Kurzbeschreibung

Rio has waited her whole life for the opportunity to leave the sheltered, underwater city of Atlantia for life on the surface. It has been said that life on the surface is harsh and unforgiving, but offers the promise of something more than the life Atlantia provides, a life that Rio just cant seem to embrace.

Rezension

"A fast-paced fantasy adventure tale in a richly drawn dystopian future . . . this is a title that's sure to be immensely popular with teens." - School Library Journal

"Utterly captivating. A heroine unlike any I'd met before, a setting I'd never glimpsed, a story I'd never imagined. Atlantia is fresh, wild, and engrossing. I love Ally Condie." - Shannon Hale, award-winning, bestselling author of Austenland and Dangerous

Praise for the International bestelling Matched trilogy:

"This futuristic fable of love and free will asks: Can there be freedom without choice? The tale of Cassia's journey from acceptance to rebellion will draw you in and leave you wanting more." - Cassandra Clare, New York Times -bestselling author of The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments series

"A superb dystopian romance." - The Wall Street Journal

"The hottest YA title to hit bookstores since The Hunger Games ." - Entertainment Weekly

"A fierce, unforgettable page-turner." - Kirkus Reviews , starred review

"Condie's enthralling and twisty dystopian plot is well served by her intriguing characters and fine writing....Cassia's metamorphosis is gripping and satisfying." - Publishers Weekly , starred review

"Condie's prose is immediate and unadorned, with sudden pings of lush lyricism [and] reveals seeming to arrive on almost every page." - Kirkus Reviews , starred review

"Distinct...authentic...poetic." - School Library Journal

"Love triangle + struggle against the powers that be = perfect escape." - MTV. com

Klappentext

"Utterly captivating. A heroine unlike any I'd met before, a setting I'd never glimpsed, a story I'd never imagined. Atlantia is fresh, wild, and engrossing. I love Ally Condie.” —Shannon Hale, award-winning, bestselling author of Austenland and Dangerous

A New York Times Best Seller!

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio's hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio's true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother's death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

Auszüge aus dem Buch

This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof

Copyright © 2014 Ally Condie

CHAPTER 1

My twin sister, Bay, and I pass underneath the brown-and-turquoise banners hanging from the ceiling of the temple. Dignitaries perch on their chairs in the gallery, watching, and people crowd the pews in the nave. Statues of the gods adorn the walls and ceiling, and it seems as if they watch us, too. The temple's largest and most beautiful window, the rose window, has been lit from behind to simulate the effect of sunlight through the panes. The glass shines like a blessing - amber, green, blue, pink, purple. The colors of flower petals Above; of coral formations Below.

The Minister stands at the altar, which is made of precious wood carved in an intricate pattern of straight lines and swirls, of waves that turn into trees. Two bowls rest on top of the altar - one filled with salt water from the ocean that envelops our city, one filled with dark dirt brought down from Above.

Bay and I wait in line with the other youth our age. I feel sorry for everyone else because they don't have a brother or a sister to wait with them. Twins aren't very common in Atlantia.

"Do you hear the city breathing ?" Bay whispers. I know that she wants me to say that I do, but I shake my head. What we hear isn't breathing. It is the never-ending sound of air pumping through the walls and out into the city so that we can survive.

Bay knows that, but she's always been a little crazy about Atlantia. She's not the only one who loves our underwater city or refers to it as alive. And Atlantia does resemble a giant sea creature sprawled out in the ocean. The tentacles of our streets and thoroughfares web out from the larger round hubs of the neighborhoods and marketplaces. Everything is en- closed, of course. We live underwater, but we're still human; we need walls and air to protect us.

The Minister raises his hand, and we all fall silent.

Bay presses her lips together. She is usually calm and serene, but today she seems tense. Is she afraid that I'll go back on my word? I won't. I promised her.

We stand side by side and hand in hand, our brown hair threaded with blue ribbons and braided in intricate plaits. We both have blue eyes. We are both tall and carry ourselves the same way. But we're fraternal twins, not identical, and no one has ever had any trouble telling us apart.

Though Bay and I are not mirrors of each other, we're still as near to the same person as two completely different people can be. We have always been close, and since my mother's death, we have drawn even more tightly together.

"Today will be hard," Bay says.

I nod. Today will be hard , I think, because I won't be doing what I always wanted to do. But I know that's not what Bay means.

"Because it used to be her," I say.

Bay nods.

Before my mother died six months ago, she was the Minister of the temple and she presided over this ceremony, one of several held to mark the anniversary of the Divide. Bay and I watched each year as our mother gave the opening speech and blessed the youth of the year with water or dirt, depending on what each person chose.

"Do you think Maire is here?" Bay asks.

"No," I say. Bay is referring to our aunt, our only living relative. I keep my voice flat but use the most cutting words I can. "She doesn't belong here." The temple is our mother's place, and she and her sister, Maire, were estranged for as long as I can remember. Although, when my mother died -

Don't think about it.

The Minister begins the ritual, and I close my eyes and picture my mother conducting this servic