Waiting On Wednesday

What I’m Reading: Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

What I’m Working On: Adding layers to backstory. Motivation.

Waiting on Wednesday

What?
GENESIS by Bernard Beckett
Release date: April 20, 2009
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Synopsis:
Set on a remote island in a post-apocalyptic, plague-ridden world, this electrifying novel is destined to become a modern classic.

Anax thinks she knows her history. She’d better. She’s now facing three Examiners, and her grueling all-day Examination has just begun. If she passes, she’ll be admitted into the Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society.

But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught isn’t the whole story. And that the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be.

In this brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity, Anax’s examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what special status could humanity still claim?

Outstanding and original, Beckett’s dramatic narrative comes to a stunning close. This perfect combination of thrilling page-turner and provocative novel of ideas demands to be read again and again.

Why:
I’ve been quite interested in the post-apocalyptic, teen-angst story set lately. Maybe it was Hunger Games or perhaps it’s my writer pal’s new story. I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just the times we’re in, but I think new versions of 1984 will soon be the rage. Can’t wait to read this!