Arch-Conspirator

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When your time comes and you die, your ichor (soul and gene material) is extracted and stored in the archives. The prospective parents can wander the halls of the Archive and made a choice -be that looking for something like their parents or grandparents. It’s the closest thing to a designer baby that could be imaginable. Veronica Roth is the New York Times best-selling author of Arch-Conspirator, Poster Girl, Chosen Ones, the short story collection The End and Other Beginnings, the Carve the Mark duology, and the Divergent series. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and dog. Tragic and triumphant in equal measure. Roth is a storyteller who reaches new heights with every tale." - John Scalzi, bestselling author of The Kaiju Preservation Society

Arch-Conspirator (ARC) – Righter of Words Book Review | Arch-Conspirator (ARC) – Righter of Words

Clare thought that by now she would have her life figured out. Instead, she's living with her parents, working a job she hates and has absolutely no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life. I was on a balcony, nestled in ivy that grew only here, in the High Commander’s courtyard, where no amount of water scarcity in other parts of the city could convince Kreon to sacrifice beauty. People will permit a High Commander his small indulgences, I had heard him say once. It is such a difficult job. For this reason, Antigone and her siblings are considered outcasts in their society, despite their parents Oedipus and Jocasta being the leaders of the last city where the remnants of humanity still cling to life. When her parents are murdered, however, Antigone and her sister are taken in by their traitorous uncle Kreon who keeps his nieces alive even after seizing the throne because of the value they represent: vessels to bring forth the future generation.

I imagined he was right—it was a difficult job, keeping a tight fist for so long. But I wasn’t sure any amount of ivy could make this place beautiful to me. So when Kreon told us we were welcome to live in his house, I knew what the consequences would be: he would let Polyneikes and Eteocles and Ismene and me live, but we would do so at his pleasure. We would live in his house, lending legitimacy to his rule, and he would keep his eye on us. The Earth as we know it, is in ruins and only one city remains. Within its walls lies a building called the “Archive”, where genes of the dead are stored, to be used again in future reproduction. Antigone’s parents were murdered, their genes lost, and so now she and her siblings are doomed outcasts, unable to pass into the Archive when they die. With their father gone, their uncle Kreon sits in the throne, wielding his power on his family as much as on his countrymen. After the death of her brothers, Antigone is desperate and her final act of revolt leads her uncle to banish her, in lieu of execution. But Antigone is not alone, and Kreon is in for the fight of his life against everyone he thought he trusted.

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth By Strange Horizons - Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth By

But the womb that gave my life its ebbs and flows made my body sacred to the state, and therefore particularly subject to its might.”Well done Veronica Roth for writing a cool and imaginative take on Antigone, best known through Sophocles' play of the same name, following the children of Oedipus and Jocasta. This takes a very different approach from Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire which paid fine attention to the politics of torn loyalties with a hard-hitting and nuanced plot leading to an emotionally devastating ending. Roth is a masterful conjurer, summoning both classic myth and visceral dystopia to weave a breathtaking tale of love, avarice, and the timeless desire for revenge.” — Ryka Aoki, bestselling author of Light From Uncommon Stars Why are they on another planet? What happened to earth? Unless I missed it which is totally possible, it wasn’t explained. Arch-Conspirator is an Antigone retelling, my sorority was called Antigone so I’m familiar with her story although I wasn’t sure about all the details anymore. I love reading retellings from lesser known stories, there are so many from all the ‘popular’ fairytales and I think we use more from other stories. The story is set in a dystopian future although it took me awhile to figure that out. The ending of the story, though likely not a spoiler (this is an ancient Greek tragedy, after all), feels somewhat disappointing. After getting to know Antigone, you wish for a different ending for her. But the rather hollow victory that Kreon has, also laced with sorrow and pain, lends a decent amount of complexity to the situation. It’s not that the villain wins, it’s that no one really does. But at the same time, if you look at it a certain way, Antigone wins.

Arch-Conspirator - Veronica Roth - The Book Dutchesses Review | Arch-Conspirator - Veronica Roth - The Book Dutchesses

I read the play Antigone right before reading Arch-Conspirator and I'm so glad I did. You definitely don't need to read the play to enjoy this novella, but I think it will help reinforce the themes and you'll get a better understanding of what Roth was trying to do with the characters. If you're looking for a fairly accurate retelling of Antigone but set in a sci-fi world, I think you'd really enjoy Arch-Conspirator. This will be a month full of Antigone for me! I've had to read an Antigone retelling for my Comparative Literature class, I've now read this retelling, and I'm going to see a theatre production of it next week. That being said, it truly is incredible what Roth managed to accomplish in this novella. It makes some really harrowing insights into female autonomy and family loyalty. Arch-Conspirator is unlike anything I read before and I adored how unique and engaging it was. I simply couldn’t put it down. It’s disturbing, powerful, and unforgettable. Arch-Conspirator” is different from “ Divergent” in many ways, mostly because it is based on the Greek myth. But it’s dystopian, post-apocalyptic world where common people are labeled based on their genes, there are some similarities, and fans of “ Divergent” won’t be completely lost.Antigone’s parents – Oedipus and Jocasta – are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father’s vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth | Waterstones

Roth uses the familiar tale of Antigone as a vehicle to tell a story about desperation, hubris, tyranny, and revolution. Combined with the dystopian setting of the dying planet and the tyrannical rule of the surviving city state, the story gives readers a heroine to root for, a despot to revile, and a thought provoking ending." - Library Journal I carried many of yesterday's woes. Antigone carried too many of tomorrows. And Polyneikes carried too many of todays."

The setting is the distant future. We are on Earth, but the planet has become a wasteland. To preserve what’s left of humanity, the genetic material of those who die are extracted and stored away in a repository called the Archive. Every person still living is a gift, every viable womb precious, but women no longer have children naturally. Instead, most choose to procreate by selecting desirable traits for their offspring from the Archive, with those who were conceived the natural way shunned for being soulless. I am BEGGING Veronica Roth to release more novellas like this. Her writing style completely changed. It was poetic and so full of beauty. I don’t know the origin story this is based on, but I loved every bit of this. It’s uncomfortable and powerful and so gorgeous. The concepts in here were fascinating. This is my favourite thing Roth has ever published. Seven houses crumbling on a Theban street. One’s got no fire, one’s got no heat. One’s got no water; one’s got no meat.’ Perhaps it wasn’t because we were family—perhaps it was because we were children of Oedipus, warped though we were by our genes. And Oedipus had almost started a revolution—he was a symbol, and so were we. And what better way to take the power from a symbol than to claim it as your own?