Veronica Roth’s Arch-Conspirtitor had all the makings of a great book. The premise is based on the Greek tragedy of Antigone, the girl who rises up alone. She will defy her uncle and ultimately dies young. There is also a war between siblings, death, and sadness. Antigone is enough of a story to base a new book on. But Roth took Antigone and added a new layer of depth to it. It takes place in a dystopia, in one of the last cities. Children are no longer born naturally but selected from existing cells and reproduced. This selection puts a limit on new humans and gene diversity. They do all this because of religion (waves hand). When you die, your gametes are harvested through a device inserted below your belly button. To not do so is the ultimate dishonor to someone.
The rest of the story could be more straightforward, but the amount of information is too much for a tiny novella-length story. I had difficulty sifting through all the elements of Greek mythos and science fiction to make a cohesive story. I like Veronica Roth, Insurgent and Carve the Mark are exciting and well-thought-out storylines. Arch-Conspirator is a good idea that aimed for too much and fell short. It has just too much going on for me to recommend it.
3/5
