Today's read is the second in a series...and yes, I read the first! Amazing, I know, but it can happen. Anyway, I enjoyed the first book quite a bit (see review here) and was excited to see that the second is about to hit the market. If this 2nd one is anything like the 1st, it's going to be packed with imagination, danger, and carry a hint of environmental food for thought.
Let's see if I found this new addition to the series as good as book one.
WHEN DARK WATERS BURN
by Zena Shapter
MidnightSun Publishing
YA Science Fiction
400 pages
COMING...
JUNE 1st!!!
Stay out of sight. Stay hidden under the lake. Even as giant water-ants scout the surface, and deadly trees slop their hungry roots along the shoreline. For unrest surges in the swamps, getting closer and closer… Sala will only be safe for as long as their ship’s location remains a secret. But when a horrifying threat ignites close to home, and the lakeside hillfarms are forced to reveal a desperate truth, it unleashes a wreckage of terror and destruction on the world of Palude.
What Sala fears most becomes irrelevant. All she can do is run, and make one irrevocable choice after another. If she’s to have any kind of future, she must fight to accept the collapse of her past. Hiding from it was never an option.
MY TIDBITS
An original world shoots head-on into a web of tension, intrigue, and human survival to create an emotional read which doesn't let go.
After escaping the dangers of book one, Sala has one goal: to stay hidden and survive. Harbored inside a spaceship under the waters, she does her best to remain in the shadows and away from the things, which will surely kill her. But that only works for so long. As the world tumbles into destruction, she must turn away from everything she held dear and become so much more than she was before.
From the very first pages, this read grabs. Sala is in the space ship, dealing with the events of the past while constantly on edge thanks to the deadly threats surrounding her. The tension hooks and doesn't let go the entire way through as she faces the terrifying ants and more. It's no problem to fever for her as she does her best to battle through, and her hesitancy to move on is more than understandable. This makes it a tale, which doesn't only embrace action and danger but also includes a row of emotions, which make her a character to enjoy.
Nothing is predictable as the quick-paced read heads from one dangerous moment into the next. It's a rich world with terrors to delight the imagination, while letting just enough hope shine through to touch the heart and make it ache. While the romance offers glimpses of warmth, it stays enough away to let the danger keep hold. All the while, whispers surrounding the meaning of humanity work their way in to add depth and thought.
It's an intriguing read, which is sure to delight readers who enjoy fantastical elements, deadly danger, edges of darkness, and questions surrounding the meaning behind it all.
And here she is...
Zena Shapter is a multi-award-winning author, high school English tutor and youth writing competition judge. Before writing When Dark Waters Burn, she interviewed scores of teenagers about what they wanted to read, and their concerns for the future. She was fascinated to learn they sought escapist stories that authentically represented their feelings of being unheard, fears about sustainability, threat of war, job instability… and Australian property prices! So she rolled all that into the thrilling world of Palude, a planet with carnivorous tree swamps, minimal land, few resources, and political unrest that resonates. To read more of Zena’s incredible award-winning speculative and contemporary fiction, please browse the bibliography on her website at zenashapter.com. When not writing, Zena loves movies, frogs, chocolate, potatoes and living with her family among Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches.
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