Read about the other entries on the list.The Scorpion Rules, by Erin Bow.
In Bow’s third novel, war and shifts in the planet’s climate have decimated the world’s resources, and society transforms to adapt. Under the bloody rule of the all-powerful artificial intelligence that keeps order under threat of death, new countries and ruling regions are formed, and it’s from these new powerful states that the “Children of Peace” come. In Bow’s world, the way these new countries maintain their tenuous peace is by keeping the children of the world’s leaders hostage at a Precepture, part work camp, part prison, part school. If their parents declare or accept a declaration of war, their children are executed.
It’s in the Precepture that protagonist Greta, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy, learns about history, culture, politics…and the grit required to die with grace, knowing full well that if her superpower country declares war, the A.I. that maintains the weapons of the world will kill her. The goal is to save humanity from itself, as mankind teeters on the edge of chaos over the most important natural resource: water. With its fun blend of dystopia, sci-fi, and political intrigue, The Scorpion Rules is an exciting novel full of high stakes and big questions about war and humanity. I’m eagerly awaiting the companion novel.
--Marshal Zeringue
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