The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace, #1)

by Erin Bow

The world is at peace, said the Utterances. And really, if the odd princess has a hard day, is that too much to ask?

Greta is a duchess and crown princess—and a hostage to peace. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. Go to war and your hostage dies.

Greta will be free if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday. Until then she lives in the Precepture school with the daughters and sons of the world’s leaders. Like them, she is taught to obey the machines that control their lives. Like them, she is prepared to die with dignity, if she must. But everything changes when a new hostage arrives. Elián is a boy who refuses to play by the rules, a boy who defies everything Greta has ever been taught. And he opens Greta’s eyes to the brutality of the system they live under—and to her own power.

As Greta and Elián watch their nations tip closer to war, Greta becomes a target in a new kind of game. A game that will end up killing them both—unless she can find a way to break all the rules.

Reviewed by Beth C. on

3 of 5 stars

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The world has been brought to the brink of collapse, and in order to keep humanity from totally wiping itself out, an AI (artificial intelligence) formerly known as Michael, has taken over. Now names Talis, he has instituted a new policy - any ruler of any area must send their child to be a hostage. In the event there is war, the children of those areas involved will be killed. Greta is just one such hostage, who has been at the Precepture since she was 5. Now only 16 months away from turning 18 and gaining her freedom, her country is heading towards war. And the new hostage at the Precepture may be what causes her death.

Intriguing premise, where the it's not the poor that pay the price, but the ruling class instead. It's definitely a well-thought-out system in place within the story, in a world that is far different from now - and yet, all to much the same. Global warming caused catastrophic flooding, causing mass migrations, causing border disputes - then water disputes. Disease and famine and wars decimated the population, leaving roughly 1/3 behind.

The characters were a tad bit rough. Greta was interesting, as were her fellow hostages in her group. She did come across as a bit naive, and sometimes even willfully stupid, though that was somewhat rare. Elian, however, just did not make the jump to believable. Too whiny and, well, immature. Talis was the most interesting, as a spoiled, smart-mouthed AI who has forgotten what it was to be human.

Overall, even though the characters were not quite as developed as they could have been, the story itself was interesting and thought-provoking. It will be worthwhile to read the sequel, and hopefully a few of the rocky bits will have been cleaned up.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 26 October, 2015: Finished reading
  • 26 October, 2015: Reviewed