House of Stairs by William Sleator

I first read the synopsis for this a few years ago and the concept immediately caught my attention. Set in an unknown but clearly dystopian future, we follow five kids in their early teens who are suddenly dumped alone on a never ending room of stairs. There is a machine that spits out food but only when the group perform certain actions which they have to determine by trial and error. When the machine starts rewarding violence of the physical and psychological types the kids are pushed to either follow directions of take a stand for what they believe in.

It’s pretty damn awesome. Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver are our protagonists and they all clearly differ from one another with the five of them presenting a nice range of reactions and interactions to each other and the situation around them. Peter is a follower and lacks confidence, Lola is a doer, confident and looks for a way out, Blossom is a fat spoiled girl who grew up with wealthy politicians and seems to have learnt to manipulate people by dividing them against each other. Abigail is used to being looked at but lacks any real sense of herself and her value as a person outside others thoughts and Oliver is used to being in charge, used to having power and resents any competition to this position.

The worldbuilding is nice with just enough tidbits thrown in to make me want to know more. We learn the boys and girls are separated until they are adults and in a relationship supposedly to prevent sexual mishaps. That some of the wealthy and members of the government live behind a wall in large houses whilst the rest of the population are denied such a luxury and in many cases not even aware the sort of lifestyle even exists. That the sitting President is a toady to his political advisors. It’s random stuff that often has no bearing on the story but it gives us a glimpse of what’s outside the room without ever actually letting us out.

The finale is done very well and provides a great deal of the horror as we do get to discover where the kids are, why they are there and who or what is pulling the strings.

Highly recommend picking this one up if you missed it during your childhood.