thinking about societies and culture. While this little bit of thinking does not make the entire series a must read, it was engaging and largely satisfying. But I don't think it really holds up (still feels like something that was popular 5 years ago). So unless this is what you love, Wait.