The Testing

The great war that ended life as was known is called the Seven Stages War. Cia explains this refers to “the Four Stages of destruction that humans wrought on one another and then the following Three Stages in which the earth fought back” (62). The “fighting back” seems to primarily consist of “earthquakes, tornados, and floods” alongside the human-initiated “corruption of the earth” (62). The evidence of the damage caused to the planet is on display throughout the entire novel, from the scarcity of edible food and potable water in the colonies to the need to ration water and electricity—even in the city.

The novel highlights the scale of destruction particularly through Cia’s grief and astonishment at the state of the world she sees as she and Tomas travel back to Tosu City. In Chicago she describes a “wide river of dark, swirling water” that is not worth testing as it “is not drinkable. No amount of basic purification chemicals will make it so” (155). The earth is equally poisoned, as Cia notes offhandedly when they discover edible clover early in their journey; Cia’s father had told her it was “one of the few plants that never had trouble growing no matter the condition of the soil” (164).