Fugitive From Asteron

by Gen LaGreca

In a grim world of tyranny, one man struggles to defy the norms. In a place where life is cheap, he prizes his. Where work is drudgery, he gets the one job he wants. Where passion is extinct, he loves a beautiful woman. Then he loses everything.

Arial is an ace pilot who is imprisoned for sedition by Feran, the brutal ruler of Planet Asteron. The young rebel is pushed to desperation when he’s sentenced to undergo an unbearable punishment.

Feran is about to embark on a vital mission that is shrouded in the highest secrecy. But in a death-defying escape, Arial steals his ruler’s spacecraft, foiling his plans. The ship takes the fugitive on Feran’s pre-programmed course, with a mysterious cargo aboard.

Arial’s life is about to change forever—and with it, the fate of two planets.

During the stormy events that seize his life, Arial is drawn to two women. Reevah is the proud Asteronian whose strong will sets her apart in a society where all must obey. She lives for her stolen moments with Arial. But will her love for him seal her doom?

Kristin is the high-spirited woman of another world who falls in love with the handsome stranger who lands on her planet. But will she discover the secret of his past that will make him her mortal enemy?

FUGITIVE FROM ASTERON takes you on a journey to two opposite worlds on the brink of a collision. It’s a tale of exotic adventure, of first love, of grit and courage, of harrowing danger, and of a shocking mystery unfolding. At heart, it’s the story of a young man’s struggle to heal the wounds of a brutal past, to learn what makes human existence possible, and to claim his own life.

Genres: Science Fiction, Politics, Philosophy, Novels, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy

218 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2016

About the author

Genevieve (Gen) LaGreca writes novels with innovative plots, strong romance, and themes that glorify personal freedom and independence.

Gen’s debut novel is Noble Vision. This romantic medical thriller won two important national literary awards. It was a ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Finalist. It was also a finalist in the Writer's Digest International Book Awards contest—one of only six picks honoring general fiction published by independent presses. Noble Vision garnered praise from magazine magnate Steve Forbes, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, syndicated columnist Walter E. Williams, and other influential thinkers.

Showing her virtuosity across genre lines, Gen’s second offering is the historical novel A Dream of Daring. This antebellum murder mystery took Finalist in Regional Fiction in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and also Finalist in Multicultural Fiction in the same contest.

Gen's third novel is the science-fiction adventure and love story, Fugitive From Asteron.

On the playful side, Gen gives us her breezy, romantic short story, Three Days to Find a Wife. This busy writer is currently at work on her fourth novel. She also wrote the screenplay for Noble Vision.

In addition to fiction, Gen also writes social and political commentaries, which have appeared in Forbes, The Orange County Register, The Daily Caller, Real Clear Markets, Mises Daily, The Gainesville Sun, and other publications.

Her short book of essays, The Pioneer vs. the Welfare State, combines her engaging writing style with in-depth analysis of urgent issues and concerns.

Gen appeared on The Glenn Beck Show on national television to discuss her provocative article, “The Self-Help Guide to Living in a Free Society,” published in The New Individualist magazine.

Gen has been a lively guest speaker at local, regional, and national events, including Students for Liberty and FreedomFest conferences, where she discusses the powerful role of fiction in portraying ideas, as well as other topics. She’s had the distinction of being an invited participant at Liberty Fund colloquia.

On the personal side, Gen is engaged to a university professor; she and he live in the Midwest.

Prior to fiction writing, Gen worked as a pharmaceutical chemist, business consultant, and corporate writer. She holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a graduate degree in philosophy from Columbia University.

Her variety of life experiences—in science and business, as well as in philosophy and writing—brings vibrant characters, urgent issues, thematic depth, and an outside-the-box approach to Gen’s novels. Their sweeping themes of self-sovereignty and the triumph of the individual attract thoughtful readers across genre lines.

To contact Gen, send her a message: genlagreca[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Reviews

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nov. 2016 (?) I really got pumped by this book.

The author takes the reader through a tremendous journey from a totalitarian state, physically as well as mentally, through the trials and tribulations of emerging whole and victorious in a free and just society.

I bet this book will be loved by those who have made similar journeys in the real world, and hopefully too by those young and keen enough to be able to discern the often less starkly clear real world differences. I say young enough, because too often older people have become blind to the fairly stark basic differences between a free vs. an authoritarian society. The Fugitive from Asteron makes the differences perfectly clear and compelling to all those who would see.

Some of the great differences the author brought out in the story:
- the importance of word meanings and the types of people who invert or pervert the meanings.
- the characteristics of humans vs. animals and their significance for freedom and dignity
- the revitalization of pride as a positive emotion vs. it's scorn
- misery vs. happiness and what are some of the causes of each
- the crucial nature of smiling, laughing, colors, food and the simple value of life
- "free" things and unavailability vs. priced private things and availability - a feature not a bug
- contrasts in the qualities of leaders of free vs. authoritarian societies
- contrasts in the number and types of government controls and outcomes in free vs. coercive societies
- mystery solving and the importance of reason and individualism vs.superstition & collectivism
- power and control - the contrast of personal vs. violent use of these.

All of these and more are brought out in perfect context of the main character's fight for his life and the lives of those he loves.

As with most any science fiction book, there are some continuity issues. The reader really needs to suspend his/her understanding of time in several respects. Several events and plot development in the book happen way too fast to accommodate some real world experience of this reader. But if those are discounted, the book becomes even more enjoyable.

I've already bought several more copies of this book to give away to some special people this Christmas. It is that good!

[Marina Fontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This was to be the day I ended my life."

So begins the story of a young man, who, having lost everything, must re-discover both the reason and the will to keep on going. While the setup is far from original, it is timely for our overly depressive cultural environment. In fact, it just might be a perfect antidote to the barrage of so-called respectable fiction that essentially spends thousands of beautiful words to tell us to give up.

OR it could just be a fast-paced, highly entertaining space opera with a balanced combination of dystopian and utopian elements and a healthy dose of romance. Either way, it is worthy of your consideration.

The narrator-protagonist is introduced to us at the lowest point of his life. He is injured, imprisoned, and, as the first sentence indicates, suicidal. Our dominant emotion during those first paragraphs is pity, for we meet him as a victim. However, only a few pages in, we find out that in the dreary world of victims and brutes, he is neither. His heart longs for freedom even if the concept is unknown. He enjoys achievement even if it brings pain rather than reward. He values knowledge even if it is forbidden. Not quite a hero, not yet at least, but someone who strives in that direction as we, the readers, cheer him on.

The middle chunk of the novel, while lower on action, is impressive nevertheless in its own right. The author, a native born American, shows instinctive understanding of how someone who had only ever known oppression might behave if unexpectedly thrown into a free society. At several points in the story, where most American readers would simply get a light chuckle, I was thinking back to my own culture shock upon arriving in the U.S. from the former Soviet Union more than two decades ago. Simple acts, like smiling to passer-by and having small talk with strangers, took getting used to. Anything beyond, like engaging in political arguments, while intellectually accepted, took a while to internalize. And so a scene where the protagonist expects a woman to be arrested for criticizing the mayor in public, for me goes somewhat beyond simple amusement. I also appreciated references to speech patterns. Yes, even using the same language, free people speak differently. If the language of the novel at times feels stilted, you will notice that it gets less so over time, and I thought it was both subtle and brilliant as an artistic choice by the author.

The Big Reveal at the end is not particularly shocking for anyone paying attention, but is played for all it's worth both emotionally and in terms of dramatic suspense. A thriller reader in me wished for some parts towards the end to be tighter, with less talk and more 'splosions, but the pacing remained decent enough. The last line of the novel is as satisfying as the first line was hooky, and it's really hard to complain of minor details when the novel leaves you in such high spirits once you turn the last page. With freedom under attack all over the world, this book is a gift and an inspiration to liberty loving readers everywhere.

[VMom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fugitive From Asteron is not just another YA novel about a dystopian future. Told in a retro style that almost reminds me of Poe (if Poe had written SF), it is a futuristic fable about a young man's escape to freedom. Once I got acclimated to the style, the story was a lot of fun.
Arial grew up in Asteron, a totalitarian planet where everyone is basically a slave to the State, ruled absolutely by the sadistic Feran. Arial is in bad straits, in a prison cell, because he has an impulsive streak and always ends up breaking rules because he follows his feelings rather than commands.
The first third of the book is about Arial's escape and the rest of it is about him trying to blend in on the planet he has escaped to, Earth, while accidentally getting drawn into a mystery and a plot. I liked how the story shows how Arial copes with the culture shock of being actually free.
This is a great YA read, specially as it has an upbeat resolution, in contrast to most other dystopian books being released today.
I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. I have a more in-depth review of this and other conservative books at my blog bookhorde.org.

[Prescottl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique story about a world of tyranny and a world of freedoms and the man who experiences both. The author nicely wove together romance and adventure, although the plot was sometimes implausible.

[Quasimode · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Warning: Potential spoilers below, though I'm keeping vague on particulars.]

"Fugitive From Asteron" is an unusual dystopian novel, in that most of it proceeds from the perspective of looking into the nightmare from the outside. A serf-like subject of a collectivist regime escapes through raw courage and finds himself on a world that's the opposite of everything he's ever known - a world of freedom. His astonishment at a way of life that's totally alien to him - and his overwhelming fear of being arrested for innocuous acts that were forbidden on his homeworld - is part of a transformation that's brilliantly done and fascinating to experience as a reader. Since the tyrants are none too happy that he's gone - and that he's inadvertently taken something rather vital along for the ride - the nightmare pursues him.

Though its style is entirely different, in a sense this book could almost be a sequel (maybe set a century or two later,) to Rand's 1938 novel "Anthem," because the dystopian regime described could easily be the same one. In a way it's more suspenseful, because the contrast between an escaped evil and an achieved good having been laid out, the threat of that ultimate evil returning to obliterate everything the hero values and plunge him right back into the nightmare, becomes a palpable thing.

Integral to the story and to the presentation of the theme of freedom is an excellent romance that's based on a shared skill and on shared values. The pilot Kristen has to teach Ariel that he does not have to fear imprisonment and/or execution for things like criticizing a politician in front of a policeman or even for laughing, and that he can act as a matter of inalienable right rather than by permission (a shocking contrast to the here-and-now, in which the exact opposite lesson is being forced upon the people of America by opportunistic collectivist politicians, under the excuse of "safety.") She teaches him the words - also alien to him - for concepts like pride, the basics of open commerce with others, the fact that he's free to choose his own work and his own destiny, again without asking anyone for permission or fearing brutal retribution. Even the very act of laughter has to be learned.

For his part, Ariel is not a tragic figure or even a dependent personality, though as a matter of inescapable circumstance he is dependent for a time on the people he meets in this new world of freedom. Ever fearful of being discovered, he must struggle to evade detection while convincing the citizens of a society so free and so peaceful for so long that it's become lax, that there exists a real threat to that freedom. In the meantime, his newly-unshackled abilities and reason flourish, and it is these qualities that draw Kristen to him.

"Asteron" is an excellent read - one that would make a great movie and makes you feel like you're in one - with twists and surprises that propel the story to its climactic scenes. It's also an excellent message that is badly needed, particularly in 2021 America. Highly recommended.

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really got pumped by this book.

The author takes the reader through a tremendous journey from a totalitarian state, physically as well as mentally, through the trials and tribulations of emerging whole and victorious in a free and just society.

I bet this book will be loved by those who have made similar journeys in the real world, and hopefully too by those young and keen enough to be able to discern the often less starkly clear real world differences. I say young enough, because too often older people have become blind to the fairly stark basic differences between a free vs. an authoritarian society. The Fugitive from Asteron makes the differences perfectly clear and compelling to all those who would see.

Some of the great differences the author brought out in the story:
- the importance of manners in free vs. unfree societies
- the importance of word meanings and the types of people who invert or pervert the meanings.
- the characteristics of humans vs. animals and their significance for freedom and dignity
- the revitalization of pride as a positive emotion vs. it's scorn
- misery vs. happiness and what are some of the causes of each
- the crucial nature of smiling, laughing, colors, food and the simple value of life
- "free" things and unavailability vs. priced private things and availability - a feature not a bug
- contrasts in the qualities of leaders of free vs. authoritarian societies
- contrasts in the number and types of government controls and outcomes in free vs. coercive societies
- mystery solving and the importance of reason and individualism vs.superstition & collectivism
- power and control - the contrast of personal vs. violent use of these.

All of these and more are brought out in perfect context of the main character's fight for his life and the lives of those he loves.

As with most any science fiction book, there are some continuity issues. The reader really needs to suspend his understanding of time in several respects. A fair number of events and the plot development in the book happen way too fast to accommodate the real world experience of this reader. But if that issue is discounted, the book becomes even more enjoyable.

I've already bought several more copies of this book to give away to some special people this Christmas. It is that good!

[Rachie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this through a giveaway. This is the story of Arial, a twenty-one year old man from the planet of Asteron. He spends his days under the cruel reign of the dictator Feran and dreams of escape and yearns to become a pilot. The story starts with Arial under arrest and awaiting execution. He manages to escape to Earth where he meets Kristen a young woman who is an expert pilot. This is where the rest of the story plays out with a few twists and a lot of action and romance to keep the story moving forward.

The politics throughout are a bit heavy-handed and rather black or white. And the constant questioning and repeating of past events by Arial took me out of the story. I think the pace could have benefited by cutting the majority of his internal monologues and keeping to the present.

There were some lovely scenes throughout. I especially liked the joy conveyed when Arial was flying and his first interactions with Reevah.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and was glad to have the opportunity to read it. A good read for Sci-fi fans.

[Rachel Ashcraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this through a giveaway. This is the story of Arial, a twenty-one year old man from the planet of Asteron. He spends his days under the cruel reign of the dictator Feran and dreams of escape and yearns to become a pilot. The story starts with Arial under arrest and awaiting execution. He manages to escape to Earth where he meets Kristen a young woman who is an expert pilot. This is where the rest of the story plays out with a few twists and a lot of action and romance to keep the story moving forward.

The politics throughout are a bit heavy-handed and rather black or white. And the constant questioning and repeating of past events by Arial took me out of the story. I think the pace could have benefited by cutting the majority of his internal monologues and keeping to the present.

There were some lovely scenes throughout. I especially liked the joy conveyed when Arial was flying and his first interactions with Reevah.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and was glad to have the opportunity to read it. A good read for Sci-fi fans.