Review: DRIVE by Stephanie Fournet
I have loved everything I’ve read from Stephanie Fournet, and DRIVE did not disa[...]
Please welcome A.J. Paquette, the author of PARADOX! She’s stopping by today to share what the the book’s world looks like through her protagonist, Ana’s eyes. Check out her post with excerpt below, and then enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
Ana only knows her name because of the tag she finds pinned to her jumpsuit. Waking in the featureless compartment of a rocket ship, she opens the hatch to discover that she has landed on a barren alien world. Instructions in her pocket tell her to observe and to survive, no doubt with help from the wicked-looking knives she carries on her belt. But to what purpose?
Meeting up with three other teens–one boy seems strangely familiar–Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They’re working on some sort of problem, and the situation is critical. What is the connection between Ana’s mission on this planet and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure out the answer when she can’t remember anything?
Wake Up to a Brand New World
by A.J. Paquette
Most of us have probably had the experience of waking up and feeling for a moment disoriented about who and where we are. I know I have.—In fact, my science fiction novel PARADOX was inspired by just such an event for me: waking up and feeling myself caught, for just one moment, inside someone else’s head.
Want a quick peek into the world of PARADOX?
When Ana awakes, strapped into a tall cushioned chair, in a dark conical room filled with unfamiliar buttons and strange flashing lights, she quickly realizes that she has no knowledge of herself or her past. She also has no idea where she is. So this first look out at her world is as new for her as it is for readers. In a brief excerpt from PARADOX, chapter 1, here is what Ana sees:
Ana pushes and the door swings open.
She is greeted by an endless swath of dry brown earth. Giant boulders that are gray and black and dull green and even coral pink are scattered across the landscape. She realizes she’s looking from a height, and as she pushes the door wider, she sees it’s a ten- or twelve-foot drop to the ground. Off ahead a cliff cuts across the horizon, so far away it’s barely more than a haze in the distance.
And the sky . . . she tilts her head back. The sky is pink! It’s as if she were inside a huge peach, the top half of the world streaked with ribbons of orange and yellow and red—and, yes, cheek-blushing pink. Over it all hangs a watery yellow sun.
What is this place?
The wind hits her then, a gust of chilly-fresh air that takes her breath away for a second, and she leans into it, pushing the door out until it’s flat against the outer wall and it latches into place.
That’s when she sees it. Over the horizon way off to her left, low over the distant cliff wall, looms a second sun.
Carefully, Ana climbs down the staircase. Only when she reaches the ground does she allow herself to turn and look at the place she’s left.
Two suns . . . A pink sky . . . She has a definite idea about what she’s going to see, but still—a thrill courses through her to observe the tall, conical body, solid and gleaming as it rests on its round, squat bottom, nose pointing to the sky.
She’s just climbed out of a rocket ship.
Unfortunately for Ana, this jarring wake-up is just the beginning of all that’s new and different in her life. Just how different? Check out PARADOX and find out…
About the author: A.J. Paquette has been writing stories since early childhood. She and her sister would spend hours creating masterpieces of stapled paper and handwritten words, complete with pen-and-ink covers and boxed illustrations.
The road to publication was long and winding, peppered with many small successes including: a variety of national magazine publications, being a 2005 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award honoree, and receiving the 2008 SCBWI’s Susan Landers Glass Scholarship Award, for the book that would later become Nowhere Girl. Her first picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, was published in 2009.
She now lives with her husband and two daughters in the Boston area, where she continues to write books for children and young adults. She is also an agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
Thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for having me as part of Paradox’s blog tour. Readers, be sure to enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win! Follow the tour schedule below to gain more entries.
Giveaway
(US/Canada ONLY)
Tour Schedule (Week 2, full schedule here)
June 24th – Word Spelunking – Review
June 25th – Emilie’s Book World – Guest Post
June 25th – Confessions of a Readaholic – Review
June 26th – Nick’s Book Blog – Interview
June 26th – Magna Maniac Cafe – Review
June 27th – A Book and a Latte – Guest Post
June 28th – I Am A Reader Not A Writer – Guest Post
I can’t wait to read this one! It sounds fascinating.
This one looks awesome!
Alexia recently posted..Review: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
This is what interests me most about PARADOX:
Most of us have probably had the experience of waking up and feeling for a moment disoriented about who and where we are. I know I have.—In fact, my science fiction novel PARADOX was inspired by just such an event for me: waking up and feeling myself caught, for just one moment, inside someone else’s head.
I had deja vu when I read this!! 🙂
I hate when that happens. I think that we all have experienced it! I like the idea of deja vu being written into a book. I used to experience it all the time!
Kriss @ Cabin Goddess recently posted..One Small Touch From… a Werewolf! @denise_mcgee joins Fourth-Wall Friday
I don’t generally read SF, but the description makes me interested!
The premise sounds so interesting, can’t wait to read it.
Jenea @ Books Live Forever
Jenea @ Books Live Forever recently posted..Blog Tour Stop: Review and Giveaway for Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend (Confessions #2) by Louise Rozett
The plot in general really interests me but so does the genre.