Dark canopy

Dark Canopy (translated: darkened sky ) is the first volume in the two-part dystopian novel series by the German writer Jennifer Benkau . Dark Canopy was published by Loewe / script5 Verlag in 2012. The sequel, Dark Destiny, followed in 2013.

action

After the Third World War, the Percents - fighters created for war - took control and have been suppressing the people in the cities ever since. Nineteen-year-old Joy belongs to one of the rebel clans who are trying to survive in the woods outside the city. When her friend Amber is caught by the Percents, Joy, along with her best friend Matthial and a few others, plans to free Amber from the hands of the Percents. When trying to break into the headquarters of the Percents in the city, Joy is captured and handed over to the Varlet Neél, who is supposed to train her as one of the soldiers for the Chivvy, the annual hunt for people. Although she thought it was impossible, Joy slowly falls in love with Percent Neél. And Neél also falls in love with her. But it is clear to both of them that they will not have a future together, even if Joy survives the Chivvy. Because Joy longs for freedom - a freedom that doesn't exist in the city.

people

The Percents

Due to their size, strength and speed, the ability to breathe and smell with the help of their skin, their pronounced hearing, their strength and their outstanding sense of sight, the Percents are superior to humans. They are considered arrogant, callous, cold and cruel among people. Their only weak point is sunlight. Dark Canopy, a machine that uses rock dust to darken the sky, protects the Percents' sensitive skin from dangerous UV radiation and takes away people's sunlight. After sunset, the machine is switched off and restarted two hours after sunrise. Only in these two hours after sunrise are people and nature without the influence of Dark Canopy and also without the influence of the Percents, because during this time the Percents can only go outside with protective suits.

Neel

Neél is forced by his mentor Cloud to train Joy as a soldier for the Chivvy. Since Joy is the only woman among the soldiers for the Chivvy, Neél fears that she will reduce his chances of winning the Chivvy. Therefore, his training is cruel, hard and relentless. Only when he recognizes her strength, her strength and her resistance does he fall in love with her. But that's exactly why he trains her even harder. He wants Joy to survive the Chivvy.

In addition, together with a small group of other insurgent Percents, he secretly tries to get to the bottom of the discovery of strange foreign-language documents and the mutilated corpses of foreign Percents. Joy and Neél have the hope that in some other countries there will be peace between the Percents and the humans.

Joy

Joy is a strong, young and strong-willed woman. When her friend Amber is captured, she tries everything to free her, because she feels guilty for Amber's capture. Although Joy knows that the chances of freeing Amber are very slim, she persuades others from her clan to participate in the dangerous endeavor. Almost all of them are captured or killed by the Percents. She, too, is caught in the process and henceforth trained by the Varlet Neél for the Chivvy. At first she tries to flee with all her might, but is unsuccessful. But even when she realizes that Neél is different from most Percents and falls in love with him, she doesn't want to stay in town. Joy wants to be free. She is ready to risk everything for this - including her life.

Matthial

Matthial is the son of the clan leader Mars, in whose clan Joy grew up. Matthial and Joy are close friends and also sleep together. While Joy only longs for friendship and security, Matthial has fallen in love with her and even sacrifices a person to save her life. After Joy's capture and expulsion from his father's clan, he tries everything to free her. However, he now also has responsibility for his own clan.

Matthial changes over the months during Joy's imprisonment. Desperately he works out a plan to save her, but Joy barely survives the hunt. Neél is captured by Matthial's clan and brought into the clan house. Matthial would like to use Neél to negotiate advantages with the Percents for his clan and for himself. He does not shy away from extreme violence. He is cold, cruel and relentless, even when Joy begs him to let Neél go.

The chivvy

The Percents have ruled the cities since the takeover. Outside the cities there are individual clans who live in the forests. However, these only offer isolated resistance. Since the people unsuccessfully rebelled against the rule of the Percents on the blood-sunny day, the Chivvy has taken place on this day. The young percents, called varlets, hunt down human soldiers who have been trained by them beforehand. This admitted the Varlets to the status of warrior. In addition, the Chivvy determines the future status of a Varlet in the society of Percents.

Trivia

• There are only male percents. Scientists experimented with human genetic material and developed the Percents for use as slaves, human spare parts stores, and soldiers - until the Percents usurped control.
• Flagg's Boulder is the name of the place where the rebellious Percents meet. The name alludes to the book The Stand by Stephen King .
• The book tells us that the country where the story takes place was formerly called Great Britain . The city in which Neél lives is ruled by three presidents, the so-called triad. In the book, however, one does not find out what this city is called, only that it is located at a port.

Awards

• 2013: UH! Literature Prize
• 2013: DeLiA Literature Prize

literature

• Jennifer Benkau: Dark Canopy . script 5, 2012, ISBN 978-3-8390-0144-8 .

continuation

• Jennifer Benkau: Dark Destiny . script 5, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8390-0145-5 .

Web links

• Page of the publisher. Retrieved January 10, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UH! Prize for Jennifer Benkau ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website of the Ulla Hahn House. Retrieved January 10, 2015.  
2. ↑ Prize winners from previous years ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . DeLiA website. Retrieved January 10, 2015.