"A cracking concept and brilliantly delivered dystopian debut. Would you open the mysterious box to view the string that serves the news of your time left on Earth?"
Every adult on earth suddenly shares the same surreal experience, when overnight a box arrives on the doorstep of everyone aged 22 and older across the world. The measure of your life lies within. Each person is presented with a string of a different length, and the string determines how long you have left on Earth. Would you open the box?
It's a brilliant concept, brilliantly written, brilliantly realised dystopian world which pits "long-stringers" against "short-tringers", fear drives the divides in society as people struggle to come to terms with the new reality. By a debut author who we are sure will be one to watch, The Measure is a fantastic first outing for Nikki Erlick. As the world comes to terms with their fates, we follow the lives of eight ordinary people finding and fighting their way through the fear. We meet the unforgettable cast of characters and as the months fly by we come to root for them, care for them and understand their interconnectedness.
A beautiful story about family, friendship, hope, fate and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest. We care for the couple who are deeply in love: long-stringer Nina and short-stringer Maura. We mourn for architect Ben whose girlfriend left him when she found out about his short-string, for Hank, the doctor who saves everyone apart from himself. For Javier and Jack the best friends, the soldiers who have been through everything together. The lives of the main characters are all set against the backdrop of Anthony Rollins the blue blooded congressman from Virginia who sees the arrival of the strings as a blessing from God and uses them to create fear and uncertainty to bolster his campaign. It's a timely, page-turning triumph and I can't recommend it enough.
| Primary Genre | Dystopian and utopian fiction |
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