Title: Scavenger Of Souls
Series: Survival Colony 9
Author: Joshua David Bellin
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Release Date: 23rd August 2016
BLURB from Goodreads
Querry and the members of Survival Colony 9 have defeated a whole nest of the creatures called Skaldi, who can impersonate humans even as they destroy them. But now the colony is dangerously low in numbers and supplies. Querry’s mother is in command, and is definitely taking them somewhere—but where? Some secret from her past seems to be driving her relentlessly forward.
When they do finally reach their destination, Querry is amazed to discover a whole compound of humans—organized, with plenty of food and equipment. But the colonists are not welcomed. Everything about them is questioned, especially by Mercy, the granddaughter of the compound’s leader. Mercy is as tough a fighter as Querry has ever seen—and a girl as impetuous as Querry is careful. But the more Querry learns about Mercy and the others, the more he realizes that nothing around him is as it seems. There are gruesome secrets haunting this place and its people. And it’s up to Querry to unearth the past and try to save the future in this gripping conclusion to the Survival Colony novels.
When they do finally reach their destination, Querry is amazed to discover a whole compound of humans—organized, with plenty of food and equipment. But the colonists are not welcomed. Everything about them is questioned, especially by Mercy, the granddaughter of the compound’s leader. Mercy is as tough a fighter as Querry has ever seen—and a girl as impetuous as Querry is careful. But the more Querry learns about Mercy and the others, the more he realizes that nothing around him is as it seems. There are gruesome secrets haunting this place and its people. And it’s up to Querry to unearth the past and try to save the future in this gripping conclusion to the Survival Colony novels.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
Chapter One
Aleka looked out
over the land and frowned.
She stood at the
crest of a low hill, squinting in the sunlight, the lines deepening around her
mouth. I tried to read her expression, but as usual I failed.
This was Aleka,
after all. Her close-cropped, graying blond hair framed a face she could turn
into a mask at a moment’s notice. I’d been studying that face for the better
part of a week, and I still had no idea what was going on behind her deep gray
eyes.
Aleka. My
mother. And as much a mystery to me as my own past.
After a long
minute she spoke the name of her second-in-command. “Soon.”
Soon, a big guy
with what might have been called a pot belly in a different time, came up
beside her.
Aleka surveyed
the unforgiving landscape, the lazy glint of river the only sign of movement in
the waste. “How long?”
“A week. Maybe
two if we’re extra careful.” He searched her face, but he must have come up empty
too. “Why?”
She didn’t
answer. The others had edged closer, listening. Any conversation that hinted at
our dwindling supply of canned goods got their attention.
But after
another long look over the barren land, she turned and strode back down the
hill, refusing to meet any of our eyes. Everyone watched her go in silence,
until she disappeared behind a clump of rock that stood at the base of the
hill.
“Well, that was
enlightening,” Wali said.
There were
sixteen of us, the last survivors of Survival Colony 9. Five grown-ups counting
Aleka, Soon, our camp healer Tyris, our craftswoman Nekane, and the old woman
whose name no one knew, a wraith with wild white hair and a threadbare shift
the same drab gray-brown as our uniforms. For the past week we’d been carrying
her on a homemade stretcher, while she gripped her late husband’s collection
container, a scuffed, bottle-green jar overflowing with scraps of hair and
fingernails. She was amazingly heavy for a woman who’d dwindled to skin and
bones.
The rest of us
were teens and younger. Wali, with his shaggy hair and bronzed muscles, the
oldest at seventeen. Nessa, the only teenage girl left in our colony since the
death of Wali’s girlfriend Korah. Then there was Adem, a tall skinny awkward
guy who communicated mostly with gulps and blushes. And the little ones, seven
of them total, from ragged five-year-old Keely to knowing Zataias at age ten,
with straggly-haired Bea in the middle.
And that left
only me. Querry Genn. Fifteen years old last week, and thanks to an accident
seven months ago, with no memory of the first fourteen.
Only my mother
held the secret to who I was. But she wasn’t talking.
She hadn’t said
a word to me the whole week. That entire time, we’d been creeping across a
desert landscape of stripped stone and yawning crevices, the scars our
ancestors had cut into the face of the land. For six of those seven days we’d
been carrying the old woman. Aleka had driven us at a pace unusual even for
her, with only short rests at the brutal height of day and long marches deep
into the night. What she was hurrying for was another thing she wouldn’t talk
to me about.
When we’d left
our camp by the river, the old woman had babbled on about mountains somewhere
to the north, licking her lips while she talked as if she could taste the
snow-fresh air. She’d described green grass as high as our knees, wind rippling
across it so it seemed to shimmer like something she called satin. She’d told
us about yellow flowers and purple ones, trickling water so clear you could see
brightly colored fish darting among the submerged stones. Clouds, she said,
blanketed the mountain peaks, cool and white and soft, unlike the oppressive
brown clouds that smothered the sun but almost never rained in the world we
knew. At first I refused to believe her, told myself that half of what she said
had to be exaggerated or misremembered or just plain crazy. But like everyone
else, I’d fallen in love with the picture she painted. None of the rest of us
had seen mountains, not even Tyris, who’d been two or three years old when the
wars started. After a lifetime in the desert, the prospect of mountains rearing
up out of nowhere, white and purple and capped with gold from the sun, was
irresistible.
By now, though,
it seemed even the old woman had forgotten where we were headed. She’d lapsed
into silence, except for the times she stroked her collection jar, mumbling to
it. She slept most of the time, sometimes beating her hands against her chest
and mouthing words no one could make out. But even when her eyes opened, her
glassy expression showed no awareness of anyone or anything around her.
We set her
stretcher down in the best shade we could find and stood there, waiting for
Aleka to return. Nessa held the old woman’s gnarled hand and sang softly,
something the old woman had sung to her when she was a kid. I tried to organize
a game with the little ones, but they just flopped in the dirt, limbs flung
everywhere in postures of dramatic protest. I’d learned the hard way that you
couldn’t get all seven of them to do anything at once, but occasionally, if you
got one of them doing something that looked interesting enough, the others
couldn’t stand to be left out.
Today, though,
it wasn’t going to happen. A fossil hunt usually got them going, but this time even
Keely wouldn’t bite when I told him an old, rotting buffalo skull was a T. rex.
“I don’t want to
play that game, Querry,” he managed weakly, before putting his head down and
closing his eyes. “It’s boring.”
Without warning,
Aleka stalked back to the group. To my complete surprise, she took my arm and pulled
me away from the others. I stumbled to keep up with her long strides. When we
reached the rock where she’d hidden herself before, she stopped, so suddenly
she just about spun me around.
“Querry,” she
said. “We need to talk.”
“We’ve needed to
talk all week,” I said under my breath.
She heard me.
She always did. “That will have to wait. This is priority.”
“Something else
always is, isn’t it?”
We faced off for
a moment.
“I’m asking you
to be patient,” she said. “And to believe I’m working on this.”
“Fine.” I wished
for once I could meet her on even ground, but she had a good six inches on me,
not to mention at least thirty years. “Let me know when you’ve got it all
worked out.”
If I thought I’d
get a reaction from that, I was wrong. Her face went into lockdown, and I was
pretty sure the conversation was over. But then she asked, “What is it you
want, Querry?”
“Answers,” I
said. “The truth.”
“Answers aren’t
always true,” she said. “And the truth isn’t always the answer you want.”
“Whatever that
means.”
She glared at
me, but kept her voice in check.
“It means what
it means,” she said. “For one, it means that Soon’s estimate is wildly
optimistic. I’ve checked our stores, and we have only a few days of food left. If
we’re even stingier than usual. Which is a risk, since there’s nothing here to
supplement our supplies.”
“Why would Soon.
. . .”
She ignored me. “And
it means the old woman is failing.
Earlier today she asked me if she could talk to Laman.”
“You’re
kidding.”
“I wish I were.”
I stared at her,
not knowing what to say. Laman Genn had led Survival Colony 9 for twenty-five
years. But like so many of his followers, he’d died a little over a week ago,
just before we set out on our journey.
Died. Been
killed. I tried not to think about it, but I remembered the nest, the bloody
wound in his side, the creature that had torn him open.
The Skaldi.
The ones we’d
been fleeing all our lives. Monsters with the ability to consume and mimic
human hosts. It was hard to believe anyone could forget them. Even though we’d
destroyed their nest, I kept expecting them to reappear, like a second
nightmare that catches you when you think you’re awake and drags you back
under.
“Any more good
news?” I said, trying to smile.
She didn’t
return the offering. “The children are failing too,” she said. “Keely and
Beatrice especially. If we run out of solid food. . . . We forget how fragile
they are. And how many of the little ones simply don’t make it.”
I turned to look
at the kids, lying on the ground like so many dusty garlands. “What can we do?”
She didn’t say
anything for a long time, and her gaze left mine, drifting to the desert
beyond. I thought she wasn’t going to answer when her voice came again, as far
away as her eyes.
“I know this
area,” she said. “Or at least, I did. None of the others has been here—Laman
seems to have avoided it assiduously. But I was here, once upon a time. So long
ago the details are fuzzy. Either that or it’s . . . changed.”
I glanced around
us, as if I expected to see something I hadn’t noticed before. “Why didn’t you
tell anyone?”
Her shoulders
inched in the slightest of shrugs. “I didn’t want to give anyone false hope. They
were excited enough about the mountains. And I wasn’t sure I could find it
again. I’m still not sure.”
“What is it?”
She waved
vaguely toward the northwest. “A sanctuary, or as much of one as we’re likely
to find in this world. Not mountains, but a canyon. Shaded, protected from the
worst damage of the wars. The river gains strength as it flows through, nourishing
what grows on its banks. If we could only reach it, there might be a chance for
the most vulnerable members of the colony.”
I studied her
face, as still and remote as the surface of the moon. This time, though, I
thought I caught something there.
“If this place
is so great,” I said carefully, “why did Laman stay away from it?”
Her eyes snapped
to mine, and for the briefest second I imagined I saw a glimmer of fear.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua David Bellin has been writing novels since he
was eight years old (though the first few were admittedly very short). He
taught college for twenty years, wrote a bunch of books for college students,
then decided to return to fiction. Survival
Colony 9 is his first novel, with the sequel, Scavenger of Souls, set to release on August 23, 2016. A third YA
science fiction novel, the deep-space adventure/romance Freefall, will appear in 2017.
Josh loves to read, watch movies, and spend time in
Nature with his kids. Oh, yeah, and he likes monsters. Really scary monsters.
To find out more about Josh and his books, visit him
at the following
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
REST OF THE
SURVIVAL COLONY 9 SERIES
SO FAR...
Title: Survival Colony 9
Author: Joshua David Bellin
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre: Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic, Survival
Release Date: 23rd Sept 2014 / paperback released 1st Nov 2015 UK
BLURB from Goodreads
In a future world of dust and ruin, fourteen-year-old Querry Genn struggles to recover the lost memory that might save the human race.
Querry is a member of Survival Colony Nine, one of the small, roving groups of people who outlived the wars and environmental catastrophes that destroyed the old world. The commander of Survival Colony Nine is his father, Laman Genn, who runs the camp with an iron will. He has to--because heat, dust, and starvation aren't the only threats in this ruined world.
There are also the Skaldi.
Monsters with the ability to infect and mimic human hosts, the Skaldi appeared on the planet shortly after the wars of destruction. No one knows where they came from or what they are. But if they're not stopped, it might mean the end of humanity.
Six months ago, Querry had an encounter with the Skaldi--and now he can't remember anything that happened before then. If he can recall his past, he might be able to find the key to defeat the Skaldi.
If he can't, he's their next victim.
Querry is a member of Survival Colony Nine, one of the small, roving groups of people who outlived the wars and environmental catastrophes that destroyed the old world. The commander of Survival Colony Nine is his father, Laman Genn, who runs the camp with an iron will. He has to--because heat, dust, and starvation aren't the only threats in this ruined world.
There are also the Skaldi.
Monsters with the ability to infect and mimic human hosts, the Skaldi appeared on the planet shortly after the wars of destruction. No one knows where they came from or what they are. But if they're not stopped, it might mean the end of humanity.
Six months ago, Querry had an encounter with the Skaldi--and now he can't remember anything that happened before then. If he can recall his past, he might be able to find the key to defeat the Skaldi.
If he can't, he's their next victim.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Link to my Review
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What made you decide to write a book in
the Sci-Fi, Dystopian genre of book?
I’ve loved science fiction since I was a
kid watching movies like STAR WARS and reading books like THE ILLUSTRATED MAN.
I loved fantasy too in those days, but for some reason, as I’ve gotten older,
I’ve found that I prefer stories with plausible (if imaginative) scenarios and
a connection to the real world. Post-apocalyptic science fiction appeals to me
in particular because it puts my characters in such extreme circumstances and
confronts them with seemingly insurmountable challenges. And, as a side light,
it allows me to create really cool monsters, which is a must for me!
Where do you get your book plot ideas
from? What/Who is your inspiration?
I have tons of inspirations: other books
I’ve read, movies, ideas that come to me out of the blue or in dreams, funny
things I see my children doing, and on and on. I’m a believer in protecting the
environment, and that certainly flows into my novels. I can also pinpoint parts
of the Survival Colony series that come directly from my personal life—certain scenes
involving Querry’s relationship to some of the adults in the books, for
example. Overall, I find the creative process very mysterious; I don’t know
exactly where stuff comes from. But I prefer it that way. I think it would be
less fun for me and less interesting for readers if it were a tidier process.
Did you plan out the whole Survival Colony
9 Series or are you planning and writing it a book at a time?
When I started working on the series
almost five years ago, I jotted down an overall plan. But the truth is, the
story has changed so much over that time, the notes I first took bear practically
no relationship to the finished series! Partly that’s because my thinking
changed considerably as the series progressed, but it’s also because my editor
and I were working on shaping the series the whole way through. I will say
this, though: I’m done with series for a while. I love the idea of developing
my characters and my world from book to book, but it’s also exhausting, and I
need a break!
Is there anything else you can tell us
about your Survival Colony 9 Series?
Just that I think readers are going to be
both surprised and pleased by where the series goes and what they discover
about Querry, the history of the survival colonies, the origin of the Skaldi,
and all the rest of it. There are many new characters in SCAVENGER OF SOULS,
including a teenage girl named Mercy, who’s one of my favorite characters of
all time. And there are lots of mysteries and revelations. That’s what I
personally enjoy about reading, and I hope my readers feel the same!
Finally could you provide us with your
social media links so readers can keep up to date with your book releases etc?
Readers can keep up with me and my books
at the following places:
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Survival Colony series
order links
Survival
Colony 9 (Amazon)
Scavenger of
Souls
(Amazon)
COMING NEXT . . .
Title: Freefall
Author: Joshua David Bellin
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Post Apocalyptic
Release Date: 2017
BLURB from Goodreads
On Earth, Cam and Sofie lived divided by prejudice, but when their starships crash-land on a hostile alien planet, they have to learn to live together – or die trying.
Goodreads Link
***GIVEAWAY***
This is a Tour Wide Giveaway
The Prizes are:
Signed Copy of Scavenger Of Souls
Bookmarks
& T-shirt
***GIVEAWAY***
This is a Tour Wide Giveaway
The Prizes are:
Signed Copy of Scavenger Of Souls
Bookmarks
& T-shirt
8/17 Stephanie Keyes, Author
8/18 Margo Kelly
8/19 Kat Ross
8/20 Christina Farley
8/21 JeanzBookReadNReview
8/22 Gold from the Dust
8/25 Yvonne Ventresca’s Word Pop
8/26 Strands of Thought
8/29 Eric Price
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