Monday, February 17, 2014

2014 book challenge: month 2, book 2

O.k., this month wasn't much of a challenge. The topic, "near future / postapocalyptic dystopia," is one I often read, and the book, Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac (2013), is one I probably would've read, anyway. Still, I believe that self-improvement consists not only of getting our weaknesses up to standard, but also building on our strengths. To be a reader's advisory "expert" on a topic includes keeping up to date.

The disaster in this one is a "Cloud" that knocks out all electricity, with the result that scores of genetically modified monsters are set free from their cages, and society quickly re-arranges itself in a brutal form of feudalism.

In having a Native American (American Indian, NDN, whatever name you're most comfortable with) protagonist, the author deliberately makes the point that Indigenous people do not just belong to the past, but are in the present and will be a part of the future.

It's interesting to note that the plot interweaves Apache folklore and videogame structure. The teenaged protagonist and narrator, Lozen, draws on the folk stories for inspiration to kill various monsters, gaining fighting experience, acquiring useful items, and making helpful allies as she fulfills a series of quests. The main quest is to free her family from a prison-like feudal compound (literally a repurposed penitentiary), and yes, there is a powerful boss to defeat at the end.

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