Crown of Oblivion

Crown of Oblivion is a book with a fantasy tone but science fiction like setting, and yes, it has similarities to The Hunger Games in that there is a race that only the indentured population participates in. In Lanoria, the population is divided between the Enchanted and the Outsiders, the latter are either indentured or be full citizens, and depending on that they may or may not have the embeds that mark them as such; both cases of Outsiders, however, have been inoculated to not be allowed to use Enchanted magic. Astrid is an Outsider, whose family was indentured for her mother's debts, and who is the Princess' surrogate, as in her close friend and who has to take the physical punishments. With her older brother having run away from his surrogate position years ago, and her father recently dead, she enters the Race of Oblivion to gain citizenship to save her younger brother. As the name suggests, the Race of Oblivion is a scavenger hunt race much like The Amazing Race, which has the participants ingesting a temporary memory-erasing drug before it begins, so they enter the race a blank slate with no personal memories but still having their knowledge. The race is brutal in that the clues are hard, and the other participants ruthless because there is only one winner and losers get years added to their indenture. Astrid has an advantage in that she is somehow able to use Enchanted magic, but keeping that on the down low is difficult when you have many witnesses, so has to be careful around authority during the race. She reluctantly partners with another racer, Darius, who she has a past with that she doesn't remember until later, and encounters other people working against the rules of Lanoria. The racing parts of the book are thrilling, of course, and plot allows for sufficient character development during the moments of action. The journey takes her through difficult terrain, and lets us meet the various kinds of people - some apathetic, some helpful, some resentful. A person like Astrid, who was indentured and basically conditioned from childhood, gets a temporary fresh perspective on her situation; her relationship with Renya was also something that is complicated and was explored towards the end of the book. The setting is a mix of fantasy and modern technology, with the people using comms, automobiles and embeds, but also have a deadly game of magic ability as their main sport, and a reliance on slave labor. It isn't entirely explained why the Outsiders are segregated (aside from the obvious from the name) since the only way they can be distinguished on sight seems to be the presence of embeds, and I do hope future books clarify the past of Lanoria.

This is one of my favorite books this year!!! I love that it's a dystopian/fantasy. I just love and admire everything about Astrid. She is strong, tough and resilient - even when having to face that things aren't as she had been told - because at the heart of it all is family! Astrid, despite having her memory wiped, still retains who she is - she is kind and she cares and she doesn't shy away from a challenge. Julie tells a powerful story - she doesn't sugar coat the political discord and what is happening between those with power and those without. A mirror of today's society in so many ways. I read this book in one sitting as I just could not put it down. I needed to know what happens next! I would love a sequel as I want to know what happens after all is said and done. How do they move forward?