WIP: Black Wings
Genre: science-fiction
Tag line: Humans’ efforts to terraform a planet are thwarted when some decide to save intelligent indigenous life.
POV characters: Kenaed, Zoe Irene, Mattan Nuada, Siesell Keeva
Snippet from: Scene #2, Zoe Irene's PoV
[Kenaed] worked with the Explorer Teams. The bravest and the boldest, who journeyed outside the Habitable Zone to gather necessary resources and search for samples which would help the Angerona scientists learn more about their new home. It was still a new home for their peoples, even if Zo’rene’s and Kenaed’s generation had never lived in the outer space. In fact, nowadays only the few eldest still remembered the Journey which ended seventy years ago. And even though so much time had passed, Angerona the planet, was still not a safe place for the human kind.
One day it would, though, thanks to people like Kenaed. If Heritage didn’t exterminate them first, of course.
No one mentioned Heritage out loud.
“Guess it wasn’t the best idea?” Zo’rene said to break the silence which suddenly became unnerving to her. “Going out,” she clarified. “To dance.”
“You wanted to have fun.” Kenaed shrugged. “And I wanted to be a part of that fun for you,” he added in a wistful, almost apologetic tone.
“It’s okay,” she said automatically.
“It is not.”
“Look.” Zo’rene stopped him and waited for him to meet her eyes. She needed him to hear her and to understand. “We are different people than we used to be. You are different and I am different too, believe me. It was my mistake, to try and bring back the past, like the last ten years never happened.”
Kenaed nodded and heaved a deep sigh. “You are right.” He paused like the words wouldn’t come past his lips. He let them out on a whisper, “We should just forget about this,” and added a back-and-forth gesture between them. He had doubts too. More doubts than her, it seemed.
“No,” Zo’rene grabbed his hands. “No, I do not mean that!”
“I’m not a good partner material, Zoe.”
“Stop--”
He paused, and waited for her to say something, but her head was suddenly empty. She wanted this, wanted them, but was it for a good reason? Was it because she wanted to prove something to her friends? Or because she felt physical desire? Or because she still loved him? Could she love him? If she didn’t really know him--
Finally, it was Kenaed who spoke first.
“I mean it.” His voice still sounded strained and the muscles around his eyes were tense. “I haven’t been in a relationship since-- Since you, really. And I wasn’t seeking one now. I’m not--” He shook his head, helpless. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Zo’rene didn’t understand. “Because of me?” she gasped.
“No,” he mouthed. He shook his head, again struggling to say the words. “It’s hard to explain.” He breathed out, finally.
Oh, right. Those problems she was only vaguely aware of, ones his sisters mentioned. Ten years ago-- She had her own tragedy to deal with and he had his. Whatever happened then, must have been the reason he was still alone.
“Kenaed,” she tried, “I get it. The Flood had changed us all, it had changed the whole settlement, we were all--”
“The Flood.” He cut in and pulled away from her. Zo’rene looked up, startled by the sudden ice in his voice. “It’s such an innocent euphemism, isn’t it?” He was scary again. A vein bulged up on his temple, droplets of sweat built up on his forehead. “You don’t have to think what it really was, do you?” His hands curled into fists and his voice started rising. “The Heritage’s attempt to exterminate all of us. Our entire population. It was the bombardment, the missile strike from orbit, that’s what it was!” He screamed the last words.
I keep forgetting to update Tumblr too about things (I scroll a lot of Tumblr but forget the updating part oops). Paperbacks are in and out to backers, hardcovers are on their way to me, and I will be closing the pre-order store likely this weekend. You can order the book via IngramSpark (this is a direct link, paperback and hardcover), Amazon, B&N, or request it from your favorite bookstore or library (pls do this) at any time, but the pre-order store comes directly from me and has a discounted rate for physical copies. You won't get goodies like neat stickers if you order from the other place. ;)
As a reminder, this is what my silly little book is about:
When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he’s working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root.
Everyone has been SO supportive and amazing so far with my lil guys. You have all been AMAZING and I thank you for that! <3 <3
As a small reminder, if you have read this thing and you loved it, reviews, especially on Amazon, can help me get listed in top 100 lists, go out on newsletters, and generally keep the awesome vibe going. I think I've heard books with 50 and more reviews get these things on Amazon, so if you have a moment to leave a review – even if it's just a star rating and no text – I'd be so so SO grateful.
Thank you so much from this tiny indie author. You've really all made a dream come true for me.
Space: 1999 – The Vault is the ultimate and in our opinion the definitive guide to the much-loved live-action sci-fi TV series, please check out our review and preview book video - https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/space-1999-the-vault-book-review/
XIRAN JAY ZHAO THE GENIUS YOU ARE.
i have no clue why i didn’t read this earlier but boy did i love this book!!!!!!
disabled rep in the form of both zetian & shimin? check. feminine rage? check. great dialogue? check. world building that makes sense? check. a love triangle that doesn’t feel forced and is resolved in an interesting way? check. loveable anti-hero as a protag? check. grungy elements that make this YA book feel like it’s pushing the boundaries of YA fantasy? check. check check checkkkkkkk
god i loved zetian. honestly she’s up there as one of my fav protags from literature. i always love a female protagonist who pushes against society’s rules and transcends beyond what is expected of her. plus she felt so rational, and i love that her character development wasn’t focused on her letting go of her rage!!!!! let women be angry and murder lots of men (in fictional books)!!!!!! i really enjoyed the plot and all its progressions and developments. the action scenes felt so real, and although i found it really hard to picture things such as the chrysalises & spirit armour…. i was having way too much fun to let the fact i didn’t have a super clear picture affect my experience reading this.
i’m not a fan of love triangles tbh and they fucking piss me off but the way this one was handled….. chefs kiss. yet again XIRAN JAY ZHAO YOUR MIND. i wish the “resolution” of the love triangle (iykyk) was a bit more fleshed out and had time to breathe before the ending, and i hate when books are such a clear set up to a sequel. babes give me some form of resolution my god!!!!!!! but honestly with how much fun i had i can’t really complain, but i imagine those who read this when it first released would be fuming about the ending. it felt rushed. defo didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere but….. idk it felt Too Fantastical. the ending defo follows zetian’s established personality and motivations, but it feels like it.. wouldn’t be possible in universe. possible as in… yeah that could happen logistically…. but in reality would it be able to work? idk.
but god this book literally scratches every itch i love in a book.
in less than 400 pages, xiran jay zhao has cemented themselves as one of my favourite authors. plus they get bonus points for being a fellow nonbinary baddie. cant wait to see what chaos zetian causes in the next book 😼
5/5: XIRAN JAY ZHAO THE GENIUS YOU ARE. i have no clue why i didn’t read this earlier but boy did i love this book!!!!!! disabled rep in th
I just wanted to share some pictures of my Jurassic Park/Lost World book that I got few weeks ago, alongside some of my favorite diagrams from both books.
I’ve read both of the books before, but I got this really pretty silver-lined one and I just couldn’t help but take pictures of it!
Plus, we all know taking artsy pictures is fun lol.
I hope you all stay blessed and safe throughout your day.
