The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

Publication Date: November 1, 2016

Series: STANDALONE

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Space Opera

Subjects: space colonies, genetic modification, bodyguards, impersonation, royalty

Setting: In space, spaceships and space colonies

POV/Tense: 1^st person, past tense: Nemesis dan Impyrean

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 403 pgs. (In ARC version, at least)

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: BFYR

Summary/ product description: “Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this epic novel about what happens when the galaxy’s most deadly weapon masquerades as a senator’s daughter and a hostage of the galactic court.

A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.

Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity truer than what she encounters from most humans. Amidst all the danger, action, and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life—and the empire.”

My Review:  I’ve had the great pleasure of reading an advance copy of this, provided by Anderson’s Bookshop and Bookfair in Naperville, Illinois. They have a pre-pub event August 22 that I had wanted to attend, but have class that night. The author will be there to sign ARCs and there will be food. If you live in Chicagoland and are interested, please contact them and pick up you ARC. Seeing as this book has not yet been released and won’t be until November first, I won’t spoil anything major, but I’ll tell you about it the best I can.

The Diabolic is a sci-fi story that takes place in space. It’s part dystopian, part space opera. Nemesis is a Diabolic, which is a genetically engineered bodyguard that is bonded to one person, and seeks to protect only that person, even if it means harming the people that person care about. Nemesis belongs to Sidonia Impyrean, the daughter of a galactic Senator.

Sidonia is summoned by the Emperor to the Chrysanthemum, the space colony where the royal court is located. Sidonia’s mother decides to have Nemesis go in her steed. Nemesis is taught etiquette and under goes genetic modifications to her appearance and to make her body seem more average in size and strength so she won’t be discovered to be a Diabolic. 

When Nemesis gets to court, she discovers that playing a Senatorial heir might be harder than she thought. She might have to take extreme measure to keep her secret and to protect the Impyrean family. She soons discovers that in the royal court, there’s always some plot, scandal or assassination attempt in the works and it’s best to trust no one.

The Emperor has three of his own Diabolics, even though they were outlawed everywhere else, and knowledge Nemesis’s mere existence could cause the execution of the Impyreans for treason. She thinks his Diabolics might be on to her. On top on that, the emperor’s nephew and heir Tyrus seems to be taking notice of her, and if rumors are true, then he’s insane, but maybe there’s something cleverer about him that she thinks.

The characters of this book are pretty interesting. Nemesis is very different from other YA heroines. She was meant to be a bodyguard and not care about her own well-being. She’s like Rose from Vampire Academy, but with the selflessness of Tris from Divergent. Sidonia is like Lissa from Vampire Academy, then. Tyrus reminds me of Nikolai from the Grisha series, though I won’t tell you why, except for some of the narcissistic and ego-related humor. Some of the characters annoyed me because they talked overly formally, like they’re from Elizabethan times to something. Some were so shallow and back-stabbing.

I thought the sci-fi stuff and technology was cool, except for the genetically modified “creatures” or “humanoids.” Nemesis is not considered humor because she was engineered. She’s very strong and fast, but they didn’t give her tear ducts, so she can’t cry. She denies that she feels thing like other people. She can kill without remorse. It’s likely because she was nurtured to kill and not part of her nature like she had believed. There are Exalted, which are hairless innocents grown and cared for during a holiday week only to be sent into a star to die. There are Harmonoids, engineered only to play music. There are Servitors who are only meant to serve and have no free will.

The cool technology includes machines that can change you appearance easily with genetic alteration. You can have any hair color, eye color, skin color, facial feature or even change your sex. There are hair stilts, which can hold you hair in any style you please. There’s also artificial youth so older folks can look young again. There are medbots to heal you.

On the uncool side of things, there are drugs, like opioid rubs, narcotics and inhaled euphorics, and they’re all legal in the empire and they use the med bots to fix any problem that occur from them. There’s also the Helionic religion, in which the worship the Living Cosmos and view any pursuit of science or mathematics as heresy.

I recommend this to those who enjoyed The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Red Queen by Victoria Avyard, any book set in space, or book about a royal court. There is a kind of Capital-esque feel to the court, so I even recommend it to Hunger Games fans.

Cover Art Review: One of the most gorgeous cover’s I’ve seen! I love butterflies. This is one beautiful yet deadly butterfly. It’s very metaphorical. I love that the knives and the title are metallic. This cover is pretty symmetrical and simple, like Red Queen’s cover.

The Hunt by Megan Shepherd

Series: The Cage (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: aliens, extraterrestrials, psychic ability,

Setting: In an enclosure called the Hunt, and also the alien space station it’s in.

POV/Tense: 3rd person POV limited and past tense, rotating between the human characters: Cora (mainly), Lucky, Rolf, Nok, Leon and Mali

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 359 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer + Bray

Summary/ product description: “They’ve left the cage—but they’re not free yet.

After their failed escape attempt, Cora, Lucky, and Mali have been demoted to the lowest level of human captives and placed in a safari-themed environment called the Hunt, along with wild animals and other human outcasts. They must serve new Kindred masters—Cora as a lounge singer, Lucky as an animal wrangler, and Mali as a safari guide—and follow new rules or face dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, Nok and Rolf have been moved into an enormous dollhouse, observed around the clock by Kindred scientists interested in Nok’s pregnancy. And Leon, the only one who successfully escaped, has teamed up with villainous Mosca black-market traders.

The former inhabitants of the Cage are threatened on all fronts—and maybe worst of all, one of the Hunt’s Kindred safari guests begins to play a twisted game of cat and mouse with Cora. Separated and constantly under watch, she and the others must struggle to stay alive, never mind find a way back to each other. When Cassian secretly offers to train Cora to develop her psychic abilities—to prove the worthiness of humanity in a series of tests called the Gauntlet—she’ll have to decide fast if she dares to trust the Kindred who betrayed her, or if she can forge her own way to freedom.”

My Review:  The Hunt is the sequel to Megan Shepherd’s sci-fi book, The Cage. Like in the Cage, we get to read chapters in 3^rd person limited perspectives of Cora (the main protagonist), Lucky, Leon, Rolf, Nok, and Mali. In the Cage, they we stuck in a large menagerie with 8 biomes (desert, tundra, mountains, ocean, farm, swamp, jungle, and grasslands), as well as a fake town with store and restaurant in which the could play games and get rewarded. The Kindred (the tall human-like aliens with metallic bronze skin, black hair and all black eye when cloaked) observed and studied their interaction and paired them up as mating partners, but Nok and Rolf were the only ones to procreate. Cassian, who had said he was their caretaker turned out to be the warden and also seems to be attracted to Cora.

In the Hunt, after trying to escape the cage and being caught, Cora is send to a different menagerie called the Hunt. It’s place where Kindred go usually for entertainment and drinks and also to experience the thrill of an African safari hunt usually synthetic non-lethal rifles. Cora is forced to sing and interact with guests. Cassian has deemed this menagerie to be the safest and most private option for him and Cora to talk and make plans.

Cora feels betrayed by Cassian because he used the escape to push her or “break her.” He wanted to see her potential to use psychic abilities that could help humans evolve into “intelligent” beings. He’s part if a secret movement called the Fifth of Five, trying to free humans from slavery and oppression by the four intelligent alien races. He wants to train her in perceptive abilities so she can run the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is a computer run test of physical abilities, intelligence, morality and perceptive/psychic abilities. Other humans have tried and failed to succeed, often losing their mind or even dying. This would be a huge risk for Cora, but Cassian believes she has the potential to succeed.

Lucky and Malia are also sent to work in the Hunt. Leon is working with Mosca black-market traders because unlike the Mosca, he can crawl through tunnels and also they have alcohol. Nok is pregnant with a girl, who she wants to call sparrow. Nok and Rolf are sent to live in a dollhouse with one missing wall that kindred can watch their interactions though. Nok is afraid that her baby will be taken from her.

This was a really great sequel. It feels very unique. We get to see a lot more of this alien space station than the first book. The characters are all unique and different from each other. They’re very diverse since they’re different nationalities and races. I love all the sci-fi stuff, and especially the psychic abilities. There’s even a little romance. I’m not a big fan of 3^rd person perspective, but Megan made it work well. She’s the author that wrote a historical fiction series I actually enjoyed, so I can’t wait to see what she write next. I can’t wait to read the 3^rd and final book in the Cage trilogy. There was a bit of a cliffhanger ending in the Hunt.

I recommend this book to fans of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, The Taking by Kimberly Derting, Gone by Michael Grant, and The 100 by Kass Morgan.

Cover Art Review: The cover cool, but maybe a little busy and I’m not a fan of the plain glossy paper.

Dove Exiled by Karen Bao

Series: Dove Chronicles (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: moon, space, space colonies, ocean, sea colonies, adventure, war, love

Setting: In Odan, a village on one of the British Isles, floating cities, a moon colony

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Phaet Theta

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 297 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Penguin: Viking

Summary/ product description: “The thrilling follow-up to the groundbreaking debut Dove Arising.

Phaet Theta fled the Moon and has been hiding on Earth with her friend Wes and his family. But Phaet’s past catches up with her when the Lunar Bases attack the community and reveal that Phaet is a fugitive. She’s torn between staying on Earth with Wes—whom she’s just discovered her feelings for—and stowing away on a Moon-bound ship to rescue her siblings from the wrath of the government who killed their mother. But when Phaet makes the agonizing decision to return to the Moon, she finds the rebel movement there has turned her into their “Girl Sage,” a symbol of their struggle. She’s the biggest celebrity on the Moon: half the people worship her, and the other half want her dead.”

My Review:  Dove Exiled is the sequel to Dove Arising. It starts out with Phaet on Earth, in a town called Odan with Wes. Odan is on an island within the Bristish Isles archipelago. The Odans hate technology and chemicals and use only organic stuff. The use bioluminescent bacteria for lights at night. They make their own clothes.

The Odan’s are not sure what to make of Phaet. Wes and her concoct a back-story the she is Fay, and was an engine room slave in Pacifia, a floating city that has a population made primarily of Asian people.  The Odans call Lunars “demons” because their lack of religion, and the Odans a very religious. This is mainly why Phaet could not tell then that she is Lunar.

Wes’s dad discovers her true identity and is not too happy about it. Wes and Phaet are exiled, but decide to help the Odans out and set off for the floating city of Battery Bay to help them because Pacifia is planning to attack Odan. Phaet wants to use Pacifia to get back to Base IV on the moon and save her brother Cygnus who’s being tortured there.

I really thought the idea floating cities was cool. I thought they were going to be just huge ships, but they are actually floating cities. Real cities with roads or cannels, tall towers and homes. One was called Tourmaline, which is this really beautiful long, straight gemstone.

Phaet gets back to the moon, and is a fugitive and trying to save her brother. Phaet get turned into a legend, a symbol of rebellion, kind of like Katniss as the Mockingjay, or even Mare as the Red Queen. They call her the Sage Girl. The rebellion called Dovetail, originally formed by Phaet’s mother, came up with a plan for the council election. Something causes difficulties for their plans.

This sequel was not bad, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. It was a lot shorter, and also I forgot what happened exactly in the previous book. I think the book begins month later after the first book ended.

I recommend this book series to fans of: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Cinder by Melissa Meyer, The Hunger Games, Matched or Atlantia by Ally Condie, Reboot by Amy Tintera, and other various dystopian series. Also, if you enjoy books set in space, like Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

Cover Art Review: Much better than previous book’s cover. Cool illustrations. Love the city in the background.