The Legacy Human (Singularity #1) by Susan Kaye Quinn + Excerpt and $25 Giveaway

    

What would you give to live forever? Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.

Amazon * Goodreads

Susan Quinn is an author that I'm always interested in.  Her Mindjack series was amazing and that is where I first fell in love with her writing.  I also loved her steampunk fantasy romance series, The Dharian Affairs.  Susan has a way of making people and places come alive in her books.  

This new series is more science fiction.  I will admit that science fiction is one of my least favorite genres, but when an author you love gives it a whirl, you do too.  :)

The Legacy Human started off really slow for me.  I felt like I was sort of stuck in one place and the forward movement inched along while the foundation was set up.  Thankfully things began to pick up.  

Eli is an interesting character.  One of the things I love best about him is his fierce determination to save his mother.  His love and devotion to her and her well being is one of Eli's most attractive characteristics.  Eli is also a bit naive, and I liked that as well.  Others around him are far more informed and experienced with dabbling in things illegal and on the down low.  Eli is constantly grappling with new ideas and information being thrown at him, trying to catch up with what everyone else already knows.

By the last third of the book was I was finally in a place where I felt like I had to keep reading to find out what happened next.  I was personally invested in Eli, it just took me a while to get there.  I have the next book, The Duality Bridge, and I'm looking forward to starting that here soon.  This book leaves off in a place that has me anxious to know what comes next for Eli.

Excerpt: 
 “I will buy it from you.”

“Um…” I’ve missed something, but I’m not sure what. “You already own it.”

“You would not be looking to sell it, if you didn’t need the money.” Her voice is soft with compassion. “And I can’t bear to part with any of your works. It seems a fair exchange. Do you agree?”

Embarrassment flames my face, but I can’t afford to say no. “Yes.”

She rewards me with a dazzling smile that sweeps away my embarrassment. “Good! I’ve already transferred the untraceable chits to your account.”

Untraceable. She’s already figured out the money’s going toward something illegal. And yet she’s breaking the law, no questions asked, all because it’s what I need and she wants to keep my art. She’s always been generous, always given me exactly what I need, effortlessly and with grace, but this… I don’t have words for this thing she’s doing for me. I don’t believe in angels, but if I did, Lenora would have to qualify.

I am so hopelessly lost when it comes to her.

       

What does it mean to be human? Elijah Brighton is the face of the Human Resistance Movement. He’s the Olympic-level painter who refused an offer of immortality from the ascenders—the human/machine hybrids who run the world—in solidarity with the legacy humans who will never get a chance to live forever. Too bad it’s all a complicated web of lies. Worse, Eli’s not even entirely human. Few know about the ascenders’ genetic experiments that left him… different. Fewer know about the unearthly fugue state that creates his transcendent art—as well as a bridge that lets him speak to the dead. But the Resistance is the one place he can hide from the ascender who knows everything the fugue can do. Because if Marcus finds him, he’ll either use Eli for his own nefarious purposes… or destroy him once and for all. The Duality Bridge is the second book in the Singularity series and the sequel to The Legacy Human. This thrilling new young adult science fiction series explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.

Excerpt:

Delphina is watching me from outside the holo matrix… along with Kamali, whose wide brown eyes hold silent judgment for the things she thinks I’ve done. Forbidden things, like being a love toy for my ex-patron and current-rebel-ascender, Lenora. Who happens to be standing right next to her. While Kamali’s graceful dancer body is hidden under the black military garb of the resistance, Lenora’s perfect bodyform is barely covered in scintillating ascender-tech fabric. The thing is, I’ve never so much as kissed Lenora. Except in my dreams, which really shouldn’t count against me. Any seventeen-year-old guy would have those kinds of thoughts. But the truth is Kamali’s not wrong to judge me.

My feelings for Lenora have always been… complicated.

Amazon * Goodreads

 

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the Singularity Series, the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy, and the Debt Collector serial, as well as other speculative fiction novels and short stories. Her work has appeared in the Synchronic anthology, the Telepath Chronicles, the AI Chronicles, and has been optioned for Virtual Reality by Immersive Entertainment. Former rocket scientist, now she invents mind powers, dabbles in steampunk, and dreams of the Singularity. Mostly she sits around in her PJs in awe that she gets to write full time.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

   

   

  $25 Blog Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon eGift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/6/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com eGift Card or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Locksmith by Susan Kaye Quinn

SHORT NOVELLA (STANDALONE) in the Mindjack Universe

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

In a world filled with mindreaders, Zeph is a mindjacker who wants to stay hidden—even if it means the cute mindreader in his Latin class is forever out of his reach. He locks and unlocks minds for a ruthless mindjacker Clan in exchange for protection and the chance to have a normal life with his parents and little sister. But when a girl he doesn’t know reveals the existence of mindjackers to the world, Zeph is forced to make a choice: unlock—and ultimately destroy—the mind of a young jacker changeling… or turn his back on everyone he loves.

The Locksmith is a SHORT NOVELLA (STANDALONE) (11000 words or 44 pages), a companion story to the Mindjack Saga (Zeph’s POV), a young adult science fiction series. There are three novels in the original trilogy (Open Minds, Closed Hearts, Free Souls), five novellas that accompany the series (Mind Games, The Handler, The Scribe, The Keeper, The Locksmith) and plans for another trilogy in the works.

             * Amazon * Goodreads *

I LOVE the Mindjack series.  It's one of my favorites.  If you haven't read this series, you really should.  Especially if you enjoy dystopian/paranormal kind of books.  I am so excited to hear that Susan Quinn has another trilogy based on the Mindjack world in the works!  That makes me happy.

In "The Locksmith", we meet Zeph who can lock down people's minds.  Freaky.  Zeph is young and unsure.  You can sense his hesitancy with pretty much everything.  The ending leaves things wide open for the upcoming trilogy.  It made me anxious to delve back into the Mindjack world again.

This is a super short novella.  I seriously read through it in minutes.  Now I just have to relax and wait.  haha.  Easier said than done!

First Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn: Happy Release Day!!

THIS IS THE THIRD BOOK in the Dharian Affairs Trilogy!!

Skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue...

With the war begun, Aniri, Third Daughter of the Queen, has to battle not only a prince with a deadly skyship, but her own sister, the First Daughter, who finally sees her chance to become Queen. With their mother gravely ill and the Second Daughter kidnapped along with Aniri's husband-to-be, Aniri embarks on a desperate mission to save the people she loves from a war that will tear all three countries apart.

First Daughter is the third book in the The Dharian Affairs Trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance that takes place in an east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.

It's over?  Already?  Bummer.  <sigh>

I feel so lucky to have been able to read and review these books.  This has been a fun series and I've enjoyed every minute of it.  In addition to being well written, with all the elements that make up a good book, these books are clean.  While there is kissing, it never crosses the line.  There is no swearing either.  That makes this series one that I will share with my teenage daughter.  (she loves this series too!)  

There is a sense of desperation in this book- more than in the others.  There are several moments in this book where things look grim.  At one point I wondered how in the world they would get out of the mess they were in.  Would anyone survive?  At those moments I always start reading faster and faster to find out and I have to stop myself and remember to enjoy the ride.  Because these books provide for a great ride.

I love the Bollypunk flavor of these books.  I love the characters who are distinctive and individual.  This is a fun series!  If you haven't read any of these books, you have to start with Third Daughter.  These books are not stand alone books.  

First Daughter releases TODAY!  Yay!  and happy reading!!  

* Goodreads * Amazon *