Powerful: A Powerless Story

As the title of the novella indicates, Roberts positions power as a central thematic focus of the story, using her plot to draw a moral line between power that oppresses and power that uplifts others. In the fantasy world that Roberts creates, most characters have special powers that ordinary humans lack. Their different magical abilities are ranked according to their utility to those in positions of in positions of political influence, and a strict hierarchy of power is enforced through both custom and law. For characters like Makoto, Kitt, and Kai, power is a double-edged sword that has both benefits and drawbacks. For each of the characters, power has moral and immoral uses. The majority of the characters in the story see force and aggression as the only way to wield power, but through Adena, Roberts illustrates personal integrity and kindness as a form of power that can also be gentle. Throughout the plot, both Adena and Makoto attempt to wield power in ways that align with their moral integrity—using their power to benefit others.

Roberts distinguishes Makoto as unusual among the slum-dwellers of Loot by emphasizing his sense of isolation and lack of connection to others. Unlike many people around him—low-level Elites with magical abilities that confer little power—Makoto is a Wielder, a person with immense power that leaves him feeling lonely, isolated, and endangered. Because his power represents a threat to those who seek to shore up their own power and influence through the oppression of others, Makoto is forced to hide his ability. By contrast, Kai and Kitt, princes of the kingdom living in great luxury, enjoy the privilege of openly acknowledging their abilities, highlighting Ilya’s systems of oppression designed to reify the power of the ruling class. However, even Kai and Kitt’s power comes with a downside. Kitt speaks of being less fun than he once was, unable to fully appreciate Paedyn—a woman he claims to love—because he worries about her disruption of power structures that even he must obey. Roberts frames Kai’s position as even more morally fraught through his own inner conflict. His Wielder abilities dictate that he has be trained from childhood to serve as his brother’s future Enforcer—a life of violence he would not choose for himself—in order to secure the power and control of his family in Ilya. He must even participate in the Purging Trials to prop up his father’s power as king.

In Powerful, Roberts defines the moral integrity of her hero and heroine in opposition to the oppressive and single-minded power of the king. The king wields power exclusively to preserve his own status and wealth, considering the lives and happiness of others expendable. His subjects live in poverty and face constant threats of violence—from one another and from the king’s harsh, punitive laws. The king executes other Elites with advanced abilities so that he and his inner circle can retain the highest levels of power. The king’s misuse of power leads to the deaths of Hera, Adena, and countless others over the course of the series. The great misery their deaths cause Makoto illustrates the immorality of the king’s choices. By contrast, when Makoto himself chooses to use his power, he does so to defend Adena from the men on the street who have threatened her. Her gratitude and feelings of safety and security with Makoto positions that his decision to use his power to benefit others as the moral choice. Adena herself cannot fight and has only a low-level Phaser ability, leaving her vulnerable in the chaotic and violent world that Ilya’s rulers have created. Yet, Roberts illustrates an alternative kind of power in Adena’s gentleness and optimism, which she consistently uses to benefit those around her. Roberts frames her cheerful conversation and encouragement, the beautiful clothes she designs, and her nurturing touch as instruments of her power. The positive changes she effects in Makoto’s life and her post-death incarnation as a part of the life-giving sun emphasize Adena’s power as rooted in her integrity, which, Roberts’s narrative suggests, is the greatest power of all.