POST

by Brenda Cooper

The world, for some, has crumbled.

Disease and natural disasters have brought on social collapse in the Pacific Northwest.

For Sage, born and raised in the safe haven of the Oregon Botanical Gardens, that has never been more than academic. What more could she ask for than to be safe and fed?

But life in the Garden is static.

Sage longs to experience the world beyond the Garden walls as society climbs from the chaos. Her reckless exploration forces her elders to give her a choice: Stay here, hidden in safety, or go and never return.

Sage chooses to leave.

Will she learn soon enough on her journey that the world outside the Garden follows no law? That there is no predator more dangerous than man?

Will she learn soon enough that to rebuild the world one must be ready to fight for it?

She will need to if she chooses to live.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Fiction

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2016

About the author

Brenda Cooper writes science fiction,fantasy, and poetry.

Brenda's most recent novels are EDGE of DARK and SPEAR OF LIGHT from Pyr and POST from ESpec Books. Edge of Dark won the 2016 Endeavour Award for a notable science fiction or fantasy novel by a Northwest author.

Other recent novels include the duology THE CREATIVE FIRE and THE DIAMOND DEEP, also from Pyr.

Brenda released two collections in 2015. Her all science fiction CRACKING THE SKY came out from Fairwood Press and her all-fantasy ebook collection BEYOND THE WATERFALL DOOR was created through a six-author Kickstarter project.

Brenda is the author of the Endeavor award winner for 2008: THE SILVER SHIP AND THE SEA, and of two sequels, READING THE WIND and WINGS OF CREATION. She has written a novel with Larry Niven, called BUILDING HARLEQUIN's MOON, and a solo stand-alone novel, MAYAN DECEMBER. She has numerous stories that have published in a variety of magazines, from Nature to Asimov's. Many of her stories have been selected for Year's Best anthologies.

By day, Brenda is the City of Kirkland’s CIO, and at night and in early morning hours, she’s a futurist and writer. She lives in the pacific northwest o the United States of America.

Reviews

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to like in this one and also quite a bit not to like. It lagged in the middle and yet it felt rushed in parts. And English Blackberries? The characters were interesting but also too unbelievable. And it would have been nice to have gotten to really know the settings. And maybe believed the world building a little bit more. It was readable and sweet but also had a high body count. A bit of a disappointment.

[Viking Jam · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2016/12/1...

Publisher: eSpec

Publishing Date: November 2016

ISBN: 9781942990222

Genre: post-apocalyptic

Rating: 2.4/5

Publishers Description: The world, for some, has crumbled. Disease and natural disasters have brought on social collapse in the Pacific Northwest. For Sage, born and raised in the safe haven of the Oregon Botanical Gardens, that has never been more than academic. What more could she ask for than to be safe and fed?


Review: “Why does everyone want to rape me?” As young, hot, nubile 16 year old Sage’s storyline begins, she is chased by rapists bent on catching her. She eludes the rapists and decides that living in a garden sanctuary is like, way boring (ewww, old people) and heads out to find a bigger world. Once she leaves, she is again chased by rapists, meets a new friend that has been raped, saves new friend from biker rapists (because we know that all bikers are rapists) and is saved (again) from a good looking well dressed, self-sufficient rapist/killer. This takes place out in the country, and as they make their way into a city with a couple of hundred thousand people, the worst that happens to them is that they get their asses slapped by guards and groped by a cute boy. You would think that a city would be a concentrated epicenter of rapists if this books statistics hold true. And why is every dystopian YA novel rampant with people that predominately want to rape, kill, steal and control?

Well, the novel is well written and brings you into a stylized world of post-apocalyptic mincing about. Sage comes off really self-centered and has no depth of emotion about the people who raised her, but gets all blushy and hot when a girl and a boy kiss her. She is strongly attached to a girl that she has known for a week and this summary relationship just doesn’t add up as being plausible. Additionally, the idea that a violent tyrant dictator can be overcome by a peaceful process is just ridiculous. And why people would flock to a city that has no resources is again, not plausible.

If you want a factual representation based on a salient process, then this book is not for you. If you want a pretty gurl chased by rapists and kissed by gurls while dreaming about airplanes under a Portland moon, then run to the bookstore like a rapist is chasing you.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a little too Mary Sue and a little too high on the number of coincidences. Still, I liked it and it was set in Oregon and Portland in particular with a big nod to Powell's books. Worth the time.