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    Captives
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    Captives
    Unavailable
    Captives
    Ebook509 pages7 hours

    Captives

    By Jill Williamson

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    One choice could destroy them all.

    When eighteen-year-old Levi returned from Denver City with his latest scavenged finds, he never imagined he’d find his village of Glenrock decimated, loved ones killed, and many—including his fiancée, Jem—taken captive. Now alone, Levi is determined to rescue what remains of his people, even if it means entering the Safe Lands, a walled city that seems anything but safe.

    Omar knows he betrayed his brother by sending him away, but helping the enforcers was necessary. Living off the land and clinging to an outdated religion holds his village back. The Safe Lands has protected people since the plague decimated the world generations ago … and its rulers have promised power and wealth beyond Omar’s dreams.

    Meanwhile, their brother Mason has been granted a position inside the Safe Lands, and may be able to use his captivity to save not only the people of his village, but also possibly find a cure for the virus that threatens everyone within the Safe Lands’ walls.

    Will Mason uncover the truth hidden behind the Safe Lands’ façade before it’s too late?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateApr 2, 2013
    ISBN9780310724230
    Unavailable
    Captives
    Author

    Jill Williamson

    Jill Williamson is a novelist, dreamer, and believer. Growing up in Alaska led to love books, and in 2010 her first novel, By Darkness Hid, won the Christy Award. She loves working with teenagers and gives writing workshops at libraries, schools, camps, and churches. Jill lives in Oregon with her husband and two children. Visit Jill online at www.jillwilliamson.com

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    Reviews for Captives

    4/5

    18 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Jill Williamson readily admits that she writes “weird books for teens”. Well, Captives is definitely weird and definitely a book that will appeal to teen readers. A dystopian look at a future America post-pandemic, the book has a lot going for it — interesting characters, fascinating setting, and a disturbing plot that feels both improbable and very possible all at once. Fast-paced with vivid imagery, I would recommend Captives to older teens (high school or older). The novel is never graphic, yet reproduction, surrogacy and promiscuity are part of the story and may be too mature for a younger audience.The Safe Lands are anything but safe, but the veneer of the nation covers the evil beneath the surface. Those that live in the shadow of its walls have much to fear — the thin plague that infects all of Safe Lands’ citizens and the more insidious allure of a life of pleasure and the overwhelming control of the governing council. Omar is fascinated by the glitter and is determined to help his clan relocate to Safe Lands and start enjoying an easy life. But the encounter between his village and the enforcers takes a deadly turn and the once free people of Glenrock are now captives in a highly gilded cage. Some of those kidnapped are quick to assimilate into the new surroundings, while others are determined to escape before physical or spiritual infection takes root.Williamson brings to life a dying society built on pleasure — a society where all is well as long as one complies. Beauty is lauded over all else, yet the slow-dying public must cover up who they are with wigs, paint, makeup and SimTags (a kind of virtual tattoo) in order to disguise the plague that racks their bodies. A verse from Daniel is used as an introduction to the book, and the parallels of ancient Babylon and this new world are marked. There are a lot of things to discuss with this book — technology, morality, free will, and freedom — and it would serve as a great tool for a small group. Captives is also book 1 in a series, so there is a great deal to speculate about before the next book is published.So, if your teen enjoys weird and wants a book that will cause an examination of current trends in our own society, then get Captives for him or her.Recommended.(Thanks to CSFF and Zondervan for my copy of this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
    • 3/5
      The book is set in a time after some sort of apocalypse destroyed most of the world. There are several villages of people who scavenge things from Old cities, and then there's the Safe Lands: A ginormous city bustling with high tech and strange cultures where they all hope to "find pleasure in life." However, there is one problem. Every national is infected with a plague that passes through blood. Hoping for a better life from an outdated village, Omar invites the Safe Land enforcers to request the villagers to become nationals...and that's when things get ugly. The woman are forced to be surrogated and Omar makes some extremely stupid mistakes. Now they are all captives.The book, honestly, was not very satisfying. The back cover did not do it justice. Although I like Jill Williamson, she writes like a female author FOR female authors. She sticks things in the story that I don't particularly want to picture in my head. The woman in the Safe Lands dress skimpy and are immoral, and Williamson writes about it--yes, to prove a point, but I don't particularly care about all the things they do, or the word choices used. She thankfully doesn't go into details, but she definitely implies things that I'd rather not read about. If it wasn't a Christian book I might not have finished it. But I trusted Jill Williamson enough not to do anything terrible with too much description. Thankfully it ended well enough so many of the unsettling subjects were resolved.Things to watch out for: The author uses words like "curvy" to describe most of the Safe Land women, and words like "wriggling bodies" when describing an immoral dance floor. It's good she can use just a few words to paint pictures in your head, but maybe not these pictures. Also Omar does some really stupid things through the book like drinks and smokes, and yes, even being immoral, which was real squeemish for me. It seemed as if all Safe Lander woman wanted to do dirty squirming things. Enforcers forced woman to be surrogates, men to be donors, and the babies were taken away from the mothers (usually still teenagers) and never seen again. Mention of woman underwear and lots of kissing. One could really tell this book was written by a girl because she focused much on what the girls were wearing and what they did that male authors probably wouldn't bother with. Thankfully, this was all written from a Christian perspective and all these things listed above were shown as wrong.400 pages
    • 5/5
      “They're going to execute him?”

      “Death is life, peer.”

      Jill Williamson's world building is extraordinary in “Captives,” the first book in the Safe Lands Trilogy. It's set on Earth—in the United States even—but it's not the world as we know it.

      In the book, we have four main characters: Mason, Levi, Omar, and Shaylinn. Each face their own personal struggles after their village, Glenrock, is attacked and many are brought as captives to the Safe Lands. As it turns out, the “Safe Lands” aren't really safe at all. Most of the inhabitants are plagued by a deadly disease—a disease Mason is determined to find a cure for.

      Levi's main concern is setting his people free, while Shaylinn is kept on a tighter reign for the purpose the Safe Lands think she might serve them. And Omar—well, Omar is thinking that this new home might not be such a bad place after all.

      But conflict arises against all of them and they must decide which path to take. Will they settle in and choose the comforts this new place has to offer? Or will they choose rebellion and possibly become liberated—a process that remains a mystery to both the inhabitants of Glenrock and the Safe Lands?

      Full of creative inventions; vivid descriptions; and complex, likeable(and not-so-likeable) characters, this book is definitely a page turner. I want to recommend it to everyone, but I think it's safe to say that this book was meant for older teens. And even adults, despite its young adult classification. There are some mature themes that some younger children may not understand. Still, it's a wonderful read. I highly recommend it!

      Originally posted at The Scribbling Sprite

      Just a side note: This was my first ever review, and I'm glad I chose this book. It remains one of my favorites and I still gush about it to people today. :D
    • 5/5
      Compelling, but matureMake no mistake, Captives is an extremely engaging book. In fact, so much so that I read it in two days flat, despite it being very long, around 800 pages.It is a fast paced story too, there's never a dull moment, and never a shortage of conflict for the characters. They themselves are well-drawn and definitely likeable, even relatable. Each one is flawed in their own way, which somehow makes them even more loveable. My only problem was that I felt four main characters were too many, since I didn't get enough page-time with each.The storyworld was also well-planned, if nothing particularily original. It took me a long time to oreintate myself in in it, however, because it was so complex and so different from the one we live in. When I did get to know it though, I could picture it clearly.Now for my note of warning.The content matter of the book is very mature. This is a society where almost everyone is on drugs and living a wild life, while forcing some others to bear all the nation's children. Though the author skips over the more 'sticky' scenes we still know these exist and that alone was enought to make me, as a teen, uncomfortable. For this reason, I would only recommend this book to those over 14, and even then with a word of caution. If you are alright with all this, do go on and read the book, if not, maybe it is not for you.On all counts, this is an incredibly powerful book. It made me laugh, it kept me involved and it has left me thinking. Definitely worth trying.