Mark Robson
Dragon Writer
Author of: Noughts & Crosses, Knife Edge and Checkmate.
I've just finished reading Noughts and Crosses and found it a fascinating book. Basically, it's a story that explores racial prejudice and the idea of a mixed race relationship in a society where the divide is even more pronounced than the aparteid period in South Africa. The twist to the story is that in the world in which the story is based, everything is reversed - the coloured people (crosses) are the ruling class, with the whites (noughts) being barely out of slavery.
The story is told from alternating viewpoints. Persephone, or Sephy as she is mostly called, and Callum. Sephy is a cross. She's the daughter of the Prime Minister and lives a life of luxury. Callum is a nought. He's two years older than Sephy, and the son of one of the house servants. When Callum's mother is sacked unfairly, the two children retain their relationship, but the question throughout the novel is based around whether their friendship can survive in a world so divided.
The idea of such a story is not particularly new, but the setting and the style with which Malorie Blackman writes makes for compulsive reading. I was sucked into her world totally, and the ending was not what I had expected. I will certainly make time to read the rest of the trilogy.
I'm not sure that this really qualifies as fantasy or science fiction, but it was certainly a good read.
I've just finished reading Noughts and Crosses and found it a fascinating book. Basically, it's a story that explores racial prejudice and the idea of a mixed race relationship in a society where the divide is even more pronounced than the aparteid period in South Africa. The twist to the story is that in the world in which the story is based, everything is reversed - the coloured people (crosses) are the ruling class, with the whites (noughts) being barely out of slavery.
The story is told from alternating viewpoints. Persephone, or Sephy as she is mostly called, and Callum. Sephy is a cross. She's the daughter of the Prime Minister and lives a life of luxury. Callum is a nought. He's two years older than Sephy, and the son of one of the house servants. When Callum's mother is sacked unfairly, the two children retain their relationship, but the question throughout the novel is based around whether their friendship can survive in a world so divided.
The idea of such a story is not particularly new, but the setting and the style with which Malorie Blackman writes makes for compulsive reading. I was sucked into her world totally, and the ending was not what I had expected. I will certainly make time to read the rest of the trilogy.
I'm not sure that this really qualifies as fantasy or science fiction, but it was certainly a good read.
