***2018 NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL SCI FI WINNER! ****The world you know is dead. We did this to ourselves.The epidemic struck at the end of the Third World War. Fighting over oil, power, and religion, governments ignored the rise of an antibacterial-resistant plague. In just five years, the Earth was annihilated. Only one city survived—Etyom—a frozen hellhole in northern Siberia, engulfed in endless … hellhole in northern Siberia, engulfed in endless conflict.
The years is 2251.
Two groups emerged from the ashes of the old world. Within the walled city of Lower Etyom dwell the Robusts—descendants of the poor who were immune to the New Black Death. Above them, in a metropolis of pristine platforms called lillipads, live the Graciles—the progeny of the superrich, bio-engineered to resist the plague.
Mila Solokoff is a Robust who trades information in a world where knowing too much can get you killed. Caught in a deal gone bad, she’s forced to take a high-risk job for a clandestine organization hell-bent on revolution.
Demitri Stasevich is a Gracile with a dark secret—a sickness that, if discovered, will get him Ax’d. His only relief is an illegal narcotic produced by the Robusts, and his only means of obtaining it is a journey to the arctic hell far below New Etyom.
Thrust together in the midst of a sinister plot that threatens all life above and below the cloud line, Mila and Demitri must master their demons and make a choice—one that will either salvage what’s left of the human race or doom it to extinction …
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4.5 Cranky Stars
For me it was a slow start, but stick with it, because it ends with a BANG!! Once the story hooked me, I couldn’t put it down. Everything came together very well, the characters, the idea, the world, the dialogue. I was entranced. Set in a dystopian Earth ravaged by the New Black Death the generations of survivors have founded Etyom, a society where genetics matter and a person called the Leader to rule them. The genetically engineered Graciles live above the clouds and plague in advanced homes; The Robusts make up the enclaves below where savagery, drugs & sex are a means for survival. Mila and Demitri team up to take on higher ups and carve a place for not only themselves, but other like them in this new dystopian world. A very dark adventure filled with science and mystery. A perfect title for an amazing book!
If you love a sci-fi read, you will love this!!
The authors have created a fantastic story. The characters are rich and fully developed, and the world in which they live, is one that is easy to envision. This book will suck you in and spit you out the other side- make sure you have no plans because you will not out this down once you start!
Use Your Life To Make A Difference
Dystopian Sci-fi
World War III and The New Black Death pretty much annihilate the human race on Earth. Survivors gravitate to a Russian city in Siberia where the Black Death can’t seem to touch them. Much. The new city is named Etyom.
Etyom, A couple of hundred years later…….
The descendants of the original refugees are still living in Etyom. It’s still a deathly cold, miserable place. The New Black Death is still present but not so much anymore.
In this new, technology heavy world, there are several types of DNA modified humans. Two meter tall, naturally ripped and handsome, Demetri, is a Gracile, originally created to resist the New Black Death. His genetics are far beyond that now. He is a vastly superior being compared to the original human race, and the Robusts, too.
He has a secret, though, he’s not quite as perfect as he looks, he is schizophrenic, a massive death sentence fault he hides with an illicit drug produced by the other type of human, the inferior Robusts. The drug keeps his personal demon, Vedmak, at bay.
Mila is a Robust, a Logosian, a young woman trained in martial arts. She is in The service of the Lightbringer, and at night she dreams of Yeos, their god, but he only shows her death and destruction.
Mila’s job as a courier gives her money or tradable items, but she gives most of it to the less fortunate. She never asks what is in the packages she picks up and delivers.
Etyom is divided into factions, and most of them are at war with each other. Luckily, or unluckily, there is a desolate No Man’s Land between the walled sections the various factions live in, making life even more difficult.
The Gracile are definitely at the top of the food chain, and they live at the top of Etyom, too, far above the Robusts, who scurry around living like peasants, fighting for existence in the streets below.
Demetri’s inner demon, Vedmak is an evil bastard, he urges him to kill his brother, His lab coworker. Demetri and his brother run the atomic collider, bashing neurons and protons together in an effort to produce, what?
Vedmak wants death and destruction all around, he wants to come out and play! He wants to take over Demetri’s body. Demetri is out of his drug, and his dealer was injured in a terrorist attack and is unavailable. OH NO! OH YEAH…………
ARC Received from HG for a Voluntary and Honest Review.
Absolutely loved this book, a collaborative effort by two very different authors! It’s written from dual points of view, which helps the reader understand the two disparate worlds the characters live in. I usually don’t read dystopian novels because they are so depressing, but there’s some hope here. Somewhere….
Highly Recommend!
Couldn’t get beyond the first 5 pages.
Kept me reading late.
5-STARS! A fantastic journey and the beginning of an epic saga! Mila is strong, resourceful, and cunning. Her character believes in something more; something she can’t see, but can only feel. Demitri is brilliant, unique, and tormented with a darkness that steals the show, literally. The story was packed full of action, suspense, and was so very fitting in the end. It’s possible to be happy, shocked, and in turmoil all at once, as ITDTRS thrills the whole way through!
Started out slow for me, but it ended with a bang! I absorbed the detail of the ‘cities’ and characters. It Takes A Death T Reach A Star is much more than I expected. I have two pages of notes I took while reading, but most of that is going by the wayside and I’ll shoot from the hip.
The book takes place in Russia, but it’s not like the Russia you know. Some people have managed to survive WWIII and the New Black Death, where almost nine billion people died..
Mila is a Robust and Dimitri is a Gracile. The details of their existence is better if you learn about it for yourself. They are never meant to interact as friends or comrades, but when they do come together, they will never be the same…and neither will their world.
Mila walks to her own drum, but Dimitri is a follower. It is rare for him to step outside his comfort zone and when he does, the action becomes nonstop…and dangerous. Mila is my idea of ninjas in the future. She is a badass and I love her. Dimitri is one of the herd, but I knew he was going to grow and morph into someone to be reckoned with. Glad he’s on ‘our’ side.
Their missions become one and we are off to the races. The first lap is their meeting. The mid laps are the action that brings them to their biggest, out of this world, battle. The finale is me being able to take a breath and find out who is left standing.
Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones can write, creating a world that becomes easy to visualize by the details of their imagination and they do make me wonder, could that be our future? The characters roll off the pages as if they are real, growing and developing into people worthy of our respect or our disgust. But, you can’t have the good without the bad.
The suspense and anticipation is ramping up, becoming intense, as the lines are drawn, sides chosen and the battle rages. Gareth and Stu don’t believe in saving all their characters, so be careful who you become involved with. They may not survive. When they took out ‘her’, I was bummed, but when they took out ‘him’, I rejoiced. Just goes to show you how involved I became in their lives and the outcome of the story. It went further than I thought it would and I loved it even more, for the ability of the authors to take me somewhere I have never been. The title is very appropriate.
OH NO. It’s over. But what a great ending it was. Will there be more?
I love when the author’s are just as interesting as the book, so be sure and check them out.
I voluntarily read a free copy of It Takes A Death To Read A Star by Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones.
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