Important details of people, events, and places from Antigone are woven into the greater dystopian backdrop which includes exploration of subjects like love, freedom, duty and power, both on personal and societal levels. Yet Roth manages to pull it off, using the setting to her advantage.
When her parents are murdered, however, Antigone and her sister are taken in by their traitorous uncle Kreon who keeps his nieces alive even after seizing the throne because of the value they represent: vessels to bring forth the future generation.Īs you can see, there’s no shortage of challenges to writing a sci-fi reimagining of an ancient classic, which requires bringing together elements that by all accounts should not mix well or readily.
Instead, most choose to procreate by selecting desirable traits for their offspring from the Archive, with those who were conceived the natural way shunned for being soulless.įor this reason, Antigone and her siblings are considered outcasts in their society, despite their parents Oedipus and Jocasta being the leaders of the last city where the remnants of humanity still cling to life. Every person still living is a gift, every viable womb precious, but women no longer have children naturally. To preserve what’s left of humanity, the genetic material of those who die are extracted and stored away in a repository called the Archive. We are on Earth, but the planet has become a wasteland. There’s a lot to appreciate about Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth, not least of which is how closely this sci-fi retelling hews to the original Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. Not gonna lie, I probably should’ve been paying more attention in high school when my Lit class did Antigone, but hey, apparently enough got through. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. I received a review copy from the publisher. Book Review: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
0 kommentar(er)
