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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Your fate is in your blood…True Born (True Born Trilogy #1) by L.E. Sterling


When Margot disappears, a desperate Lucy has no choice but to put her faith in the True Borns, led by the charismatic leader, Nolan Storm, and the beautiful but deadly Jared, who tempts her as much as he infuriates her.


Description:

Published: May 3rd, 2016

Your fate is in your blood…

Welcome to Dominion City

After the great Plague descended, the world population was decimated…and their genetics damaged beyond repair.

The Lasters wait hopelessly for their genes to self-destruct. The Splicers pay for expensive treatments that might prolong their life. The plague-resistant True Borns are as mysterious as they are feared…

And then there’s Lucy Fox and her identical twin sister, Margot. After endless tests, no one wants to reveal what they are.

When Margot disappears, a desperate Lucy has no choice but to put her faith in the True Borns, led by the charismatic leader, Nolan Storm, and the beautiful but deadly Jared, who tempts her as much as he infuriates her. As Lucy and the True Borns set out to rescue her sister, they stumble upon a vast conspiracy stretching from Dominion’s street preachers to shady Russian tycoons. But why target the Fox sisters?

As they say in Dominion, it’s in the blood.

GUEST POST
Symbolism and messages in (YA) dystopia

I have a little confession to make, and I’ll admit, it’s going to be a bit inflammatory. It goes a little something like this: YA dystopia by any other name is YA.

Ever since Johnny Cade croaked, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” with his dying breath in the Outsiders (penned by the brilliant 16-year old S.E. Hinton in 1967), we readers have understood one essential thing: the world can be a cold, hard place when you’re young.

The Outsiders is perhaps the novel that created the YA fiction genre. It’s saturated with themes of belonging, family and of course, identity. In Hinton’s world, young adults loosely correlate to a tribe. The “greasers,” those poor, lower class kids without parents, fight the privileged “socs” in a class warfare that was set in motion long before those kids were born. Who do you want to be, Ponyboy?

Sound familiar?

Place Veronica Roth’s awesome Divergent series next to The Outsiders and you soon see an interesting pattern: Which is your tribe – are you Erudite, Dauntless, or Abnegation? By choosing a category of belonging, the young adults in Divergent are meant to mold – or in the case of the heroine, break the mold – to conformity.

Growing up is all about fighting to become your own person, isn’t it? It doesn’t really matter which planet or version of reality you’re in.

But if YA and dystopia share these themes, dystopia has managed to add an additional layer to the fog of looming adulthood. In dystopian fiction, the long shadow of technology and its effects on our lives, both inner and outer, often plays a starring role, all against a backdrop of scarce and dwindling resources (much like real life).

Consider The Selection, Kiera Cass’s series (think “The Bachelor” meets “Cinderella” meets dystopian fiction) in which becoming a princess is like being a contestant in a 24-hr televised Miss Universe Pagent. First prize? Marriage to the Prince – the only way to lift those from the bottom caste up! The constant messages of surveillance and social presence is unmistakable.

And of course, in the remarkable Hunger Games trilogy, governmental control is augmented by the futuristic blood thirst of a populace held in a voyeuristic thrall.

To my mind, YA dystopia’s statements on how the personal has become intertwined with a voyeuristic version of popular culture is what makes it truly unique – and the YA fiction of today an important voice in understanding the effect of culture and technology on our experiences of growing up.

When it comes right down to it, though, I believe that YA dystopian literature is about trying to survive on Planet Whatever - and “staying gold” while you do so, as long as you can.

About the author:
L.E. Sterling had an early obsession with sci-fi, fantasy and romance to which she remained faithful even through an M.A. in Creative Writing and a PhD in English Literature – where she completed a thesis on magical representation.

She is the author of two previous novels, the cult hit Y/A novel The Originals (under pen name L.E. Vollick), dubbed “the Catcher in the Rye of a new generation” by one reviewer, and the urban fantasy Pluto’s Gate.

Originally hailing from Parry Sound, Ontario, L.E. spent most of her summers roaming across Canada in a van with her father, a hippie musician, her brothers and an occasional stray mutt – inspiring her writing career. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.


8 comments:

Cali W. said...

I don't think I would survive; thanks for the giveaway. ;)

Stephanie LaPlante said...

I do because I have a strong will.

katieoscarlet said...

Because of my very resourceful boyfriend I'm sure I'd survive.

Jan Lee said...

Nope, I'd be gone in a flash, I've got messed up genetics as it is, lol

Sharon E said...

I don't think I would survive. I think only the young and extremely fit would survive. Thanks.

Dan Denman said...

I hope that I would have that survival instinct within me. It would be a really different world. I hope that I could keep myself and my family alive.

Mike Warney said...

back to nature is only way to be safe

Wayne Lecoy said...

It would be great to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.
In response to your question of
If the genetic wars were coming where you live,
do you think you'd have what it would take to survive? Why?
Yes i think i would be able to survive the genetic wars
because i have a strong survival instinct
and would do whatever it took to stay alive.
Thank you for having this giveaway.