As I read a lot of free kindle books, many are self-published, and many are the result of writing competitions. When that happens, I find it interesting to see how common starting points can result in totally differing books. Now, I don't know if that has happened with Rift, but there are definite initial similarities to The Hunger Games: Once a year a group of newly graduated (from High School) students get selected for Service to the State. The students don't get a choice in where they serve, or whether they serve, but get taken from their home towns and villages for the greater good.
The blurb says:
In the ruins of what was once North America lays the Covenant, a nation forged by the iron will of the Moon people, who descended from their dusty refuge on the Moon after the Fall. The Moon people are wealthy, ruled by a strong government who protects its citizens from the dangers from outside their borders. Their greatest achievement is having learned the secret of immortality, and every citizen has the opportunity to live nearly forever if they choose to, a life of riches and abundance.
The English are the descendants of the original inhabitants of this place, and they live very different lives from that of the Moon people. They only live to serve the greater good, and citizenship is something few have the opportunity to earn. At the age of fifty all non-citizens are subjected to mandatory euthanasia. In order to maintain a sustainable society, they are told.
Every year a number of girls and boys at the age of eighteen are selected for Service to the State. The brightest and most talented are sent to become Students. The strong, the fighters and the athletes become Janissaries, a band of soldiers protecting the northern border from the enemies of the Covenant. The Wardens, a secretive organization known to operate far to the west, near the Rift, which makes up the border to the wastelands, sometimes choses one or two initiates, but nobody knows what becomes of them. And then there is the Corpus, where the whip rules and backs are bent.
Those who complete their Service, may become citizens. And although they will never be equal to the Moon people, they will have access to all the riches and opportunities granted by the Covenant leadership to its citizens.
As Sue is nearing Selection Day, she secretly hopes to be chosen, despite having to leave her mother and brother behind. She doesn't crave glory or wealth though. A man or woman with citizen status can do a lot of good, and although few return to their home towns, Sue hopes to return to give her family a better life on the other side of Service.
But the Covenant is rotten to the core, and as she begins to learn its secrets, Sue must question everything she has always taken for granted. Soon she will find herself in dire peril, for she has seen the truth and there will be no turning back after that...
This science fiction dystopian trilogy is set more than two centuries after the events of Exodus, in a future dystopian society forged from the ashes of global disaster.
Yeah yeah, I know that my two favourite genres are SciFi and dystopia, so when I come across a book that starts a series I will get absorbed and buy the whole series. I know that it will be of no surprise to you to discover that has happened again, and I ended up buying and reading Covenant and Legacy too, but it had to be done - honest!!
So, Rift follows the story of Sue. She is well educated and wants to go into Service so she can eventually become a Citizen and help her family have a better life. She becomes an initiate to the Janissaries - military service designed to keep the English and the Moon people safe from the French and other outsiders, thankful to have avoided service to the Corpus - chain gangs used to mine the earth for raw materials often resulting in illness and death.
During her time with the Janissaries, Sue becomes captured by the French and is treated humanely in a hospital - nothing like the monsters and imagery that she has been fed with. She discovers more corruption and starts to question everything to do with the Covenant and the Moon people - the saviours and masters of the English.
An amazing series. The author is really good at conveying the emotion, thrilling, cliff-hangers and menace as you get your head around this future dystopia for Earth. Loved it.
I hadn't actually realised that this series is a sequel to The Exodus Trilogy, and not having the previous knowledge, did not distract from this series at all. I have added the previous series to my wishlist.
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