The Swan Riders (Prisoners of Peace) - Hardcover

Bow, Erin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1481442740 ISBN 13: 9781481442749

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2016

Synopsis

Treacherous twists await Greta as the stakes get even higher in this stunning follow-up to the “masterful” (School Library Journal, starred review) novel, The Scorpion Rules.

Greta Stuart has become AI. New transmitters have silvered her fingerprints. New receptors have transformed her vision. And the whole of her memory has become one book in a vast library of instant knowledge. Greta is ready to rule the world.

But the new technology is also killing her.

Greta is only sixteen years old, but her new enhancements are burning through her mortal body at an alarming rate. Of course the leader of the AIs, an ancient and compelling artificial intelligence named Talis, has a plan. Greta can simply do what he’s done when the time comes, and take over the body of one of the Swan Riders, the utterly loyal humans who serve the AIs as part army, part cult.

First though, Greta will have to find a way to stay sane inside her new self. Talis’s plan for that involves a road trip. Escorted by Swan Riders, Greta and Talis set out on a horseback journey across the strange and not-quite-deserted landscape of Saskatchewan. But there are other people interested in Greta, people who want to change the world…and the Swan Riders might not be as loyal as they appear…

About this title

About the Author

Erin Bow is the author of The Scorpion Rules, which received three starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and it’s sequel, The Swan Riders, which received two starred reviews. She also wrote the acclaimed Russian-flavored fantasy Plain Kate, which received two starred reviews and was a YALSA Best Book of the Year, and the terrifying YA ghost story Sorrow’s Knot, which received five starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Visit her at ErinBow.com.

Reviews

Gr 10 Up—This sequel picks up shortly after the conclusion of The Scorpion Rules. Greta Gustafson Stuart, former princess of the Pan Polar Confederation, is a newly minted Artificial Intelligence. In agreeing to become an AI, Greta has saved herself and fellow hostage Elián Palnik while avoiding the wrath of Talis—the all-powerful AI who rules the world with the judicious use of satellite weaponry, carefully chosen hostages, and his Swan Riders, who act as part army and part cult. Greta is the first new AI in more than a century. Haunted by memories of her time as a hostage growing up at Precepture Four—including torture, friendship, and Xie, the future queen and the lover Greta had to leave behind—the protagonist struggles to cling to what is left of her humanity while learning about her capabilities as an AI. With the future of the world hanging in the balance, Greta will have to use everything she knows about being AI and human to bring her two dramatically different worlds together. Quick recaps and Greta's own memories bring readers up to speed in this fast-paced sci-fi novel, although having knowledge of the first book is ideal. Bow dramatically expands the world here by introducing more of the landscape as Talis, Greta, and two Swan Riders travel across Saskatchewan toward the AI home base near Montana. Interludes from Talis's point of view—in his present form as an all-powerful AI and in flashbacks to his time as the idealistic Michael Talis, who wanted to save the world—add another dimension to this disturbingly likable character. Weighty subject matter and heavy questions about what is best vs. what is right are tempered with humor and Greta's wry first-person narration. Like its predecessor, this installment has a thoughtfully diverse cast of characters with familiar faces and newer additions, including Francis Xavier, a stoic, dark-skinned Swan Rider born with one hand. VERDICT A fascinating follow-up and stunning story that is a must-read for fans of the first volume.—Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library

Edition details

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1481442740
• ISBN 13: 9781481442749
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384