As the final installment in the Legend series, Champion
picks up eight months after the end of Prodigy.
Day and June have gone their separate ways; he is fighting a detrimental illness
and she is a rising politician, one of the three Princeps-Elects (check
spelling). Trouble is stirring in the Colonies, where there is an unknown and
rapidly spreading plague. The Colonies are accusing the Republic of launching
this plague as a war weapon, and they haven given the Republic an ultimatum to
either find a cure for the plague or to launch an all out war.
June and the Elector, Anden, are both of the belief that
Day's younger brother, Eden, is the plague’s patient zero. In order to come up
with a cure, they will need to experiment on Eden. June is certain that Day
will refuse to let his brother be used, but she makes the request regardless.
This request is the only reason that the two of them are reunited at all.
I have to admit: both characters frustrated me immensely in
this one. They're both so skittish, so proud, too proud, in fact, to admit how much they care about each other
and yearn to be together. This is so frustrating it's almost painful to read.
Perhaps it's so obvious to us readers because we are inside both June and Day's
heads, but it seems like it should be obvious to them (and everyone else) also.
I don't want to spout any sort of relationship advice or anything, but it would
have been just great had one of them
broken their pride and been the bigger person.
This is not to say that I have grown to dislike June or Day.
There are just fewer special moments between the two of them that make all that
waiting worthwhile. I still love them and still root for them. At times it just
seems that their love is ill fated and will inevitably go wrong. Hence my
frustration.
There are fewer love triangles in Champion than there were in Prodigy,
which I am a fan of, as always. Tess is no longer tempting Day, and June's
attraction to Anden seems somewhat faded. In all actuality, it feels like there
are no functional relationships in
this book.
Luckily, however, there is so much more to the Legend series than the romance aspect.
Nearly every page of Champion is
packed with incessant and thrilling action. It's one of those hold your breath
while you read books, and there's so little downtime to actually recover from
it.
And the world has blossomed. It is so intricate;
everything-from the map at the front to the detailed point structure in
Antarctica to the lake in Los Angeles from the rising ocean-is carefully and
purposefully plotted out. This is the first YA dystopia where I have not found
a fictional history riddled with holes. Although certain things feel a little
farfetched, they also seem completely plausible.
One of my favorite chapters consists of June's visit to Ross
City, Antarctica. The entire book is written with great imagery, but this trip
to Antarctica is particularly powerful. Though it's unlike anything I've every
seen or read, it is so remarkably easy to picture the towering skyscrapers
connected by bridges, the floating levels over every person, and the detailed
technology that transcends anything we’ve ever known. It sounds like a video
game; in fact, I hope it becomes one.
I was a little disappointed we finally learn what year this
all takes place in... It had been nice to imagine this world as some obscure,
unknown point in the future. But at least it’s actually far enough ahead for
all these advancements to be credible.
Marie Lu does an impeccable job of building momentum. Every
chapter builds on the one preceding it; everything is relevant; there are no
wasted pages or words. I guess I should mention that my frustration with June
and Day is a good kind of
frustration. As in, it means I care about them and the decisions they make, as
if they are real people rather than characters in a book.
To avoid spoilers, I’m going to omit most of my feelings
about the outcome of this series. I will say that I cried harder than I have
for a while. I will say that the ending is a bit disappointing, but that it also fits with the characters. I
will say I’m glad to get a peek into their future… But that’s all; perhaps I’ve
said too much.
All in all, this has transformed into my favorite YA series, and I’m so terribly sad to see it end.
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