It is time for discussion post # 2 with El @inkandplasma about the Renegades series! I don’t know about you but there is something super enjoyable about randomly picking up a book and talking about it with someone who absolutely loved it. Archenemies is book 2 of the series. Overall, like I mentioned in the last post, Renegades is an x-men style universe where the people in power have power. Archenemies picks up where Renegades left off and plot twists are, as always, abundant. 🙂
Here is the synopsis for Archenemies.
The Renegades Trilogy continues, in this fiercely awaited second installment after the New York Times-bestselling Renegades by Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles.
Time is running out.
Together, they can save the world.
But they each other’s worst nightmare.
In Renegades, Nova and Adrian (aka Insomnia and Sketch) fought the battle of their lives against the Anarchist known as the Detonator. It was a short-lived victory.
The Anarchists still have a secret weapon, one that Nova believes will protect her. The Renegades also have a strategy for overpowering the Anarchists, but both Nova and Adrian understand that it could mean the end of Gatlon City – and the world – as they know it.
Content Notes: Violence, Death.
Book Discussion with El @inkandplasma
The huge political and social thing you hinted at (and Renegades hinted at too) has arrived in Archenemies and now there is no hiding it.
It’s an interesting concept – to be able to take away powers from people using an antidote. Ultimately, our body is just chemical reactions. It is these very chemical reactions that give the prodigies their powers so it is not surprising that these very chemical reactions can be neutralized. At the same time, if scientists can create such chemicals with irreversible effects, they must also be able to create new powers. Seeing the variety in powers that prodigies have, does it make sense El, that one antidote will get rid of them altogether? It would be harder to create new powers, in my mind.
I think it’s definitely an interesting thought, that all the powers stem from one chromosome or gene or something (I’m no scientist) for them to be so easily squashed. Especially as we’ve seen characters with varying strengths of powers. How powerful is Agent N if it can neutralize all powers almost instantly? I don’t remember if it’s mentioned, but I’m curious what effect it would have on a non-prodigy too. How dangerous is this untested chemical they’re using without hesitation? It’s a huge abuse of power, and really scary to think about in a world that parallels ours.
You are right. Agent N was said to be completely harmless to non-prodigies but speaking as a scientist (I have research experience in both computing and education), testing is an integral part of putting out any major product. I have often wondered if authors actually research the whole process thoroughly when writing about these things – I am not expecting a mini lecture in the book, but like any reader, I can make some degree of judgement about how convincing the set up was. Thinking about the Renegades, I doubt they even did much civilian testing. Just like in our real world, we hardly consider women for a number of products (I am on the go about data and the gender data gap since I am reading Invisible Women).
Coming back to the book, how did you feel about all patrol units having the power to use Agent N? So much more power in the hands of prodigies, some of them so much younger and even more power hungry than others!
I really hated the Agent N stuff. Not the sub-plot itself, I really liked the plot line but the thought of Agent N itself made me so uncomfortable. I actually thought about this stuff during our conversation about how Sentinel needs a body camera and the events with Hawthorn!
The Renegades basically have no accountability, and they’ve been given this incredible substance with extreme and permanent consequences. The human rights violations implied there are huge. That’s super scary to me, and I think it definitely parallels issues in the real world where people with power have nobody to hold them responsible for their actions. Frostbite’s team is a really good example of this. I also think that it’s part of the reason that non-prodigies just leave the prodigies to run everything. It would be almost impossible to compete with them, and they play by their own rules.
According to their society, Frostbite and her team are Renegades and therefore heroes, but they don’t act heroically. Between Frostbite and Agent N, do you think that the lines between hero and villain are becoming blurred in this book?
Frostbite is such an interesting character – I remember when the whole Hawthron and Sentinel thing was going on and she was lashing at Sentinel about his existence and how he gives prodigies the incorrect idea that they can do things on their own – as twisted as her logic is most of the time, she does have a point. The lines between hero and villain were already blurred though Frostbite blurs them even more. When Nightmare goes to HQ to get the helmet and the course of events there with Max and Frostbite’s actions truly point to everyone being there for themselves. Powers are very personal and when they are threatened, it doesn’t matter whether the threat is a renegade or an anarchist or any other group. I felt a little bit bad for Frostbite afterwards but she did deserve what happened to her.
However, it all comes down to perception – what qualifies as a hero and a villian? When is it ok to cross the line when there is a personal threat? And most importantly, like any hierarchical organization, how long can the ones at the bottom of the totem pole suffer to protect the ones at the top and fight their battles?
Coming back to Adrian and the Sentinel, I can no longer remember why Adrian hid his powers, and I am unsure how the tattoos work (what is the correct representation of a power?). How did he recreate Nova’s dream and I’m super curious about the significance of the star! It is the same material that Nova’s dad used to control so it’s intriguing the Adrian could imagine something like that, never having some across it, and make it come alive. What did you think of these events in the story?
I think a lot of Adrian’s powers are symbolic, and I think that becomes more clear in Supernova. His powers are so interesting to me. Much as I stand by the fact that I’d love Nova’s power best, Adrian’s has so much potential. I like to think that the star and the dream are something that they’ve created together, her dream and his power. The star has a part to play in the story, and I think it ties into the mystery hinted at in Renegades, that there was something else going on the night that Nova’s family died. I also found that scene so unbelievably cute. I’m not usually a big fan of romance side-plots, but the relationship between Nova and Adrian was sweet (if fraught with their lies and secret identities) and I loved seeing him show her the dream that he’d created and seeing Nova deal with her conflicted feelings.
Kriti, we talked about Nova in our last discussion post, and I think things definitely get more complicated during Archenemies. During the book we’ve seen her working with the Renegades and the Anarchists – do you think she’s still all Anarchist, or do you think that she’s starting to find herself torn between the two groups?
She is definitely torn between the two groups and though she doubts her motives for being with the Renegades sometimes, she is unable to hide that she does care for the ones she has interacted with, whether it is her team or Max. Wonder offered her an interesting insight into her perspectives and biases.
El, what are your thoughts on Nova’s motivation to be with the Renegades when she first joined them in the first book? She does want to avenge her family, but logically, how responsible are they for it? She advocates for a life where no one becomes so dependent on the Renegades, yet, helping the Anarchists (who are fewer in number), establish a new world… it still does not align with her hope to remove dependency of humans on people with powers. I think there is a bigger identity crisis here that we should see resolved in Supernova. Did you feel similarly?
I think you’re right that she’s caught up in a crisis that’s bigger than she understands yet. Nova has been brought up by the Anarchists and their strong opinions on the Renegades. It’s probably safe to say that she’s been told one particular view of the Gatlin City battle and the Age of Anarchy, as well as what happened on that night with her family. I think it’s also safe to say that Nova has been intentionally raised to hate the Renegade Council.
In the first book we saw her attempt to assassinate Captain Chromium within the first chapter but after the discovery at the end of Renegades that Ace is still alive, it seems likely that she’s been fed one side of the story her whole life and now she’s starting to see the other side through her time undercover with the Renegades.
Some of the Renegades are doing bad things, but a lot of them mean well. Even if she’s not acknowledging it to herself yet, it feels like Nova is on the cusp of a huge paradigm shift as she realises that her belief system might be built on faulty information. I feel for her, honestly, and I think it might be one of the reasons I love her character so much. It can’t be easy to reconcile hugely conflicting belief systems.
When I finished Archenemies I was desperate to get my hands on Supernova. Is there anything you’re hoping to see or learn in Supernova?
I am hoping to see how this ends! What is going to happen to Nova? She loves Adrian, will they get to be together? There are so many lies and secrets in this series and as the conclusion, it will all come toppling down. Since I already started the book, it is way faster than the other two and I am so glad I did not have to wait to get my hands on it. Always read a series after it has concluded is my lesson haha.
What a fantastic book! El and I will be back with our discussion about Supernova on the 13th. Meantime, drop by El’s blog and check out her review of Renegades and Archenemies.
** Archenemies is the second of the Renegades trilogy by Marissa Meyer, all of which are out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! Feel free to add to or discussion when you read it. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Cover image: Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
We can be heroes photo on Unsplash.
Photo of silhouette on Unsplash.
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