“Readers will be transfixed by this novel” — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review). Daniela Machados can run. She’s the track star of Bronx City and an ace student, but that isn’t enough for a nope like her to get out of the barrio.The Orderist movement has spawned a society that rewards those who supposedly possess “merit,” which includes America’s wealthiest. Manhattan has become the capital of the … become the capital of the forty-nine Orderist-led states, while California suffers under an economic embargo. Cities such as Manhattan have become cocoons where the so called “highborn” enjoy the pleasures of farm-grown food and private parks, while their outwardly perfect children are protected by floating nanny-like drones that follow them everywhere.
Daniela has grown up fighting for the chance to attend college beyond the desperation of Bronx City. The chance to attend the elite Tuck School—a place where even the highborn struggle to obtain a spot—is too great an opportunity to ignore. But what do the richies really want from her?
Daniela is thrust into a world very different than the one she expected, a place where both treachery and honor are camouflaged behind beautiful faces. Intrigue and peril soon engulf her, and Daniela learns those at society’s apex will stop at nothing to preserve their so-called order, but their enemies are no less ruthless. Betrayal is everywhere, but it is a girl from Bronx City who holds the future in her hands. Daniela may have a chance to change the world, if it does not change her first.
Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as the novel to revitalize the dystopian genre, Age of Order has the atmosphere of Blade Runner, the intrigue of Orphan Black and the emotional struggle of Slum Dog Millionaire. Grab it.
“The most prescient dystopian novel since 1984.” — DystopianRealm.com Reviews
Kindle Book Review Awards Winner – Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel
Los Angeles Book Festival – Best Science Fiction Novel
CYGNUS Award Finalist – Best Science Fiction Novel
CIPA EVVY Award Finalist – Best Science Fiction Novel
LYRA Award Winner, Best YA Novel
Eric R Hoffer Award (Honorable Mention, Best E-Book)
Kirkus Reviews Starred Novel
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Read for 2021 SPSFC
Overall Thoughts
Wow. Just wow. Take the best parts of The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Snow Crash, and Brave New World, and bundle them together. That’s what I got out of this story. This is one of those books were I was eager to dive in every time, and had to stop myself from reading “just one more” chapter. The characters are deep and have arcs, the setting is awesome, and I want to read more books to find out about the larger plot. The story takes the viewpoint of a girl in a second class society with the chance to see and experience the upper echelons of a very stratified future USA. I thoroughly recommend it, but if you need more, here are the rest of my thoughts:
Plot
The first chapter or two was a little slow, but I could already tell some of the larger social and economic issues that would be tackled in this book. Once Daniela Machado, a Latinx girl from Bronx City, accepts an invite to the most prestigious of Manhattan schools, Tuck, the story takes off. The biggest part that drew me in is that the reader can tell from the beginning that something is deeply suspicious about the whole setup, but there are enough clues to keep you just one step ahead of the characters. The plotting and tension are excellent, leaving the reader satisfied and wanting to know the answer to the next question. There is as much said in what happens as what doesn’t, and I was thrilled with a particularly satisfying plot twist near the end. The book ends in a way that could be a standalone, but leaves the larger world open for future stories, which there are, and I will be reading!
Setting
Near-future New York includes the advancement of many dystopian elements we’ve all seen increasing over the last few years, with the separation of the elite and lower class, authoritarian measures of control, and increasingly one-sided politics. The future in this book is both dystopian, and one I could believe would happen. This is often the issue I have with dystopian books, where I cannot make the connection between our current reality and the fictional one. This story did not have that problem. But there is another side to the worldbuilding as well, and that is in the awesome future tech on display. From realistic virtual assistants, to advances in genetic engineering, to new security and protection measures, all the advancements seem just as realistic as the society, and its inclusion both allows and encourages the progression of the plot in the best way.
Character
I love these characters. All of them. Even the bad ones. There are the petty rivals from many YA books, including Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, the geniuses with flaws more often seen in adult books, and those characters that are molded and expected to act one way by society, yet have secret layers to them. I won’t elaborate on this one because it’s sort of a spoiler, but such a person is my favorite character.
There are some great character arcs, especially with Daniela transitioning from the eat-to-survive, dangerous society of the have-nots to the power-grabbing, wealthy society of the genetically tweaked highborn. But all the characters have their share of growth, helping her on her journey.
My one detraction from this book, overall, is that there is no LGBTQ+ content. There doesn’t have to be a lot, especially if the authoritarian state has made that type of diversity illegal, but I would have liked at least a hint of how queer society functions in this book, whether undercover or out in the open. I can only hope that’s taken into consideration in future books.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
Temporary score until more books in the contest are read: An action packed look at future tech in a dystopian society with all the right plotting to keep you reading. 9/10. I almost gave this one a 10, but the lack of queer content knocked it down a peg.