Writing a novel of ideas is always a risky proposition.
Ideology, even a good ideology, can ruin a story faster than a fly in milk. It is the truth of the characters that should appeal to the reader above all else, and whatever moral the story has should emerge on its own.
Part Hunger Games and part The Giver, Chasing Embers offers a deeply meaningful, and very American, adventure.
The skill with which an author successfully conceals a didactic intent behind an engaging plot and persuasive dialogue is what distinguishes art from mere commentary.
Co-author of the young adult novel “Chasing Embers” Glenn Beck (co-founders of Blaze Media) and Mikayla G. Hedrick tackle this challenge head on. In the author’s note, Beck acknowledges that the project was born out of reflection on the current state of American politics, where speech is being stifled and our very history is being marginalized and erased.
Beck imagined a world where this situation has come full circle: after a brutal world war, civilization has re-emerged in the city of Oasis, whose inhabitants are under the strict control of the Topos Corporation and are forbidden from remembering the past – or the truth.
The only resistance to this totalitarian rule comes from the Oarsmen, a band of rebels who collect, preserve, and memorize foundational documents of American and world history, which they then teach, primarily to children.
Beck built this world, and then Hedrick took the helm, creating the protagonists that drive the story: Ember, a teenage girl whose parents disappear in a rebellion against the regime, and Skye, a teenage boy who stumbles upon a secret that makes him question everything he’s been raised to believe.
Both Skye and Ember begin the story as exemplary subjects of the Oasis, fully embracing the topos of total control over its inhabitants, which makes it hard to like them even though the reader begins to sympathize with them as the story progresses. They both betray their loved ones in cruel ways.
The novel alternates between each character’s first-person perspective with each chapter, giving us immediate insight into their difficult choices and misguided courage.
The book is beautifully interspersed with snippets of timeless wisdom from America’s past. These excerpts provide a basic conscience for the simple protagonist and the reader. They discuss the U.S. Constitution, World War II, Squanto, Jesus, and more. The example of William Tyndale, in particular, inspires Ember.
In the end, the two writers prove to be perfect collaborators, with Beck focusing our attention on an America run by lies and Hedrick capturing our imaginations with a story that’s both funny and hopeful.
Part “The Hunger Games” and part “The Giver,” “Chasing Embers” offers a deeply meaningful and very American adventure. Its tale of young love suppressed by an evil government avoids the usual superficial clichés.
There’s enough solid, intelligent content in this book to whet your appetite for the next series, and readers will no doubt be eager to follow Skye and Ember’s journey towards true heroism, propelled by the rocket fuel of their past.
