'From dystopian visionary and bestselling phenomenon Veronica Roth comes a razor-sharp reimagining of Antigone. In Arch-Conspirator, Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.
'Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.
'Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest. But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.'
Veronica Roth is a name that some science fiction fans will instantly recognise; having shot to fame with the release of her first book, Divergent, that focused on a young woman fighting back against an oppressive regime. Since then her books have only grown in popularity, and fans have been enjoying more work from her. Her latest science fiction novella once again deals with a young woman trapped in an oppressive world; but does so in a very different way. Arch-Conspirator mixes post apocalypse science fiction with ancient mythology as Roth reinvents Antigone.
In Arch-Conspirator, Antigone and her siblings, her sister Ismene, her twin brother Polynices, and her other brother Eteocles, are the children of deposed, deceased leaders of the sealed off community that they like in. The world outside has been ravaged by radiation, and the last remnants of humanity have gathered together behind the walls of their city to try and survive. Over the generations their community has developed new systems and ways of existing; and this has led to a society where people no longer reproduce naturally, instead choosing the genetic material of deceased people to birth clones. Antigone and her siblings are different, however, born the natural way.
After the deaths of their parents, the four of them have come to live with their uncle, Creon, who has taken over as leader. Due to having been conceived the natural way, people see Antigone and her siblings as being without souls, and their existence is barely tolerated. As such, when Polynices tries to assassinate his uncle and is killed in the attempt Creon refuses to allow Polynices genetic material to be stored like everyone else's. With only a handful of hour to save her brothers 'soul' Antigone is prepared to go against her uncle's laws to do so; but doing so could lead to terrible repercussions.
Luckily for me, I wasn't familiar with the story of Antigone before reading this book, and as such much of what transpired here was fresh and new to me. The story was interesting, in part due to the world that Roth had crafted to go around it. We don't learn much about the world outside of this final city, other than the fact that it's unlivable and irradiated, nor do we learn much about the origins of the city and the strange traditions and practices that happen there. This is mainly because these things don't really matter to the characters. Yes, the setting informs their story because of the way people treat death and the process of harvesting DNA to survive afterwards; but the topic of how they got there doesn't really matter. You don't need to know all of American history to read a story set in New York for example.
It would have been easy to get bogged down in these kinds of details, to spend pages going into the history of this future that Roth has crafted; but this would have slowed things down quite considerably, and it would have taken away from the central focus, Antigone herself. Plus, this is a novella, so space is somewhat at a premium too. As it is, we get enough information so that we understand the motivations and the reasons as to why things happen, but get to keep the fast pace and easy to read quality that comes with the novella format.
The story of Antigone is the focus here, and despite the short length of the book and the multiple narrators I feel that there's a pretty good sense of who she is and what drives her. She's trapped in a world that's not designed for women to succeed, or even be seen as equal, and on top of that she's not even seen as a real person. The book puts her at the centre of her societies problems with people, it makes her the most hated and disliked, and then it makes her one of the most reasonable and smartest people there. Her struggles throughout the book, to be seen as a person, to be seen as more than just a walking womb, and to be listened to make her easy to connect with, as it's a struggle that a lot of women and feminine presenting people are dealing with right now.
Feminine people have always had it worse than masculine ones. Men rule over women, women are the weaker, meeker, and subservient people. Men are in charge, women have to obey. It's been baked into the majority of cultures for a while now. And whilst this notion has been fought against, and whilst more rights are slowly being won they're also constantly under attack. The US saw the overturning of the hugely important Roe V Wade, which has resulted in a roll back for women's bodily autonomy. Obviously, these were issues that were already effecting a lot of people, usually those in even more marginalised groups such as women of colour, but now it effects even more people. The result of this is a bigger focus on bodily autonomy and reproduction rights, particularly from those who'd not really have to consider it before. In some ways Arch-Conspirator feels like a result of this, a story where reproduction and women's rights are an important part of the world that's been created here. It's also worth noting that whilst these issues are often called women's rights it does effect people who aren't women, and Arch-Conspirator does acknowledge this with a brief mention of trans men and non-binary people.
Having now looked into the original story, it's interesting to see how Roth has adapted it to this new setting. There are a lot of similarities, and she's not just taken the names and transplanted them into a new tale. This is still very much Antigone, and I think that those who are familiar with the original story and enjoy seeing new versions be made will find some interesting stuff here that they will enjoy.
Perhaps my only real criticism with the book is that it's too short. The novella format works well here, and the story is paced really well to keep you interested, to give you lots to experience, and to leave you feeling satisfied. However, I'd have also have loved to have seen what Roth would have done with this story in a longer form. It would have been wonderful to see more of this world, to spend more time with the characters, and to have the experience of reading it to have lasted longer. But those are tiny gripes, and the book is still a fantastic read that I'm sure will leave folks feeling happy.
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