Anthem by Ayn Rand is a captivating story that takes place in a dystopian society. In this society everyone is the same. The idea of personalities and uniqueness is eliminated. The main character is Equality and compared to others in his world, Equality is different because he thinks uniquely and acts differently. Equality goes against society and in secret he makes a discovery that will forever change his life.
Anthem takes place in a futuristic world in which society functions as one collective whole. “I” does not exist, only “we.” The novel explores themes of freedom, human will, and individuality. You are introduced to the narrator, Equality 7-2521, through this writing style of only using collective pronouns. The book, while quite short, teaches you important values about humanity through the eyes of a person “rediscovering” it.
Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer, is a stylistically incredible story of survival. The novel follows a Biologist, thrown into an anomalous environment that seems to have a mind of its own. She is set to discover the source of the anomaly along with several other specialists with dubious motives. With a rich exploration of the Biologist’s mind, an environment that falls perfectly into the uncanny valley, and undercurrents of mystery, distrust, and unreliability, VanderMeer creates an incredible and engaging story.
Catching Fire is an amazing second book in The Hunger Games series. It shows Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark’s victory tour and their struggles with being a “fake couple” for the media. It shows them returning to their homes in District Twelve. Katniss later has a forced meeting with President Snow. He says he doesn’t like the trick she pulled with the berries to show her defiance from the Capitol, and it’s starting an uprising.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a thrilling dystopian novel about a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen and her journey to survive the Hunger Games. Katniss lives in the broken, North American country of Panem, which comprises twelve districts and one Capitol. Each district produces a different good, such as coal or fish. These goods are later sent to the Capitol for them to have, and the districts are left with barely any food or money for themselves.
Slaughterhouse-five is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a prisoner during war and time travels throughout the novel because he is held captive by aliens called the Tralfamadorians. He was captured as a prisoner after the bombing in Dresden, Germany. This was an intriguing book to read. First, the novel is not written in chronological order but rather jumps around different times of Billy's life. At first, this made it difficult to read because it was hard to keep track of events.
Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner presents a unique take on science fiction. It alternates between fast action and slow, rich, thoughtful, and visually stunning exposition and plot development. The movie, based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, is set in 2019 Los Angeles, in an alternate future where flying cars, rain, and animated advertisements dominate the skyline.
After the shocking truth about Oak’s parentage, Jude must do everything in her power to keep Oak safe, even if that means puppeteering High King Cardan. But being the King’s seneschal isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially if it means controlling Cardan. Jude must weave her way through arising conflicts with the land and sea and must not let the power eat her alive. In this novel, Jude must figure out which “friend” means to betray her, and who she can truly rely on.
The Giver is a novel written by Lois Lowry. The main character, Jonas, lives in a seemingly utopian society. This community is rigorous, has many rules, and is all about order. Many of the privileges given to the children are decided at different ages. When turning 12, the "Elders’ assign the kids their jobs. Jonas is assigned a rare job, the Receiver of Memory.
None of this should have happened. If Ty, golden boy, and top student at the Aurora academy hadn’t decided to go for a midnight flight the day before he was supposed to pick his squad. He wouldn’t have seen the distress beacon or found Aurora, a girl who was a passenger on a ship that went missing 200 years ago. If he hadn’t decided to play the hero, he would have had the pick of the top graduates for his team instead he got stuck with the bottom of the barrel.
