Well this was certainly an interesting trilogy to read! My sister recommended I read these books and they were definitely entertaining.The Declaration is set in England in the future, around 2140 or so, and mankind has discovered a pill called Longevity that will enable the human body to live forever. Since nobody dies, the world becomes over-populated and they create the "Declaration," a document every citizen must sign, in which they promise not to produce children in exchange for eternal life. If you don't sign you are an Opt-Out, you may have a child but you may not take Longevity. There are very few Opt-Outs. Some people choose not to follow the rules though and have kids anyway. All these unauthorized children are called Surpluses and are taken from their parents to grow up in delegated Surplus Houses that educate them to become the most useful slaves they can be.
In one of these houses we meet our heroine, Anna Covey, known as Surplus Anna. She has an innate desire to please authority and has learned very well that she does not deserve to live because she is a drain on Mother Earth's resources. She strives to be a good Surplus and performs her work meticulously to try and please the house matron, a cruel woman who looks on the children she governs with disdain. Anna's world is turned upside down when a new boy named Peter (one of our heroes) comes to the House and challenges her ideas of right and wrong. He tries to convince her that not everyone believes children are criminals just for being born and tries to persuade her to escape with him.
In "The Resistance" the story continues with Peter and Anna, after escaping the Surplus House, joining the Resistance group that fights Longevity and the man in charge of the company that produces it, Richard Pincent of Pincent Pharma. The Resistance believes that children are the future and that no one should live forever. We are introduced to the resistance leader Pip (featured on the cover) and Peter's half brother Jude.
The fight against Longevity continues in "The Legacy." People are dying across the world from a virus that has mutated and Longevity cannot fight. Richard Pincent is desperate to find a cure and avoids blame for the deaths by pointing the finger at the underground rebels. Our characters must pull together to bring down Richard Pincent and expose the truth.
So I liked a lot of things about these books, particularly the idea of immortality and its practical effects. What would happen to the world if there was no death? Humankind is on the constant search for ways to decrease sickness and suffering and extend life. But do we really want to live forever? I like that the author focused on the ramifications of eternal life, the most severe of which (in my opinion) is the inability to have children. There is nothing I love more in this world than my daughter. I cannot imagine what I would do without her. I plan to have more children and cannot imagine the government telling me I could not have them, or taking them away from me if I did and being branded a criminal.
I did not like some of the political implications I felt the author was making throughout the books. Particularly branding the conservatives as the bad guys who choose eternal life and make kids slaves and making the liberals the heroes who save the world. I guess I only take offense to that because I'm conservative. This isn't a political blog so I won't comment further.
Overall I liked the idea of the story. Sometimes the books (especially #2) were a bit tedious to read, but overall I would recommend them to others.
3 out of 5 stars
