Scott Hayden’s Reviews > The People of Sparks > Status Update

Excellent! The question people in conflict almost never think to ask: "We don't want to leave. And we don't want to fight. Do you think those are the only two choices?" From the lips of children!

Ah, and a hint at deeper human nature: "You don't want to, but you do anyway. That's what makes it hard. Maddy said it was very hard. I's much harder to be good than bad, she said,"

Liking the antidote that Lina is exploring. Reversal. Return good for evil.

War seems near. Repeating the "You hurt me, so I'll hurt you back" cause of war. Correct but incomplete. But then, it is from the mouth of a youngster with little experience, just telling what she knows so far.

She has established the "hurting people hurt people" motif. Let' see how far she takes it. So far, Tick seems to stand outside this paradigm as someone who is just plain power hungry. I hope she doesn't gloss over that, but let it develop. Because "hurting people hurt people" is an insufficient explanation for evil.

"It's your word against his. And he's one of us." A reenactment of sorts of jealousies, lies, and distrust that got them in this post apocalypse world in the first place.