Once & Future is a young adult science-fantasy novel by Cory McCarthy and August Capetta.
Ari Helix has been running her whole life. A fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer Corporation, she's always had to hide who she was. Until now. When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the forty-second reincarnation of King Arthur.
The wizard Merlin has been waiting for centuries for a king who can break the curse that's aged him backwards into a teenager. He's trained dozens of Arthurs over the centuries, but never a girl. Could Ari finally be the one?
Ari wants nothing to do with Merlin's talk of quests and knights and dragons. She just wants to use her new power to find a way home. But the Mercer Corporation is hiding a terrible, world-destroying secret–and it will do anything to stop her from uncovering the truth.
Once & Future contains examples of
- Advert-Overloaded Future: On Troy, even the sky is covered with ads.
- Anyone Can Die: Kay is killed by the Administrator before the final battle even begins.
- Chess Motif: There's a running chess theme throughout. When Gwen and Ari meet with the Administrator, they discuss the fate of Lionel over a chessboard. Mercer's ships are either black or white, and the Administrator says they're both sides of the chessboard. Later, Ari broadcasts a video confirming that she's still alive and tells the Administrator "Check." However, after the Administrator has Ari and her friends captured on Lionel, he says, "Checkmate."
- Company Town: Exaggerated. The entire planet of Troy is owned by the Mercer company.
- Cool Sword: Excalibur, the enchanted sword of King Arthur that Ari discovers on Old Earth.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Administrator, the CEO of the Mercer company, who ordered the extermination of the entire Ketchan race
- Crapsaccharine World: While the planet of Troy looks impressive and shiny, it's one of the worst places to live in the entire galaxy. On top of the obscene overcrowding and constant surveillance, every citizen has to purchase a certain number of Mercer products every day, and if they don't meet the quota, they're kicked off the planet. Troy also has a history of terrible riots–according to Ari, bodies are "strewn like litter in the aftermath."
- Deadly Environment Prison: Urite
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The evil corporation that Ari must defeat is called Mercer. In the original Arthur myths, King Arthur was a Celtic king who defending the Celts from the Anglo-Saxons. The biggest and most powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom in England was called Mercia.
- Fantastic Racism: Ari's people, the Ketchans, are ostracized from the galaxy, and their entire planet is locked behind a barrier. In truth, however, the entire Ketchan race was wiped out by Mercer, and Ari is the only survivor.
- Lady and Knight: Gwen, the Queen of Lionel and Ari, the reincarnation of King Arthur
- Legacy Character: Ari is the forty-second incarnation of the legendary King Arthur.
- Mega City: Exaggerated. The planet of Troy is one giant city.
- MegaCorp: The Mercer Company, a corporation that controls the entire galaxy.
- Privately Owned Society: The Mercer Company controls practically everything in the galaxy.
- Rebel Leader: Ari eventually becomes one, especially after she returns from the "dead" and rallies the citizens of Lionel against Mercer
- Schizo Tech: The planet of Lionel is home to a medieval-inspired society with knights, castles, jousting tournaments–as well as cyborgs, spaceships, and holograms.
- Star Scraper: The Administrator's tower on Troy, which is taller than all of the surrounding buildings on the city-planet.
- The Chess Master: The Administrator seems to be orchestrating everything that happens in the galaxy, and he seems to be fond of chess as a motif: Mercer's ships are color-coded either white or black to resemble chess pieces. Lampshaded; upon seeing a chessboard in the Administrator's office, Ari remarks, "Chess? That's not even a bad-guy original."
- The High Queen: Gwen is the queen of the medieval planet of Lionel, and is a capable ruler who is beloved by her people.
