The Darwin Elevator Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

The Darwin Elevator (Dire Earth Cycle #1)

Author: Jason M. Hough
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Del Rey

Buy Link: Amazon 

Description:

Jason M. Hough’s pulse-pounding debut combines the drama, swagger, and vivid characters of Joss Whedon’s Firefly with the talent of sci-fi author John Scalzi.

In the mid-23rd century, Darwin, Australia, stands as the last human city on Earth. The world has succumbed to an alien plague, with most of the population transformed into mindless, savage creatures. The planet’s refugees flock to Darwin, where a space elevator—created by the architects of this apocalypse, the Builders—emits a plague-suppressing aura.

Skyler Luiken has a rare immunity to the plague. Backed by an international crew of fellow “immunes,” he leads missions into the dangerous wasteland beyond the aura’s edge to find the resources Darwin needs to stave off collapse. But when the Elevator starts to malfunction, Skyler is tapped—along with the brilliant scientist, Dr. Tania Sharma—to solve the mystery of the failing alien technology and save the ragged remnants of humanity. 

The Darwin Elevator is the first novel in a science fiction/dystopian series that jumps into the future where the world is reeling after the scourge of an alien plague. Darwin, Australia is the only city left on Earth, and all those not infected are flocking their for refuge. The main character, Skyler Luiken, is one of the few humans who is immune to the plague. He is the leader of a team of immunes who searches the wasteland for resources that can be used in Darwin. When the Elevator unexpectedly breaks down, Sklyer and a scientist named Tania Sharma, are teamed up to figure out what's happening to the elevator and save what's rest of their world.

This was a really fast paced and fascinating debut novel that shows the real talent of the author. The plot wasn't completely original, but the author worked in intriguing aspects to liven the story line and set it apart from others in the genre. I liked learning about the future world and what happened to it, especially the alien plague. The science behind the Darwin Elevator was really interesting and detailed, but not confusing like I thought it might be. The characters are well written, especially main character Skyler and the gorgeous and brilliant scientist Tania. They both have unique personalities with their own strengths and weaknesses, which complement each other nicely. They work well as a team and I liked to watch the relationship between them grow. The writing was very well done with vivid detail and descriptions that made it feel like I could easily see what was happening if I closed my eyes. There's a ton of action mixed in with the science fiction and dystopian aspects, so it has a lot of crossover appeal for fans of several genres. I'm interested to see where the next installment will take the characters and what might happen next. Definitely recommended for fans of fantasy, action, science fiction, and dystopian fiction.

 

Jason M. Hough was born in Illinois but grew up on the mean streets of suburban San Diego, California. In 1978, at age six, his parents took him to see Star Wars, and so began a lifelong love of sci-fi and all things geek. He later worked for a decade in the videogame industry as both a 3D artist and a game designer. Today he lives in San Diego with his wife and two young sons. When not writing, Hough enjoys building LEGO spaceships with his boys and other similarly grown-up pursuits.
Connect with Jason at his website, Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

Giveaway: (1) Paperback copy of The Darwin Elevator - Open to US/CAN only!

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Follow the rest of the tour:
Monday, July 29th:  Reading Reality
Tuesday, July 30th:  Total Fan Girl
Wednesday, July 31st:  The Best Books Ever
Monday, August 5th:  A Daily Dose of R & R
Thursday, August 8th:  In Bed with Books
Friday, August 9th:  A Daily Dose of R & R - guest post
Monday, August 12th:  Bibliophilia, Please
Tuesday, August 13th:  SciFiChick.com
Wednesday, August 14th:  Wag the Fox – guest post
Thursday, August 15th:  Unabridged Chick
Monday, August 19th:  A Dream Within a Dream
Tuesday, August 20th:  SusieBookworm
Wednesday, August 21st:  Ageless Pages Reviews
Thursday, Augsut 22nd:  Just a World Away
Monday, August 26th:  Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
Tuesday, August 27th:  Drey’s Library
Wednesday, August 28th:  No More Grumpy Bookseller
Thursday, August 29th:  Overflowing Bookshelves
Friday, August 30th:  Wordsmithonia
Tuesday, September 2nd:  A Night’s Dream of Books
Wednesday, September 3rd:  The Green Man Review
TBD:  The Ranting Dragon