📖 Shards & Ashes

This book is a must read just because of the authors. I mean, how often do you get such a legendary collaboration of nine authors joining together to write their own stories in ONE book? Anyway, the authors write different dystopian worlds, so I will give a brief summary of each below: Hearken, by Veronica Roth: Hearken takes place in the future where people called Hearkeners get implants in order to hear life or death songs emitting out from others. The protagonist is Darya, a musical prodigy. Hearken follows Darya's choice to focus on either life or death songs as a Hearkener. Branded, by Kelley Armstrong: Branded takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where supernatural beings exist. Humans live in a fortress to be guarded from them, and Rayne, the protagonist, is inside one of them. Necklace of Raindrops, by Margaret Stohl: Necklace of Raindrops takes place in a society where, at birth, each person is given a "necklace of raindrops" to represent a measure of life. The more beads you have, the more time you have to live your life. However, some people choose to spend their beads in order to "live life to the fullest", using it for things like skydiving. When a person's beads are all used up, they must "drop" (die). Dogsbody, by Rachel Caine: Dogsbody is a dystopian plot where there is a class divide. The corporation holds power, and the ones below them suffer massively. The protagonist, Xaiver, is on a mission for revenge due to his suffering. Pale Rider, by Nancy Holder: Pale Rider takes place after some sort of collapse in society. People are in survival mode and supplies are scarce. Think of it as a post-apocalyptic society. Corpse Eaters, by Melissa Marr: Corpse Eaters takes place in a world where there is a god named Nidhogg. Along with him are reptile-like monsters who kidnap, eat, and sacrifice humans to Nidhogg. Burn 3, by Kami Garcia: Burn 3 takes place after The Burn, which was an ecological disaster comprised of ozone holes and environmental collapse in general. Humans live under domes for protection, and when Pheonix (the protagonist)'s sister goes missing, she must go out of the domes, into the dangerous areas to find her. Love is a Choice, by Beth Revis: A spaceship is transporting people to a new planet. In order to keep people "compliant", drugs are secretly used. This story explores the question of if people are better off living in harmony, with no idea that they are being controlled, or if the truth should always be known. Miasma, by Carrie Ryan: Miasma takes place in a town that is riddled with miasma, a sickness that carries airborn diseases and leads to death. Cathy, Frankie's (the protagonist's) sister, becomes sick with miasma. However, Frankie tries to hide it as Cathy would most likely be killed in order to prevent the disease from spreading. All in all, this book is a very fun one to read. It offers many different cases for a dystopian world and really broadens the horizon of "post-apocalyptic societies".

这本书仅凭作者阵容,便值得一读。毕竟九位传奇作家联袂创作各自故事,并将作品汇聚成册的盛况能有几次? 这些作者各自描绘了不同的反乌托邦世界,下面我将简要概述一下每部作品: 《聆听者》维罗妮卡·罗斯:故事发生在未来,人们植入特殊装置后能感知他人释放的生死之歌。主角达莉亚是位音乐天才,她必须抉择作为聆听者专注于生死之歌中的哪一种。 《烙印》凯莉·阿姆斯特朗著:故事发生在末日后的世界,超自然生物横行。人类躲在堡垒里躲避它们,女主角雷恩就住在其中一座堡垒里。 《雨滴项链》,玛格丽特·斯托尔著:故事设定在出生时每人获赠象征生命长度的"雨滴项链"的社会。珠子越多,生命越长。但有些人选择消耗珠子来"活出精彩",例如进行跳伞等极限运动。当珠子耗尽时,生命便会"坠落"(死亡)。 《杂役》,蕾切尔·凯恩著:这部反乌托邦小说描绘了阶级分化的世界。企业集团掌握权力,底层民众承受着巨大苦难。主角泽维尔因自身遭遇而踏上复仇之路。 《苍白骑士》,南希·霍尔德著:故事发生在社会崩溃之后。人们处于生存模式,物资极度匮乏。可将其视为末日后的社会图景。 《食尸者》梅丽莎·马尔著:故事发生在尼德霍格神统治的世界。这位神明麾下盘踞着爬虫类怪物,它们掳掠人类供奉祭祀,将生灵吞噬殆尽。 《燃烧3》,卡米·加西亚著:故事发生在"燃烧事件"之后——这场生态灾难由臭氧层空洞与全面环境崩溃构成。人类在穹顶下寻求庇护,当女主角菲尼克斯的妹妹失踪时,她必须踏出穹顶,深入危险区域展开搜寻。 《爱是一种选择》,贝丝·瑞维斯著:一艘太空船正将人类运往新星球。为维持民众"服从性",船员暗中施用药物。故事探讨了这样一个命题:人类是生活在和谐中、对自身受控毫无察觉更好,还是真相永远应当被知晓? 《瘴气》,作者:凯莉·瑞安:故事发生在瘴气肆虐的小镇,这种空气传播的致命疾病正蔓延蔓延。女主角法兰琪的妹妹凯茜染上瘴气,但法兰琪竭力隐瞒病情——因为凯茜很可能被处决以防疾病扩散。 总而言之,这部作品极具阅读趣味。它为反乌托邦世界提供了多元案例,真正拓展了"末日后社会"的想象疆界。