Champion (novel)

Plot

Daniel "Day" Altan Wing now lives freely in San Francisco with his younger brother, Eden Bataar, after the events of Prodigy. After several months without contact, June Iparis reaches out to Day about a "feast" hosted by Anden Stavropoulos, the young Elector of the Republic. The true purpose is that Anden wants Day to give up Eden to help the Republic find a cure for their virus, which is devastating the Colonies and prompting them to demand the cure or else they and Africa will invade the Republic. Day refuses. The Republic's position weakens further when traitor soldiers Thomas Bryant and Commander Jameson, who were on death row for the attempted coup and for murdering June's brother Metias Iparis, escape.

The next day, Day collapses from his illness and is taken to the hospital. He informs June that his condition is terminal, just before the Colonies launch an airship attack on the city. As the population evacuates to Los Angeles, Day teams up with the Patriot group to seize the Colonies' airships. During this mission, Thomas sacrifices himself to save Day.

Day is then admitted to Los Angeles Central Hospital after another flare-up of his illness. The Chancellor of the Colonies contacts him, blackmailing Day into defecting to the Colonies and persuading the public to follow, threatening to kill June and Eden if the Colonies win. Day has three days to decide.

Instead, he uses graffiti to rally support for Anden among the Republic's citizens. He also reluctantly agrees to let Eden become a test subject to develop a cure for the biological diseases spreading in the Colonies. Meanwhile, June goes with Anden to meet the President of Antarctica, seeking help for the war. The President refuses, saying the Republic is diseased and will only assist if a cure is found and several land plots are given as payment.

Characters

June Iparis is a sixteen-year-old genius who achieved the highest possible score of 1500 on her Trial. At the novel’s close, she chooses to keep her identity hidden from Day, believing that her actions caused his suffering. When Day appears to be dying, she desperately begs for him to survive.

Ultimately, she decides to let him go, convincing herself that this is the right choice. She has a talent for reading people, understanding their backgrounds, and appealing to their emotions. In the epilogue, when both are twenty-seven, she and Day meet again and reintroduce themselves, hoping to rebuild their friendship.

Daniel Altan “Day” Wing is also sixteen and was subjected to Republic experiments at age ten. Near the end of the story, he is shot twice and falls into a five-month coma, requiring surgery on his hippocampus.

Though he is a prodigy known as the Republic’s “Legend” and “Champion,” he never learns that he too scored a perfect 1500 on his Trial. Throughout the book, he suffers from severe headaches caused by the experiments conducted after he failed his Trial. In the previous book, Prodigy, Day ended his relationship with June because he believed she should not be with a dying man, but in Champion, they reunite after nearly a year apart.

Eden Bataar Wing is Day’s younger brother, whom Day is fiercely protective of. Day refuses to let the Republic experiment on Eden again, but Eden eventually agrees to undergo the procedures. Eden had been gravely ill from the plague.

Captain Thomas Alexander Bryant is a soldier utterly loyal to the Republic, but his blind obedience to his commander’s orders leads him to be framed as a traitor in a plot to assassinate the Elector. After kissing his love interest, Metias Iparis (June’s brother), Thomas kills him. He is later killed by soldiers from the Colonies.

Anden Stavropoulos is the young Elector of the Republic, who is drawn to June. By the epilogue, he has led the Republic into a peaceful new era. He and June date for four years before eventually parting ways.

Tess is an orphan girl taken in by Day, and she develops feelings for him. She joins the Patriot organization as a medic-in-training.

When she later contracts the plague, a cure derived from June’s blood saves her. By the novel’s end, she and June become friends. In the epilogue, Tess is the one who arranges for Day and June to meet again.

Did You Know?

• Critical reception to Champion was favorable and gained a favorable review from the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
• Publishers Weekly gave the work a starred review, comparing Lu to Charlotte Brontë.
• Commonsensemedia gave the work four stars, writing that 'Action-packed sci-fi series reaches rousing conclusion.'