Chris Babu’s ‘The Insurrection’ is the Perfect Read for Self Quarantine [REVIEW]

Welcome to New America. (Photo courtesy Canva)

The world as we know it is over. In its place has arisen a New America. The new regime challenges its citizens in ways they never thought possible. And now the fate of the world is in the hands of our youth, and a small group of teens will do anything necessary to reveal deeply entrenched secrets. Enter a fascinating—but dangerous—dystopian world, as only author Chris Babu could imagine it.

Permuted Press

In The Insurrection, the final volume of Babu’s the Initiation trilogy, we once again catch up with Drayden and his friends. Having survived the Initiation and the Expedition, they now need to summon up the courage and the strength to face off with the enemy in one final epic battle if they are to seize control of New America once and for all.

This time out, they once again enlist the help of Professor Worth—a former educator at MIT who has to be one of the coolest dudes on the planet—and manage to make their way back into New America before their real motives are discovered. Having lost their gear and their flags along the way, this is going to be more difficult than they had hoped. Yet their problems are only just beginning, because not only are the Guardians on their trail, but the Bureau itself never expected them to survive this long, and now they will do everything possible to shut these kids down permanently.

Thank goodness for their ally Kim Craig, leader of the insurrection. Yet even with Kim’s guidance, Drayden and the gang must find the wherewithal to wage an epic battle that puts the Hunger Games to shame. Doing so will require the teens to dig deep, summon up every ounce of courage they can find, and realize exactly what they are capable of doing. Even with the citizens backing him, he must still find a way to defeat the authoritarians. Yet the question remains, will his best laid plans prove smart enough to save them all?

With the Initiation series, Babu has deftly created an immersive world that is unlike anything we have ever seen. There are aspects of it that are reminiscent of other series like Divergent and The Maze Runner, of course. But this is a saga that is even more relevant, especially now as I write this, caught in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing. For here, Babu has created a world that could quickly become a reality if mankind doesn’t smarten up and make some much needed changes in how they run the world. Because the world Babu imagines is one where America’s roadways are overgrown by vegetation, dangerous gangs roam everywhere, and animals are even more feral than before.

The thing Babu does best here, however, is that he writes authentic characters who will resonate not only with the young adult audience, but with grown ups alike. This is a clean adventure saga that doesn’t rely on sex and language, or even graphic violence, to propel the story. Instead, like Tolkien did with the Lord of the Rings books, he creates characters who truly evolve over time, and their authenticity has us cheering for them through all three volumes of the series. In fact, the deeper we read through this saga, the better it gets, each book seeming to trump the one before it. Thus we happily celebrate the friendships that are forged, even as the character’s journeys become as much about self discovery as they are about saving the world from corruption.

If you’re looking for an incredible tale to share with everyone in your home during self quarantine and beyond, this is the series you want to devour now. It is deftly written, enthralling from beginning to end, and will definitely become a dogeared, beloved set that you will want to revisit time and again. The Insurrection is an unforgettable conclusion to a wonderful series that will undoubtedly be picked up by Hollywood once the cameras start rolling again.

Chris Babu

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Babu is the author of The Initiation and The Expedition.

A lifelong math and science geek, he has a math degree from MIT. For 19 years, he worked as a bond trader on Wall Street. Now he writes full-time, indulging his love of young adult books.

He splits his time between New York City and the east end of Long Island, where he lives with his wife Michelle, daughter Lily, and Great Dane Buddy.

To find out more about the author, visit ChrisBabu.com, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

THE INSURRECTION
By Chris Babu
320 pp. Permuted Press. $21.

Purchase The Insurrection at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, IndieBound, and Powell’s.

The Insurrection is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.