Publisher: Disney Hyperion


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Inspirations for This Shattered World & Giveaway!

Posted by 27 Comments

10496983_676046909139163_909939733964570568_o
[Banner Image Credit: Amie Kaufman Facebook Page]
I was a huge fan of These Broken Stars when I read it a few months ago, and I’m really excited to have the blog tour for this second book stop by the blog today. I’ve got both authors over here talking about the inspiration behind Starbound! Here’s a bit of info on this book first:

Inspirations for This Shattered World & Giveaway!This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Published by Disney Hyperion on December 23rd 2014
Genres: Sci-Fi, YA
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

TSW-preorder


Guest Post by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner


What Inspires Us
The question “how do you come up with your ideas” is hands down the most frequent question we stumble across when talking to readers. As much as we’d love to say “from the corner mart,” the real answer is that inspiration comes from everywhere. It comes from the conversations we have with friends, from the stories we read in the news, from the advancements that scientific pioneers are making every day. It comes from everything we do and see, including art, music, television, movies, and, of course… other books!

Those who’ve been reading about These Broken Stars know that a lot of the inspiration for the story came from our joint love of space and shipwreck stories. This Shattered World comes from an entirely different fascination of ours: star-crossed friendships, the moral grey area issues involving loyalty and treachery in times of war, and how just one person—or two!—can make a difference.

So here are a few of our favorite inspirations for This Shattered World… some of them might surprise you!
Firefly/Serenity: Okay, this one’s not a surprise. Cowboys in space? There’s no question our fascination with the idea of newly developed planets full of abandoned and angry colonists aligns nicely with this show’s premise! Not to mention the fact that the character of Zoe Washburne would definitely, definitely, be pals with Jubilee Chase.

Firefly-Serenity

Pride & Prejudice: This was a great inspiration for all three of our books. We love friendships and romances that spring up in unlikely places, between unlikely people. Any time two people start off hating each other on principle but find that first impression changing as they grow… well, we’re sold.

Pride and Prejudice

Doctor Who: We’re both Whovians, and we’ve never tried to deny it. Sure, the show can get campy (really campy) but it’s got heart, and characters you love, and in the midst of the worst kinds of hardship the Doctor can find hope and humor. We try to do that in our books, as well—and in This Shattered World especially, they have to search and work hard to keep that hope alive.

Doctor Who

Far and Away: There’s no doubt that a big inspiration for the culture and political situation on Avon comes from a mutual fascination with immigrant culture, particularly that of Irish immigrants to America—hence the fierce Fianna, our mostly-Irish band of rebels living in the swamps of Avon.

Far and Away

Star Trek: Space. The final frontier. Need we say more? (Okay, just one more thing: we love how often Star Trek episodes deal with philosophical and moral conundrums… it’s classic science fiction, and something we love to explore in our books as well!)

Star Trek

Romeo & Juliet: While the literary references in These Broken Stars are harder to spot because we didn’t want to spoil certain twists, it’s not hard to see that a big, big inspiration for This Shattered World came from the Bard himself. There’s a reason we named our planet Avon…

 


About the Authors



Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are longtime friends and sometime flatmates who have traveled the world (but not yet the galaxy), covering every continent between them. They are sure outer space is only a matter of time. Meagan, who is also the author of the Skylark trilogy, currently lives in Asheville, NC, while Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia. Although they currently live apart, they are united by their love of space opera, road trips, and second breakfasts.

Visit the These Broken Stars website for the latest news on the series and follow the authors on Twitter at @AmieKaufman and @MeaganSpooner. You may also sign up for their newsletter as well! These Broken Stars will be available in North America on December 10, 2013.


This post is part of the This Shattered World blog tour hosted by The Midnight Garden.

Monday, December 8 – The Midnight Garden
Tuesday, December 9 –  The Book Smugglers
Wednesday, December 10 – Ivy Book Bindings
Thursday, December 11 – Cuddlebuggery
Friday, December 12 – Little Book Owl
Monday, December 15 – Mundie Moms
Tuesday, December 16 – Xpresso Reads
Wednesday, December 17 – A Book Utopia
Thursday, December 18 – Supernatural Snark
Friday, December 19 – Love is Not a Triangle


DividerXR1

Giveaway

These wonderful authors and Disney-Hyperion have generously offered up some fab prizes during this blog tour! See what’s up for grabs:

Autographed copies of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World
— Starbound swag
— A secret letter from Tarver to Lilac, which you may keep secret for yourself, or may be posted and shared with others
— Your choice of coffee with the authors at one of their upcoming U.S. tour stops (locations TBD) OR a Skype chat!

 

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Stitching Snow by R.C.Lewis

Review: Stitching Snow by R.C.Lewis

Posted by on 12/11/2014 • 12 Comments

Well, this is awkward… another review for a retelling from yours truly. I swear I am not seeking them out; they seem to find me, not I them. In any case, this one is extra special because it’s a retelling in spaaaaaaaace. And anything set in space is automatically “cool beans” in my eyes. I mean, usually. You know. *fidgets*

Now the only problem is… where to bloody start.

You see, Stitching Snow and I have quite a complicated relationship. I liked it for the most part, but I found a lot of problems along the way, and I for one never forget these things. Once I spot one, they become even more glaring after a while. Surely now, if ever this book were sentient, it’s probably regretting it had to be read by…

Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Posted by on 12/01/2014 • 10 Comments

Having really enjoyed the first book, I couldn’t wait to read this one. I am a big sucker for companion novels too because I love getting to know other characters in the same world, and knowing that I will get a glimpse of characters from the previous book or books. I adored the two main characters in this one and thought that they both had really strong personalities. They were also very loyal to their people and even knowing that they both will very likely die, instead of taking the easy escape, they want to make things right on Avon. The writing is fabulous too. I could easily visualize the world and feel the tension. This was a very pleasing companion novel.

Jubilee Chase is tough as nails. She is…

In the Afterlight Dream Cast & Giveaway!

In the Afterlight Dream Cast & Giveaway!

Posted by on 10/28/2014 • 8 Comments

It only took the 1st book for me to become a big fan of Alexandra Bracken, and  today I’m happy to have her drop by the blog to show us her Dream Cast for 5 of the characters in this series. First, here’s the details on the most recent release in series which is out TODAY!

In the Afterlight Dream Cast, by Alexandra Bracken

Oh man oh man oh man. The number one question I get from readers is who I’d want to see cast in a film version of The Darkest Minds. I have to be up front and tell you that I don’t know that there’s any actor out there who perfectly fits the way I imagine the characters’ appearance… but there are a few…

Halloween Thrills & Chills: Deleted Scene from Mary: The Summoning

Halloween Thrills & Chills: Deleted Scene from Mary: The Summoning

Posted by on 10/06/2014 • 19 Comments

Who else is excited that Halloween is just around the corner? Well today I’ve got a sweet treat for you as part of the Halloween Trills & Chills event hosted by The Midnight Garden! I’ve got Hillary Montana here with a deleted scene from her book, Mary: The Summoning. I read this one a few weeks ago and let me tell you it’s one awesome creep-fest! In case you missed it, you can find my review here! Also, don’t miss out on any more Halloween fun and giveaways by visiting the other stops on this tour. You can find the schedule on this post below, or on the kickoff post here! And before getting to the deleted scene, have a look at what Mary: The Summoning is…

Review: MARY: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Review: MARY: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Posted by on 08/29/2014 • 22 Comments

For some stupid reason I read this only at nighttime and it freaked me the eff out! I have always been terrified of Bloody Mary ever since a bad experience in middle school (just stupid kids thinking we saw more than we did, but back then it was intense!) and just the idea of being haunted by her like this… nope!!!

This book delivers fantastically when it comes to horror content and hair-raising scenes, however it does have a shaky start where I found the reactions to her first appearance underwhelming. My own fear of ghosts could not fathom being so calm when faced by a ghost in a mirror… Fortunately it got more believable after that, so don’t judge it too quickly if you feel like I did. Once…

Review: Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Review: Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Posted by on 07/11/2014 • 20 Comments

Welcome to the Dark House is a pretty great horror story, especially for horror-movie loving readers. However it reads just like a horror movie as well – you barely get to know the cast, and when one dies/disappears you’re not going to care all that much.

Ultimately told in multiple viewpoints, we’re first introduced to Ivy, who I consider to be the main character in this story. She’s the only character that we get to know with any amount of depth. We learn of her tragic past and how it haunts her, and her motivation to join Justin Blake’s latest project. Soon enough, we’re joining others inside this Dark House and meeting our other POVs – I never counted, but there must have been 5 or 6. Obviously they’re…

Review: Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

Posted by on 06/10/2014 • 23 Comments

An enjoyable plot with a very unique zombie story, but it was missing… something. Many aspects about this world and its happenings were explained only briefly to make the plot move forward, which made it hard to invest myself fully. But it was fun, nonetheless!

We begin by following Thea, whose mother’s strange illness has left her in charge of supporting the family. This is where we begin to see the part that magic has in the story, when we learn of this magical connection between her mother and father that has caused the illness. I found this was really intriguing and a great start that compels you to read more. Especially when combined with the glamorous setting of a Telephone Club we’re lured into by its enchanting atmosphere and…