A Dream Within A Dream: Echo

April 30, 2013

Echo Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway

Echo
Author: Alicia Wright Brewster
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Release Date: April 25, 2013

Description:

The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.

Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.

Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

I slowed as I reached the fence surrounding my home cluster. Instinctively, my face turned upward and to the north—to the numbers of the countdown clock that glowed above, stark white over the sky’s deep blue. I was too early for my morning transport. It wouldn’t be here for another hour, if it was coming at all—if I was still welcome on the Ethereal task force.
I needed a ride to the Council now. Making the trip on foot was impossible; it was way too far. If I were a Breather, I could get there in no time . . . Luckily, I knew a Breather.
I unclasped the comm unit from my waistband and raised the speaker to my lips. “Contact Rey.”
“Command confirmed,” came a pleasant female voice in response. After several more seconds, it added, “Rey is not available.”
“Try him again!”
“Command confirmed.”
Several more seconds and then Rey’s sluggish voice came through the speaker. “Ash? What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m at the cluster fence. I need a ride to the Council.”
He paused. I imagined him checking the time on his comm. “You’re an hour early. The transport will be there in plenty of time to get us to training.”
“I don’t want to wait for the transport.”
No answer.
“Rey!”
“What, what?”
“Wake up. I need to leave now.” Then it occurred to me that, unlike me, Rey probably hadn’t been sent packing when the Mages escaped yesterday. “Hey, do you know what happened to the escapees?”
“We couldn’t find the other two.” The panic that had tinged his voice when he first answered had subsided. Most likely, he’d determined that whatever I needed wasn’t urgent after all.
“What do you mean you couldn’t find them?” I asked.
“Weren’t you there?”
“No.” My jaw tightened. “Loken sent me home.”
He muffled a chuckle—poorly. “That’s what you get for having your boyfriend as a group leader.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“The way you two make eyes at each other whenever the other one’s not looking, I’m not sure why you bothered breaking up.”
“It wasn’t my choice, remember? Your friend is a stubborn, irrational jackass who thinks he can’t do his all-important job if he has actual emotions. You know what he did yesterday? He made me—”
“Do I really need to hear this? Don’t you have any girlfriends you can rant to?”
“They’re all still asleep.”
“So am I,” he growled.

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero. (Please don't ask what her superpower is; that's not very polite.)

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.

Website: http://www.aliciawb.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciawrightbrewster

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliciawbrewster

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April 26, 2013

Echo Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

Echo
Author: Alicia Wright Brewster
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Release Date: April 25, 2013
Publisher: Dragonfairy Press

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Description:

The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.

Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.

Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

Echo is a fast paced young adult science fiction novel that follows Ashara Vinn as she attempts to deal with the end of her world. Since the Council announced the Vision that the world would end, families have been staying together and waiting for the countdown to end. They know that the world is going to end, but they don't know how or why. Ashara wakes one morning to find she has been summoned to the Council for training in the Ethereal task force - which is strange since she has never shown signs of being a manipulator. Once at the Council for training, Ashara is told that the world will likely end due to Mages, the same race of people that murdered her younger brother months ago. On top of that, she must be trained by her ex-boyfriend, Loken, and things aren't exactly going as planned. Will Ashara and Loken, along with the rest of the Council and manipulators, be able to stop the end of the world? Or will their fate depend on something much darker - and more dangerous - like Ashara's death?

This was an exciting science fiction novel full of suspense and action that had me hooked from the beginning. Ashara is a great female lead character. She's smart, kind, and devoted to those she loves - but she also has the death of her younger brother on her heart and mind as well as her jumbled emotions for Loken. We see her character develop throughout the story, as she gains maturity and acceptance of her destiny and abilities. Her relationship with Loken is strained and very frustrating at first, but it's not the main plot of the book, so it doesn't consume too much of the story. I liked reading about the history of the planet and the different manipulators and their varying abilities. The author creates a believable new world in the book and I enjoyed learning as much about it as I could. The plot itself was intricately woven and had definite suspense and thrills throughout. The narrative was fast paced but not confusing for the reader, and the writing itself was very well done with vivid descriptions that had me easily imagining I was there alongside the characters as everything was happening. Overall, this was a finely crafted novel that fans of YA science fiction will definitely want to experience.

Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero.

In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.aliciawb.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5616191.Alicia_Wright_Brewster
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciabrewster

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliciawbrewster