I breathed in through my nose and blew out through my mouth as if blowing out a candle, which is a good way to cope with any kind of distress or pain. I put my hands one on top of the other and pushed them flat. Even if I was about to die-and the dust meant I probably was-even if I was about to die, I would not freeze and tremble. I was a seventh-generation hostage, and the future ruler of a superpower.

I was Greta Gustafsen Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy. No, I would not make a spectacle of myself. I felt my teeth click together.īut then, as I began to twist toward the window, I stopped. Terror came to me the way it does in dreams-all encompassing, all at once. It looked as if someone had tried to erase a pencil mark from the sky. It took me a moment to spot the mark on the horizon: a bit of dust, as might be kicked up by a small surface vehicle, or a rider on horseback. Grego alone stood as if his muscles had all seized, with seven pairs of human eyes and a dozen kinds of sensors locked on him. Long and careful training kept the rest of us from moving. It crashed to the flagstones of the orderly little classroom, loud as rifle fire. Gregori spotted it first-in truth he spent a lot of time watching for it-and stood up so fast that his chair tipped over.

We were studying the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand when we saw the plume of dust. Which surely means that Greta and Elian will be killed.unless Greta can think of a way to break all the rules. Now the great Talis is furious, and coming himself to deliver punishment. Then Elian’s country declares war on Greta’s and invades the prefecture, taking the hostages hostage. His rebellion opens Greta’s eyes to the brutality of the rules they live under, and to the subtle resistance of her companions. He’s a hostage from a new American alliance, and he defies the machines that control every part of their lives-and is severely punished for it. But everything changes when Elian arrives at the Precepture. Until then she is prepared to die with dignity, if necessary. Greta will be free if she can make it to her eighteenth birthday. Parents don’t want to see their children murdered. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. She is also a Child of Peace, a hostage held by the de facto ruler of the world, the great Artificial Intelligence, Talis. The children of world leaders are held hostage in an attempt to keep the peace in this “slyly humorous, starkly thought-provoking” ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review) novel.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow