Adamantine Release Day Blitz

We have a release day blitz for Rosie Weir’s debut sci-fi romance, Adamantine! Check out the excerpt and grab your today!

Title: Adamantine

Author: Rosie Weir

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance

About Adamantine:

Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, a brilliant scientist and his daughter retreat from a catastrophic global plague. Worried for Molly’s future, James crafts the ultimate gift for his lonely little girl: A sentient AI charged with the task of protecting her and keeping her company in the event he is no longer able to do so. His creation, Will, is bestowed with an expansive intellect, superhuman strength, and a fierce protective streak. However, as year go by, Will’s feelings start to change from duty and service to something more. At eighteen, Molly knows little of the world beyond a collection of grainy VHS classics. Life with Will and James is idyllic. But Will’s mission to protect involves keeping dangerous secrets, including some that could destroy the trust between them forever. Will struggles with the rigid self-discipline of his programming, versus turbulent, irrational feelings that grow stronger each day. True love can’t exist without honesty and risk; the two things Will has been programmed to control at all costs. But trouble is brewing outside their sheltered utopia, and ignorance might be a luxury neither of them can afford any longer. From the primitive heights of the Appalachian Mountains to the revolutionary scientific breakthrough hidden within, Adamantine, a story of love, sacrifice, and sentience is scheduled to be released in June 2020.

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Exclusive Excerpt:

Fatigue lines circled James Walkers eyes and forehead; dry canals of wrinkled flesh ran down the sides of his face. A flood of light washed over him, flickering ever so often. He found himself hissing at that inconvenience before resuming his examination. James spent months inspecting every piece of hardware and taking voice notes—he was ready to proceed. 

“James Walker, Ph.D.,” he said into the recorder. “After meticulous examination that produced minor wins and fails, everything seems to be in order. The mechanism is responsive. I’m proceeding to the next step—implementation. Cooling systems have taken to the previous modifications, refer to doc-234. Internal examinations will continue intermittently.”  

James clicked off the recorder and sighed. He walked across the room and paused inches from his destination, letting his eyes scan the table and its contents. The thin, silicone-based polymer suit reflected the soft light in the room. The project was close to completion and when he thought of what was at stake, the usual litany of questions and doubts arose. He scratched his stubble and pushed aside thoughts of consequence. He knew all too well that one wrong move might bring down his research like a flimsy deck of cards. 

“Positivity doesn’t exist in the realm of fringe science, but you have to try,” he muttered under his breath. Those words fueled James, who focused on the most favorable outcome. 

The augmented bio-hybrid suit had muscles, tendons, and ligaments designed to replicate the human body—an exact replica. He rolled the table close to the gurney then proceeded to couple the parts together. It took thirty minutes of concentrated effort to get the body sheathed. James took a step back and admired his masterpiece. It reminded him of a Renaissance anatomical painting he once saw in a museum. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but he wiped it away with the back of his hand. He attached a transfusion tube to the small glass cylinder filled with dense liquid. He injected the mixture into the body’s cervical vertebrae. Spider-like microscopic nanocells hurried down the spine and spread into the hybrid suit. The muscle tissues expanded and solidified over the impenetrable frame underneath. 

James watched the process unfold. His heart beat in double time, eager to move to the next phase. The pulsating vibe in his ears synced with his anxiety. He ambled to a wall lined with metal cabinets and retrieved the synthetic skin from its compartment. At the table, he arranged them over the entire body like a giant jigsaw puzzle. He watched the panels of skin adhere to one another. His hands imprisoned within his pockets to resist the urge to touch. Soon, skin covered the mechanical suit and a man lay in its place. The transformation was a success.  

 

 

About Rosie Weir:

 Rosie Weir is an authoress by passion and now profession. She penned her first story at the age of 10 and has been writing ever since. Obsessed with science fiction, horror, and sometimes dark historical romances, her writing repertoire is wide-ranging and wildly diverse. On a quest to tell unconventional stories, human behavior and humanness are at the heart of all her literary works; stories that inspire readers to rethink and reshape their perspectives. When she’s not busy writing, she’s baking and chasing after a tiny, and rambunctious human. Her debut novel, Adamantine, is scheduled to be released in June 2020 with The Champagne Book Group.   

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Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

* * * *

Description taken from the book:

“Even at night, the wrecks glowed with work.  The torch lights flickered, bobbing and, moving. Sledge noise rang across the water.  Comforting sounds of work and activity,

the air tanged with the coal reek of smelters and the salt fresh breeze coming off the water.  It was beautiful.”

“In America’s gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota – and hopefully live to see another day.  But when, by luck, or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship is beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it’s worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life …

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paces adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.”

I’ve been drawn dystopian books lately, therefore, this one should come as no surprise to my fellow BiblioJunkies.  

The setting takes place in the New Orleans area, or more accurately what used to be it.  What is left in the aftermath of extreme weather, hurricanes and climate change is a flooded area economically and socially depressed.  The locals live in “clans” and scavenge ships that have run aground for their endless supplies of copper, cargo and parts.  It’s a tough life that everyone is born into and children are not immune to the hard work.

Nailer Lopez is the main protagonist who is about 15 years old, so he thinks.  This is the life he’s always known.  As a ship breaker he works the light crew meaning that he’s small enough in size to navigate the narrow ducts and pipes to strip copper wiring from the ships.  It’s dirty, dangerous work.  He has all the bruises, cuts and tattoos to prove it.  And he must make quota in order to maintain his status and place on the crew.  They live by a very strong code of conduct including taking blood oaths amongst themselves to be loyal to each other.  And any break in that code of conduct results in the person being tossed out of the crew and no one willing speak for them.  The social structure is slightly reminiscent of the feudal system in Europe during the Middle Ages.  You’re born into your line of work and that’s it.  If you happen to be lucky enough to run into good fortune, you’ll be made and can call the shots yourself.  Nailer always has in the back of his mind that you have to be a combination of lucky and smart in order to survive much less be rich.

When the latest hurricane passes, he and his fellow crewmember Pima, come across a clipper that was caught in the storm.  Not believing their good luck, they immediately try to loot it for any valuables when they come across a young girl trapped in the wreckage.  This is a pivotal moment when Nailer has to decide if he’s going to strike it rich or listen to his instincts and place his trust in a total stranger and rescue her.  Nita couldn’t come from a more different world – privileged, educated and proper.  Yet Nailer finds a future of possibilities in allying himself with her especially after he learns that she’s the daughter of a successful and powerful shipping magnate whose position is being usurped by an enemy within the family.  Helping her reunite with her family means that he could escape his misfortune and distance himself from his abusive, alcoholic, murderous, drug-addict father.  He sounds like a fine catch doesn’t he?

Bacigalupi includes great detail about the ship breaking industry and blends elements of science fiction.  In this time and place, there’s a new breed of creature called “half-men” – beings that are genetically engineered from human DNA mixed with those of dogs, hyenas, cats – with the purpose of providing muscle, inspiring awe and fear and most importantly extreme loyalty to their owners.  When I first read it, I wasn’t quite sure I understood it correctly.  It just seemed so out of place to hear about something so scientifically advanced against the backdrop of poverty that Nailer lives in.  But as more was explained, it fell into place. 

The description of a ravaged New Orleans sunken below the sea left a deep impression on me.   There’s a scene where Nailer and Nita are escaping on a train headed towards Orleans.  It’s hard to fathom but at the same time very tangible to see that area as described in the book – abandoned suburbs and roads that have become swamplands due to the climate change.  Orleans itself is described as very third-world country.  Some examples: people opting to save their money wading through murky water rather than taking a water taxi to get across channels or eating grilled rat on a stick. Sorry, I had to throw that out there.

While some of the descriptions and activities did make my stomach lurch just a little, I still felt compelled to read on because I wanted so badly for Nailer and Nita to survive and find hope, particularly Nailer.  You always want to root for the underdog and in his case, I could empathize with his desire to rewrite his own fate.  His biggest fear is turning out like his dad, an addict completely lacking in morals.  Nailer at one time thought he had no choice in his future but meeting Nita has changed his perspective on loyalty and family.  My favorite part in the book is where he comes to the conclusion, “…the blood bond was nothing.  It was the people that mattered.  If they covered your back, and you covered theirs, then may be that was worth calling family.  Everything else was just so much smoke and lies.”  When he starts realizing that he can be his own man and create his own destiny, Nailer achieves the confidence he never thought he had.

Ship Breaker is full of rich detail, diverse characters and a gripping storyline.  Between all the infighting and power struggles, and the lessons he learns about loyalty and friendship, you’ll find yourself cheering on Nailer as he steps into his own new world.

~ Bel

Legend by Marie Lu

*** ½

Description taken from back cover:

Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a military prodigy committed to her country.

Born into the slums of Republic’s Lake Sector, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal.

From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths-until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered.  And Day becomes the prime suspect.

Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival while June tries desperately to avenge Metias’s death.  But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to keep its secrets.

I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of Legend via librarything.com.  I have been sitting on it for a little while as I have been a little nervous to read it.  Just in case you weren’t aware, I LOVE The Hunger Games.  Worse yet, THG was the first and only dystopian series I have read.  With that being my basis for comparison, I was afraid that my expectations would be too high and that they wouldn’t be met.  But this week, I decided to put my fears aside and moved Legend to the top of my to-be-read pile.  And I am glad that I did.

Let me get The Hunger Games comparison out of the way first.  The only similarity between the two books is that they take place in a dystopian society where the government negatively controls everything one way or another.  Other than that, throw all your other preconceived THG-based dystopian ideas out the window.  The two books are nothing alike and I couldn’t have been happier about that fact. 

There were a couple things that I really didn’t care for in this book.  First, as much as I love romance, I actually would have preferred the romance to be taken more slowly or removed all together.  Regardless of the events that take place in the book, I would have expected there to be a lot more distrust between Day and June.  Second, everything seemed to be a little underwhelming and I felt that a lot of the story was predictable.  With the exception of a couple scenes, nothing shocked or surprised me. 

But you know what? This still turned out to be a really fun novel.  Marie Lu’s skills/strengths are in developing her main characters and making a story move.  Maybe I don’t think June and Day should be each other’s romantic interest but that doesn’t mean I didn’t absolutely love them individually.  Day is a future-day Robin Hood which makes you want to root for him immediately.  June is a girl that is very driven and not afraid to use her extreme intelligence to reach her goals (it was probably the military aspect but she made me think of a young Honor Harrington).  They are both very strong characters which is always a plus with the Bibliojunkies.

And even though I found a lot of this story to be predictable, that doesn’t mean it was at all slow.  Lu did an amazing job of making the action flow quickly.  This along with the love of the main characters made it difficult to put the book down.  I admit to staying up until 4 a.m reading Legend.  I finally had to force myself to go to sleep even though I only had 40 pages left.  No matter how much I was enjoying the book, those adorable pesky toddlers would be up bright and early only a few short hours later.   

The only problem now?  I have learned the down-side of reading an Advanced Readers Copy…the wait is even longer when you are looking forward to the next installment in the series.  And I will DEFINITELY be looking forward to the sequel to Legend.

Nat