Ash: A Destined Novel

Gr 8 Up—After the Event, in which seven billion people died, the survivors created a system to ensure nothing like that would happen again. People are placed into what is essentially a caste or "ring" system, starting with the highest, most powerful Purples through the rainbow to the lowly Ashes. As people are born, specialists extract their destinies, down to the day and time—and to maintain order, all must fulfill their destiny. Dax is a rarity, a Blank—one whose destiny could not be extracted, the lowliest of the low. Madden is an elite Purple, being groomed to take over a position on the ruling board. After Dax's brothers commit the ultimate sacrifice in the name of breaking free from pre-determined destinies, Dax and Madden are thrown together in a plot of intrigue, secrecy, and danger. While many elements of the plot are left unexplained—for instance, how exactly does a specialist extract a destiny from a baby?—the action is never sparse in this science fiction series opener.