Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Released: May 2008Plot: The year is 2140 and the Longevity drug which sustains life is on everyone's minds.
With most taking the drug, the population is not ageing, people aren't dying and the world is soon filling, its resources depleting. In order to 'save' humanity the government introduced the law that if you choose to take the Longevity drug you must not have children or 'surpluses'. These children are sought out and treated like servants in houses like Orphanages. This is where we meet Surplus Anna who has no surname and has been told to believe she should not exist and it is her only duty to serve those taking Longevity and try and be useful until she dies. Then Peter arrives at the hall, he is confident, cocky and believes he knows her parents and has set out to rescue her. But will Anna want to leave the only life and purpose she feels she has?
Good Points: This book really got me thinking and I think anyone who enjoys philosophy should definitely read it. Anna's character is indoctrinated into the life of believing she is worthless, you pity her dreadful existence inside the Hall and you can't quite fathom why this is happening. And then you remember... greed, a human emotion that has consumed the world into believing that they have the right to live longer than they should. The entire book is thought-provoking and you really gain an insight into the ideals that these people believe are certain. Anna's character is extremely complex and the whole idea of the book I thought was truly original. The book not only left me questioning whether this could truly happen but also, when?
Bad Points: I really did love this book however after I had finished the book and saw that there were sequels I kind of thought, why? This book was great as a stand alone book in my opinion and although I haven't read the next books ( I don't want to jump into any conclusions) I just felt this book was worthy enough of being just one book as it was detailed, thought provoking and well plotted.
To Sum Up... As I have already said I loved this book and have already recommended it to people in my philosophy class! I'll give the next books a chance and read them soon.
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