Rebel: Legend, Volume 4

In Rebel, the characters are no older. America is working towards a more democratic state. The younger brother of the "hero" from the first three Legend books is now becoming a man of his own, ready to graduate from college. He is living the "good life" in Antarctica. However, he pines for the lower classes. He has a girlfriend in the "lower city". He joins with her to enter illegal drone races and ends up meeting up with a crime lord (who his brother is trying to hunt down.) The crime lord has potential as an interesting character. However, he is never fully developed. His actions seem somewhat bizarre. In the end, the heroes win and help bring about more equality of opportunity within Antarctica's "point system."
While the first three books dealt with the overthrow of a corrupt system, this book focuses on change within. Both the American and Antarctic systems were put in place to help improve the lives of people. However, they morphed into a system that brutally separated the haves from the have-nots. The struggle is now to ensure the have-nots can more fully participate without alienating the haves. How do you prevent crime without unduly cursing the criminals and their families?

Champion (A Legend Novel, Book 3)

The conclusion to the Legend series is somewhat of a downer. It is filled with romance, action and suspense with various turns. Alas, the conclusion is somewhat unfulfilling. After all the build up, it seems to just be a cop out. We do find out more about the world at large. Each of the new states has a its own quirky existence. Antarctica is the most technologically advanced state we meet. Everyone has a chip embedded to see the "score" and "level" of people. Every good thing increases points. However, who defines what is good? Each of the post apocalyptic states has their own benefits and downfalls. None seem great by our standards.
We also learn that the previous elector primo was a real person who has had skills to help lead the country - even if he did gradually turn it into a police state. People liked their country, even if they didn't like some parts of it. And then the novel ends with memory loss and a peace agreement. It would almost be better if it left off the epilogue. Meanwhile, there are many interesting subplots that were barely covered. What was up with Commander Jameson? Why did Thomas escape prison only to defend his country? Do people really like their country that much, even when given knowledge of the oppression? And how would these different post-apocalyptic societies evolve?

Prodigy (A Legend Novel, Book 2)

In Prodigy, the author does a great job of alternating the narrative between June and Day. We get to understand each of their internal thoughts without bogging down the plot. This novel picks up where the previous left off. They are on the run after escaping Day's execution. They are trying to hook up with the underground "Patriot" movement. The patriot leader seems to be a little too embedded with the military, but they are left without any choice. The mission he has for them is to assassinate the leader of the Republic. However, they realize that the leader is actually one of their best hopes and eventually opt to save him. They later learn that the patriots leader has his own motives. The protagonists escape to the colonies before making a thrilling return to save the day.
In the process, we learn the history of this world. There were some great floods. People were fleeing to higher ground, thus leading to a great humanitarian and infrastructure crisis. The west was overwhelmed and eventually separated with the first elector taking power. The country devolved to an isolated military state (similar to North Korea) At first glance, the eastern colonies look like a great place. However, they have their own issues. The corporations have seized control and dominate all aspects of life. Those that can't pay can't receive services. Selling the republic out to the colonies will just replace one set of issues with another set. The "fall" of society in this book feels more real than other post-apocalyptic novels.
There is also the relationship angle. Day and June are clearly into each other. But there are also others that are interested in them. They are young. Relationships are complicated.

Legend

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend begins with the intertwined stories of a rich girl prodigy (June) and an elusive boy criminal (Day). You know that they will somehow become romantically connected, but don't see exactly how. Luckily, the novel doesn't dawdle. Day is looking for anti-plague medicine for his family and breaks into a hospital. In the process he supposedly kills June's older brother. June is conscripted to help hunt him down. Both are keenly observant and he eventually makes an innocent gesture that clues her in (thought not until after they have kissed.) He is arrested and sentenced to death. Then she makes some additional discoveries. She had thought she had been the only one to score a perfect score on the test that is administrated to all children. However, she discovers that he actually had earned a perfect score, but the results were faked to give him a failing grade. She also learns that the "Republic" is really not all that it is cracked up to be. Could the United States really fall into dictatorship without most people knowing? People often look at Trump shenanigans and predict a falling away coming from that direction. However, a west-coast dictatorship in the novel is more likely to be caused by a left-wing mast uprising. Could we gradually fall without knowing? Would the government willingly silence dissenters to keep the masses happy?

The Future of Us

A girl (Emma) in 1996 gets a new computer. Josh, her next-door neighbor friend brings over an AOL CD and they go on the internet. However, instead of the AOL of that day, they end up seeing her facebook page - 15 years in the future. Every small thing they do can impact their future.

In spite of all the changes she makes, Emma still finds herself in rotten relationships in the future. She attempts to "change" her life to avoid one loser husband or situation, but then simply ends up with another one that is bad in a different way.

Josh, on the other hand, is shown to be married to one of the super-hot girls at school who was thought to be way out of his league. His changes seem to change some of the details of their life together (number of kids, vacation spots, etc.) However, they seem to remain together. With this knowledge in the background, he actually speaks up to defend her in one of their classes. This leads to them actually going out together.

I was hoping that Josh would actually stay with his "future bride". It would make a great story of a boy overcoming his feelings of inferiority to reach his dream situation. The prodding of the future event helps him to accomplish what he may have otherwise thought was impossible.

However, this is a teen book, more likely targeted towards the female audience. So, Josh has to end up with Emma at the end. Sigh. Sappy and not quite as interesting. However, this doesn't happen until the very end. Skip the last chapter and you can picture this better type of ending.

The ending we get is Emma realizing that she must live in the day, rather than trying to needlessly try to optimize some imagined future. The depressed her of the future eventually exits facebook altogether, leaving the her of the present to go on with her life. Some of their friends bring Josh and Emma together to have fun. They realize that they are really meant for each other. (The end of their "relationship" 6 months ago was a mistake. They have had the friendship thing down since grade school. The relationship thing will work out with some more work.)

The concept reminds me of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. If you know a little about the future, that may give you the strength to do what you need to do to make it happen. The book also did a nice job of capturing the spirit of the mid 90s and contrasting that with today. It was a fun read, in spite of the sappy ending.