Using mythology loosely the author creates a science fiction story about the children of Oedipus and Jocasta on a dying world where when someone dies the extract their ichor and bank it in the archive. Women go to the archives and are impregnated using the ichor (essence, soul) to clone a new baby in order to keep the population stable until the planet repairs itself or they find another suitable habitable planet.The rest of the story is the internal family struggle between the Uncle of Oedipus' children and the children. This is a tragedy much like the original stories.

Oh My lord this author can write. This is great dystopian retelling of Antigone #1. I love this book. I love this author. I can not recommend it enough.

I have a very hard time trusting Veronica Roth ever since the Allegiant situation so I spent most of this book waiting for the other shoe to drop. But in spite of that this was a fantastic story very well done considering the short length. A very cool world and some strong characters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

A spectacular reimagining of the Antigone story, set in a vivid post-apocalyptic world that nevertheless feels also like ancient Greece. Roth does something really interesting to revise/side-step the icky nature of Oedipus and Jocasta's relationship, instead turning the question of blood and parentage into a strong question of science and morality. It flies past, readable in a single sitting, and it shows a new phase of Roth's quality as a writer -- this one will be remembered.

This was a retelling and a short story. I enjoyed the story and would love to have read a full novel of it.

A fan of the Divergent series, I'm always eager to see what Veronica Roth is writing. I was particularly interested in the short length of this book and the premise of a myth retelling. With retellings, one does not need to know the original to understand the change, but it can be fun. I am not familiar with Antigone, and I will say this book piqued my interest in it, however, I could not get into the writing style. It was specific and perhaps a bit too specific for my taste, but I understand what Roth was doing in terms of telling the story with a particular tone.

I thought this was a really interesting and thought provoking story and concept, especially as someone who has read Antigone. I did really enjoy the retelling aspect of Antigone.

However, I felt like the execution I actually didn't know it was a novella going into it and I honestly think I would have liked it more if it was a full novel. The world building really confused me, especially as it felt as if we were in ancient Greece, but also in a futuristic world, and I found it hard to reconcile the two. So, I think it would have been more enjoyable if these elements were fleshed out, or, if there was almost less world building/background information.

I really liked the ending and thought it really suited the characters and themes well.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

Arch-Conspirator is the latest release from Veronica Roth. This novella blends heavy science fiction dystopia - think reproductive control and consciousness - with Greek mythology. It reminds me of like Altered Carbon and Greek figures and The Handmaids Tale. And I think that might be one of my issues, Roth bites off a lot in Arch-Conspirator. While I think that some of those topics work well together, by the end of this novella, I was left with more questions than answers.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Veronica Roth, and the publisher, Titan Books, for this opportunity.When Antigone's parents were slain by her uncle, he ascended to the throne in their stead. She and her siblings had no choice but to live within the castle gates with him, and while she shows her face to the world with a lovely smile, her mind is filled with thoughts of murder and betrayal. I loved watching how Roth transformed well-known mythical characters into alien beings from the future, but the plot itself left me feeling a little cold. It was fresh and original, but the characters seemed a little one-dimensional, like they'd been brought back to life with only the bare essentials of their personality and their pain still intact. Whilst I suppose I shouldn't have expected too much given the novella's length, I was hoping to form a stronger emotional connection with the main characters and to learn more about their motivations and backstories.

Welcome to the last city on Earth. Earth has become a wasteland. Humanity is struggling and has been on the brink of ending, but thanks to the Archive, which is where the dead's genes are stored has helped save humanity. In the Arch-Conspirator, we meet our protagonist, Antigone whose parents have been murdered and her father's throne is now vacant. But, her Uncle Kreon is trying to claim it, which cause Antigone to feel rage. However, her Uncle welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, which she quickly realizes it is a gilded cage.

This book is marketed as a retelling of Antigone, which I cannot comment on because I have not ever heard of until after I finished Arch-conspirator. When it comes to Veronica Roth's work, I have avoided them for many years. When I was in high school, Divergent came out and I read it a few months after its release and was so addicted to the story that I read it in a day. I impatiently waited for each book to release. I was so excited for Allegiant's release and as I was waiting for my copy to come, I saw all the outrage on Facebook and saw the major spoiler. When the copy came, I tried and failed to read. In the summer of 2014 I tried once again tried to read it and ultimately bruted it due to the writing.

After that I have never trusted her boots again and even read carve the mark, but struggled due to the writing and never read the sequel. I do own Poster Girl and got it from Fairyloot and will eventually read it.

From 2011 until now my reading journey has drastically changed with Veronica’s work and I found Arch-Conspirator to be just okay and pretty forgettable. I was bored most of the time even though I found the beginning to be promising and intriguing. After that I could not connect with the Indracters and story, which is why I became bored. Plus, this book is around 10 pages and it felt too long towards the end.

I will give Poster Girl a chance and see if I enjoy it or not and if I do not, then I will say that Veronica Roth is not for me anymore.

Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I dropped the book at 30% of the way through.

Disclaimer: I've never read Veronica Roth's previous works. I also did not read Antigone before reading this book. It seems that it would be recommended to at least read Antigone before reading this book since it's a loose adaptation of it.

I had a hard time getting into the story, I didn't end up liking any of the characters. The concepts were really interesting to read but I felt like it was giving a ton of information in such a short span of time. I think the story would have better served as a full-length novel with time to explain everything but I felt like I was being rushed through it all and it wasn't compelling enough for me to keep reading.

As a reimagining of Antigone, I knew Arch-Conspirator wouldn’t be a feel-good read. This beautifully written novella scratched the surface of compelling deeper issues but didn’t go quite far enough for me. Normally, I am a huge fan of the novella format, but the political issues of bodily autonomy, eugenics, and others needed more room to breathe and expand. This novella is still a short, poignant read, but I would have loved a format that allowed for more depth. The thought-provoking, ambiguous ending and gorgeous prose did leave me thinking about this story for days, so there’s definitely still value in reading it.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book being a retelling of Antigone was interesting. It was short, and fascinating. As someone who was not exposed to the original story of Antigone, I was inspired to, afterward, look up the story. I didn't enjoy this story as much as I have Roth's previous works. Though, for a short weekend read, this is an interesting sci-fi read. The politics were a little difficult to grasp in such a short story, as well as the relationships. I felt like we needed more time to be fully invested in the characters. though the plot was interesting overall.

If you are only familiar with Roth through her YA work, you should definitely give this a chance. She does a fantastic job retelling the story of Antigone in a way that removes most of the modern squick while keeping a taboo in place in world. Even though we all know how this is going to go, you still find yourself actively hoping that, this time, maybe, the characters will find another way out.

I really enjoyed Arch-Conspirator, Veronica Roth's sci-fi take on Antigone. Roth just keeps getting better and better, and I thought she had a really interesting take on the classic story.

I love Veronica Roth’s style and retellings. Antigone in a sci-fi setting sounded great. Though the world building wasn’t what I’d usually expect from her, I enjoyed the story.

Arch-Conspirator is a dystopian/sci-fi retelling of Antigone in a novella.

Overall, I enjoyed the story as a retelling. The characters were all intriguing and felt realistic. The world-building was interesting and worked to refresh the original tale.

However, I wish that the world-building, characters, and plot had more time to grow. There were many POV characters and I wished that we had more time with a few of them. I would also have liked a little more on the world's history (how did the radiation levels increase? How did they develop extraction) and more on the political fallout of the story's ending. I also wish Haemon and Antigone had more time together, but maybe that's the way it should be.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has read Antigone.

Veronica Roth does it again! I really enjoy her characters and world-building. This story is a retelling of classic Greek myths, but Roth writes the story of a lost girl, someone most women can relate to (if not now but perhaps earlier in life). I go to Roth to read stories of women who find their way in the world and Arch-Conspiritor is a fantastic post-apocalyptic landscape (figuratively and literally). If you enjoy her other books you'll love this one as well!

Apparently, this is based on the story of Antigone. I won't pretend that means anything to me, and you can just go ahead and think me an uncultured swine. Fair? Great. Anyway, being that I knew nothing of the source material, I can't comment on that. But I can (and obviously will) comment on the story itself!

Now, we're kind of thrown into the story, so it did take me a bit to figure out what was going on. And I think because there are quite a few points of view, especially for a short book, it took some time. However, once I got the gist of what was happening, I was hooked. I loved the family dynamics at play, and because of that, the emotions were definitely high. I was invested in the characters certainly, and probably more so because they were connected so deeply.

It's a fast read, and an entertaining one at that. The story ends in a way that me, a person not knowing the source material, hoped lended itself to a sequel. But I have read that it is appropriate for the situation, and won't have a sequel. I can hold out hope anyway, right?

Bottom Line: Very well developed for such a short story, I loved the emotions that familial connection brought to this engaging novella.

It’s been a great while reading Veronica Roth’s work again. I really enjoyed this book. I remember reading about Antigone in high school and thinking it was shockingly interesting. I really enjoyed Roth’s take of Antigone in a sci-fi setting. Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to receive an early copy. I will definitely recommend this book to my students. Can’t wait to purchase a physical copy next time I am at a book store.