In MicroScrep, a post-pandemic world, one politician, Arthur Mills, brings all scientists and engineers together to create a vaccine and rebuild a world where harmony ensues. What results is a society where algorithms control who you marry, who your child is, and what position you have.
Adriana Buckowski is not normal. Her eyes are two different colors, making her less susceptible to the system’s propaganda, she has a unique connection with a boy named Zach, and she has questions.
Weird occurrences happen as she gets closer to her Calling Ceremony, where she’ll be given a position. When she finally starts piecing together the twisted motives at play in MicroScrep, she becomes a cog in the wheel of the state. Her only option for survival lies with Zach, and the hope that she will be vindicated through a vigilante group off-grid.
In MicroScrep, a post-pandemic world, one politician, Arthur Mills, brings all scientists and engineers together to create a vaccine and rebuild a world where harmony ensues. What results is a society where algorithms control who you marry, who your child is, and what position you have.
Adriana Buckowski is not normal. Her eyes are two different colors, making her less susceptible to the system’s propaganda, she has a unique connection with a boy named Zach, and she has questions.
Weird occurrences happen as she gets closer to her Calling Ceremony, where she’ll be given a position. When she finally starts piecing together the twisted motives at play in MicroScrep, she becomes a cog in the wheel of the state. Her only option for survival lies with Zach, and the hope that she will be vindicated through a vigilante group off-grid.
Crouching down, I fish the book from under my bed, Successful Relationships. It’s a book about relationships before MicroScrep. A shot of intrigue ripples through me. They would do the unthinkable to have babies then. There were even pictures about how it was done. I shouldn’t be reading it, but I can’t stop.
A rapping sound startles me as I shove the book under my bed. A few seconds later, I open the door to Zach.
“You scared the Mills out of me!” I breathe a sigh of relief. A knowing smile etches itself on his face and then he looks down shyly. “Has Laura not noticed it’s gone?”
Zach shakes his head. “No, but I’ll need you to get through it before the ceremony.”
“Do you think she’d ever try to do any of that stuff in the book with Cody?”
Zach’s sister, Laura Molten, has been matched with my brother, Cody, by Harmony, the database that collects our biological and social data from birth. On our eighteenth birthday it matches us with a Perfect Matched Pair—someone who is perfect for us according to its data. Their ceremony is in a few days’ time. How can someone like Cody be matched with Laura? They seem diametrically opposed.
“No! She’s really regimented about taking her pills and is faithful to the system. She wouldn’t question it...like someone I know.” He wags his finger at me.
“You’re so boring!” I pout and then my eyes narrow. “I want to try something that I read in that book.”
Zach’s face turns red with embarrassment. He is thinking of the unfathomable, what MicroScrep deems preposterous.
I snort a laugh. “No, silly, not that. I’m not that crazy, and you take your meds every day, or else you would’ve been flagged by now. Let’s, what’s the word...slow dance.”
After some cajoling, Zach holds the small of my back securely and we sway to the sound of nothing. The book called this ‘intimate.’
“Pre-MicroScrepians danced this way to instrumental music.” My voice carries a twinge of longing. “They danced during weddings, something like our bonding ceremony.”
Zach sighs softly. I want to think he’s hoping that we’ll be matched just like Laura and Cody. I wonder what was so terrible about pre-MicroScrepian music that it was outlawed? It must be better than what we have now, a deafening electronica. One can only bob to it like a lonely boat on the swells of the sea.
“Wouldn’t this be so much fun to do at a ceremony,” I whisper in his ear.
I smile at Zach as we move slowly around the room. “This will be just another one of our secrets. It’s not so terrible if we look at it that way.”
I hear the downward hover of Mother and Father’s vehicle as they park. We instantly let go of each other as I scramble to grab the book and press it against his chest.
“Quick, Zach, out through the window.”
"Pain is temporary. Honor is lifelong."
Surrogate Colony was nothing I had expected it to be. I came into it thinking that it was going to be another science fiction book with complicated terms and speculative political systems. But as I finished chapter after chapter, I found myself unable to stop reading Adriana and Zach's story. With two perspectives, I was really able to resonate with the characters and understand their arcs vividly. From the beginning of the story, the author made it distinctly clear about the character's motives and fears, which I found very beneficial as the plot moved forward. Everything flowed smoothly, and every event that occurred made an impact on the storyline and overall ending of the story, which left me very satisfied and happy.
In addition, the world-building in the story was fantastic. I found myself envisioning the dystopian world more and more with every paragraph, and picturing the characters there as well. The author did an amazing job at sharing descriptions of the futuristic society and highlighting the essence of what made it so advanced. Without even being told the time period—which I did eventually learn later into the story—I could understand the story's setting solely through the diction and context, which is always a significantly good component for a science fiction novel.
Along with that, the characters were complex and written so beautifully that I found myself rooting for some and feeling intense and raw emotions for another as if they were real people and not characters made from a figment in the author's imagination. That's why this book is a five-star for me. Characters are essential to a story, and can even arguably be said to be more essential than the plot. The author does an excellent job at creating characters with distinct pasts that are later entwined into one place, one time, one present.
All in all, I enjoyed Surrogate Colony and managed to finish it in one sitting. I would definitely recommend it to a sci-fi lover who cannot wait to dive into a new world, full of mysteries to uncover and fabulous characters to grow to love.