Beyond the Village, nothing exists ... except devastation. A war waged by men and their hateful weapons long ago made it so, and my people--the women of the Village--are the only survivors. This is what our history lessons teach us, and this is what we are to believe. But I am sixteen now ... and I question everything. The Archer has spoken, but I have no desire to heed his command. I long for more.

In a world demolished by war and ruled by the hands of Fate, individual choices have become obsolete. Essentially, there is only one requirement: Bow the knee to the wisdom of the Council without question. Many of the women in the Village have acquiesced to this mandate, including some of Kate's closest friends. But Kate longs for something more; she hears the call of another life. On the day of her sixteenth birthday celebration, the reality of what this means invades her with a vengeance, and she is forced to contend with her own moral conscience. Kate's destiny has always been the Pit--the life of the breeder--which she is expected to embrace without complaint. Her rebel's heart, however, refuses to comply with Fate's demand, and what she finds in the Pit draws her one step closer to finding the truth about herself and the Village. And it changes the course of her destiny for all eternity.