The Million

June 25, 2018
In the far-flung future, Earth is primarily inhabited by one million people who dwell in luxury, entertaining themselves with fantastic technology and boundless resources, while keeping the planet ready for the 10 billion who sleep the centuries away in suspended animation, only emerging every 30 years for a monthlong party. One of the waking inhabitants, 16-year-old Gavin Penn-of-Chaffee, is secretly a “visitor,” not one of the recorded million, hiding in plain sight as one of the elite. When his adoptive father is killed and his brother blamed, Gavin has to steal a new identity, subsequently finding refuge in the School of Auditors, where he must train to hunt down illegal residents like himself. However, in protecting his secrets while investigating his father’s murder, he and his new friends seem poised to discover a terrible, centuries-old mystery relating to the very nature of their society. The premise for this thriller, loosely related to 2014’s Lockstep, sounds complicated, but Schroeder makes the mixture of elements work. Intriguing world building, fast pacing, and hints of much more to come will keep the reader’s attention, but the novella’s relative brevity and inconclusive ending give the impression this is merely the start of a longer, more substantial story.