Five Big Questions Dominion Asks About Power (And Why They Matter Now)
2 min read
Dominion: Ascension is set in a fictional future, but the questions at its core are very much of this moment. As we head into the middle of the year—a time when many of us reassess our priorities and the stories shaping our views—I wanted to highlight five of the biggest questions Dominion asks about power and why they feel urgent right now.
1. Can safety be engineered—and at what cost?
Dominion rises from the ruins of male-led war, built on the promise that tighter control, smarter systems, and a woman-led government can keep everyone safe. The Illegis test and Singletary castes are framed as rational solutions to chaos. But the book asks whether safety built on someone else’s loss of autonomy is truly safety, or just a different form of violence.
2.What happens when liberation becomes gatekeeping?
In Dominion, women have reclaimed power after generations of oppression and harm. But as the Science cabinet and other leaders consolidate control, their liberation turns into strict management of others—especially men deemed useful or dangerous. Dominion invites readers to reflect on how easily the oppressed can become gatekeepers if they aren’t vigilant about the systems they create.
3.How do stories shape consent?
Ceremony, pledges, and carefully curated history lessons are everywhere in Dominion—from the Ascension event to the way Breeders are honored and contained. Reviewers have pointed to how the novel shows “consent cultivated through ceremony,” revealing how narratives and rituals can convince people that restriction is righteous. It’s a reminder to examine the stories we accept as natural or inevitable in our own societies.
4. What does resistance look like when you benefit from the system?
Dani is not an outsider; she is a woman who benefits from Dominion’s hierarchy even as she questions it. The book asks what it means to resist a system that has protected and elevated you—and how much you’re willing to risk once you realize your safety is built on someone else’s confinement.
5.Can love survive competing loyalties?
Whether it’s Dani and her mother, Dani and Robbie, or the bonds forged in the shadows of the colonies, Dominion keeps returning to the question of how love survives when people stand on opposite sides of power. The novel doesn’t offer easy answers, but it suggests that honest, messy, complicated love may be one of the few forces strong enough to challenge an entire system.
These questions are part of why reviewers have called Dominion “thought-provoking,” “uncomfortably relevant,” and “full of heart.” My hope is that as you read—or reread—Dominion this June, you’ll find your own questions emerging, about the worlds we inherit, the systems we maintain, and the futures we’re still able to choose.