Proxy (novel)
ISBN 0399257764 | | |
Followed by | Guardian |
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Proxy is a 2013
London drew inspiration for Proxy from the 1987 book
Plot
Setting
The book is set in a distant post-cataclysmic future where civilization has evolved its technology so rapidly through unrestricted capitalism to bring about a world where nearly every conceivable service can be purchased. Society has developed into a rigid class system where the Upper City lives in the height of luxury while the Lower City lives in utter poverty and rapidly accrue debt to pay for necessary health and technological services. As a result of the Lower City being infinitely indebted to the Upper City super corporations, the middle class has been eliminated altogether.
Upper City citizens can purchase the debts of people from the Lower City. The wealthy patron will pay for the poorer person's essential needs and in return they serve as
Full summary
Sydney "Syd" Carton is a 16-year-old boy who has been labeled as "Chapter 11" due to being homosexual.
At Knox's house, the two overhear shocking news from his father. Marie is still alive; her death was set up to give Knox a wake-up call. They also want Syd dead after discovering his blood contains a virus that is capable of threatening the entire digital infrastructure of the Upper city wealth. The pair are almost caught by the Guardians but are rescued at the last moment by Marie, who is unhappy with the
Marie's proxy, Beatrice, is threatened, but Marie allows her to be killed to rescue Syd. Syd, Knox, and Marie escape the city with the help of Egan, who has made a deal with Rebooter mercenaries to bring Syd to their camp in Old Detroit. On the way they discover that the mercenary group was actually hired by Knox's father to kill Syd; Egan is killed by the leader. Syd only survives with Marie's help and Syd kills the mercenary leader. As Knox struggles with guilt for his treatment of Syd and his father's wrongs, the group resume their quest for the Rebooters.
The trio successfully reach Old Detroit, where they reunite with Baram, who reveals that the only way to enact Jubilee is to remove the virus from Syd, and that doing so will kill him. Distraught, Syd and Knox try to flee the city but are met with a large force of Guardians storming Old Detroit. Faced with this, Syd decides that he is willing to sacrifice himself and returns to upload the virus. However, Knox, realizing that Syd's blood transfusion transmitted the virus to his body as well, sacrifices himself in Syd's place, considering it to pay back the life Syd gave him. Knox tells Syd he can choose his own future before enacting Jubilee onto the world.
Characters
Protagonist group
- Sydney Allex Carton - 16 years old, dark skin color, gay sexual orientation, and lives in the Valve in the Lower city. He is proxy to Knox Brindle and he carries a virus capable of erasing all digital records and data. This makes him a target of the Upper City super corporations. Essentially the novel's main protagonist. The name was chosen by Alex London from A Tale of Two Cities.[5]
- Marie Alvarez - 16 years old, an Upper City "cause-girl" who fakes her death to teach Knox Brindle a lesson. Patron to Beatrice. She accompanies Sydney on his journey to the Rebooters because of her fanatic political ideology.
- Knox Brindle - 16 years old, an Upper City troublemaker with a poor relationship with his father, the CEO of a super corporation. He accompanies Sydney on his journey to the Rebooters to rebel against his fathers and father father and ease his guilty conscious for the pain he has caused Sydney as his reckless patron.
Other characters
- Mr. (Eeron) Brindle (Knox's father) Primary antagonist of the novel - The powerful CEO of a super corporation who ruthlessly preserves the interests of the Upper City by hunting down Sydney throughout the novel.
- Mr. Baram - He is the caretaker to Sydney and a significant rebel figure for the Rebooters.
- Gordis - He is associated with the Rebooters and a scavenger in the wilderness who delivers the protagonist group to Old Detroit. He sacrifices himself to buy Syd and Knox time enough to enact Jubilee.
- Mr. (Xiao) Alvarez - Marie's father. He is an important Upper City client to Knox's father and allied with the antagonist group.
- Egan - One of Sydney's only friends from the Lower City. A low-life, drug-addict who joins up with the Mae's gang in order to better look after Sydney. He is murdered in the wilderness by the Mae's mercenary leader.
- Beatrice - Marie's proxy. She is executed by the Guardians because Marie refuses to turn herself over.
- Atticus Finch - Sydney's high school crush. The name was copied from a character in To Kill a Mockingbird.[5]
- Nurse Bovary - Knox's nurse.
- Simi, Cheyenne, and Nine - Knox's Upper City friends that also got into trouble and if not more trouble than Knox himself. Cheyenne is the one that gave Knox the drug patch
Reception
Critical reception for Proxy has been positive and the book has received praise from the
Additionally, Proxy appeared as one of 850 books on Texas politician Matt Krause's 2021 list of books he demand libraries review for content, because of its inclusion of LGBTQ characters.[12]
References
- ^ Ehrbar, Ned (24 June 2013). "'Proxy' creates a gay action hero for young audiences". Metro. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Russin, Robert. "Alex London talks writing gay young adult fiction and his new novel, Proxy". Next Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Lu, Marie. "Marie Lu and Alex London Talk About Debt, Society and 'Proxy' SLJTeen Interview". School Library Journal. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ London 2013, p. 18-28.
- ^ a b Brissey, Breia. "Alex London talks new YA sci-fi thriller, 'Proxy'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Caldwell, Patrice (28 July 2013). "'Proxy' by Alex London (review)". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Sorensen, Nathan. "Book review: 'Proxy' is a sci-fi lover's dream turned reality". Deseret News. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Proxy (review)". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Martaus, Alaine (September 2013). "Proxy (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 67 (1). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Proxy 1".
- ^ London, Alex (January 2013). "Proxy". Diverse Families.
- ^ Chappell, Bill (28 October 2021). "A Texas lawmaker is targeting 850 books that he says could make students feel uneasy". NPR.