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Spectra #1
Origin
Every hero has an origin story. Mine begins with an underground cage fight and ends in a secret identity.
By day I'm Willow Nguyen, not so mild-mannered teenager searching for her missing mother. By night...okay, I'm the same, but it's easier to break into banks under cover of darkness.
My world is divided into the Academy and the Kings: the law and the thugs. At the centre of their power are the espers like me: the telepaths, psychics and illusionists.
What I can do could change the balance of power in Melbourne. So it makes sense for me to keep a low profile. It's not my fault that I get drawn into an illegal cage fight. Yes, I did have to become a psychotic King's nemesis. No I won't stop fighting until one of us is dead.
With great power comes great pain in the backside. I just have to make sure it hurts them more than me. Willow Nguyen might just be a girl, but Spectra will become a legend.
Origin is the first novel in the Spectra Series. It is an Australian young adult urban fantasy series with slight Academy overtones. There are flavours of X-men and Dark Angel with a big helping of snark and a slow burn romance.
By day I'm Willow Nguyen, not so mild-mannered teenager searching for her missing mother. By night...okay, I'm the same, but it's easier to break into banks under cover of darkness.
My world is divided into the Academy and the Kings: the law and the thugs. At the centre of their power are the espers like me: the telepaths, psychics and illusionists.
What I can do could change the balance of power in Melbourne. So it makes sense for me to keep a low profile. It's not my fault that I get drawn into an illegal cage fight. Yes, I did have to become a psychotic King's nemesis. No I won't stop fighting until one of us is dead.
With great power comes great pain in the backside. I just have to make sure it hurts them more than me. Willow Nguyen might just be a girl, but Spectra will become a legend.
Origin is the first novel in the Spectra Series. It is an Australian young adult urban fantasy series with slight Academy overtones. There are flavours of X-men and Dark Angel with a big helping of snark and a slow burn romance.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 9, 2020
209 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Lan Chan
22 books198 followersLan Chan is a writer, gardener and professional procrastinator based in Melbourne, Australia. She is still waiting for her super powers to manifest but until then she writes young adult novels featuring strong female protagonists, minority characters and has a particular interest in dystopias and urban fantasy. Lan’s debut novel POISON, the first in her WIND DANCER series is due for release in September 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 24, 2020
(4.5 stars) - a promising new series
It's such a pleasure to read something not vampires/shapeshifters/ghosts, etc, for a change (doesn't mean I don't like them, just that it's nice to have something different). The world the author has created here is interesting & pretty unique. The story of how it came to be that way is a little rough but it works.
Willow is young, impulsive & lets her emotions rule her brain more often than not; however, her skills & powers coupled with her odd family background make her both sympathetic & compelling.
The story reads almost like a superhero comic or graphic novel. There are several episodes comprising the whole: the first is an intro to the mega bad guy. The second is how the info that she learns in the first affects her life. The third is what happens when she goes to get tested, and how she ends up becoming a reluctant sort of superhero type figure.
It has some grittiness to it, and a few sad moments, but overall, it was really enjoyable, & I can't wait to read the next in the series!
*Romance level: only the very beginning of a slow burn; meets her future interest here, but there are some mildly adult things - mc necessarily sheds her top & ends up fighting with just her bra on, some background prostitution, some instances of sexual menace, and there are a couple of gay "married" secondary characters. There's nothing particularly graphic portrayed in any of it
*Language: light sprinkling of the most common swear words, no f-bombs
*Religion: a handful of uses of God's Name in vain, including a couple of times as curses (dear author, you won't lose readers by being considerate of those who are believers & not abusing His Name, but you will definitely lose some by doing so)
It's such a pleasure to read something not vampires/shapeshifters/ghosts, etc, for a change (doesn't mean I don't like them, just that it's nice to have something different). The world the author has created here is interesting & pretty unique. The story of how it came to be that way is a little rough but it works.
Willow is young, impulsive & lets her emotions rule her brain more often than not; however, her skills & powers coupled with her odd family background make her both sympathetic & compelling.
The story reads almost like a superhero comic or graphic novel. There are several episodes comprising the whole: the first is an intro to the mega bad guy. The second is how the info that she learns in the first affects her life. The third is what happens when she goes to get tested, and how she ends up becoming a reluctant sort of superhero type figure.
It has some grittiness to it, and a few sad moments, but overall, it was really enjoyable, & I can't wait to read the next in the series!
*Romance level: only the very beginning of a slow burn; meets her future interest here, but there are some mildly adult things - mc necessarily sheds her top & ends up fighting with just her bra on, some background prostitution, some instances of sexual menace, and there are a couple of gay "married" secondary characters. There's nothing particularly graphic portrayed in any of it
*Language: light sprinkling of the most common swear words, no f-bombs
*Religion: a handful of uses of God's Name in vain, including a couple of times as curses (dear author, you won't lose readers by being considerate of those who are believers & not abusing His Name, but you will definitely lose some by doing so)
April 12, 2022
Spectra is a start of a series by Lan Chan, author of Bloodline Academy. Set in the streets of Melbourne, it is a world of mind readers where a Girl, Willow Nguyen is searching for her missing (and very paranoid) Mother.
Due to the short nature of this book, I found it really hard to be connected in any of the characters. There was also minimal worldbuilding, multiple times a thing called the Reset is mentioned but we don't learn what it is about and what life was like before.
The good thing was that it's a book you can fly through easily and not really have to focus on much.
Overall, a very short and rushed read that with more detail, would have been better. I loved the familiar setting and knowing the street names too.
Due to the short nature of this book, I found it really hard to be connected in any of the characters. There was also minimal worldbuilding, multiple times a thing called the Reset is mentioned but we don't learn what it is about and what life was like before.
The good thing was that it's a book you can fly through easily and not really have to focus on much.
Overall, a very short and rushed read that with more detail, would have been better. I loved the familiar setting and knowing the street names too.
October 20, 2020
This is a perfect book for young adults (15+), but I feel it might not be suitable for more mature adults, who perhaps are after steamy romance and more adult themes. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this book as I love Lan's writing style.
The main heroine - Willow is amazing heroine, strong, sassy, street smart, impulsive and independent. She is not afraid of going out in the world and pursuing the truth about her mother's recent disappearance.
The world building / setting was unique and believable, it is urban fantasy with touch of dystopian elements. The population is dived in Telepaths or Espers, Voids (people that telepaths can't reach mentally) and Basics (which are the majority of population, they have no powers and cant be manipulated by telepaths). However, the Espers are further divided into Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Whispers. Willow is alpha Esper, that has secondary abilities, which is super rare and dangerous because they hunted for their powers.
The book was fast paced, easy to read, full of action, heart stopping moments, feels and humour, and it gave hints of potential romance in book 2.
The main heroine - Willow is amazing heroine, strong, sassy, street smart, impulsive and independent. She is not afraid of going out in the world and pursuing the truth about her mother's recent disappearance.
The world building / setting was unique and believable, it is urban fantasy with touch of dystopian elements. The population is dived in Telepaths or Espers, Voids (people that telepaths can't reach mentally) and Basics (which are the majority of population, they have no powers and cant be manipulated by telepaths). However, the Espers are further divided into Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Whispers. Willow is alpha Esper, that has secondary abilities, which is super rare and dangerous because they hunted for their powers.
The book was fast paced, easy to read, full of action, heart stopping moments, feels and humour, and it gave hints of potential romance in book 2.
August 4, 2021
Full of action
This was definitely action-packed! We meet Willow, who has electrokinesis abilities and in his alternate universe, there are other espers with different level of abilities. The author does a great job world building and sprinkles bits and pieces of the history behind this alternate universe. Willow herself is spunky and a firecracker but she also learns from her actions as the story progresses. Along with the kick butt action there are also heart felt moments and readers really come to understand who Willow is. As many have said before, this story is similar to X-men/super hero comics. While the book itself leaves many strings untied, it opens for the rest of the series, which I am sure looking forward to!
This was definitely action-packed! We meet Willow, who has electrokinesis abilities and in his alternate universe, there are other espers with different level of abilities. The author does a great job world building and sprinkles bits and pieces of the history behind this alternate universe. Willow herself is spunky and a firecracker but she also learns from her actions as the story progresses. Along with the kick butt action there are also heart felt moments and readers really come to understand who Willow is. As many have said before, this story is similar to X-men/super hero comics. While the book itself leaves many strings untied, it opens for the rest of the series, which I am sure looking forward to!
March 15, 2022
Engaging
Very engaging read. The book keeps a good pace to keep the reader's attention. I can normally predict a certain order to events in a story, this one kept me guessing.
With the many things that have happened to Willow, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.
Very engaging read. The book keeps a good pace to keep the reader's attention. I can normally predict a certain order to events in a story, this one kept me guessing.
With the many things that have happened to Willow, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.
April 10, 2021
Great
Love it. Great story. Action packed, page turner, that makes it impossible to stop reading. Highly recommend. I love all of Lan Chan book's I have read. Any who have not read her books should start reading them ASAP.
Love it. Great story. Action packed, page turner, that makes it impossible to stop reading. Highly recommend. I love all of Lan Chan book's I have read. Any who have not read her books should start reading them ASAP.
October 1, 2024
I like it
Since I've re read the Bloodline series so many times, I've decided to finally try more of Lan Chan's books. I'm intrigued by this so far and look forward to more in the series
Since I've re read the Bloodline series so many times, I've decided to finally try more of Lan Chan's books. I'm intrigued by this so far and look forward to more in the series
November 29, 2024
Amazing book (Spoilers)
I truly enjoyed every single moment of this book. I can’t wait to read the next book one. I hate that Will had to lose both her parents. Her dad was such a good man. 🥺🥺
I truly enjoyed every single moment of this book. I can’t wait to read the next book one. I hate that Will had to lose both her parents. Her dad was such a good man. 🥺🥺
October 23, 2020
Loved it!
What an a amazing story. It is different from what i usually read, but i love it. A lot of action and suspans! Can't wait for the next book!
What an a amazing story. It is different from what i usually read, but i love it. A lot of action and suspans! Can't wait for the next book!
dnf
January 7, 2021DNF
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews