This is my stop during the blog tour for Regina Shen by Lance Erlick. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 18 till 31 May, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.
So far this series contains 2 books:
Regina Shen: Resilience (Regina Shen #1)
and Regina Shen: Vigilance (Regina Shen #2)
Regina Shen: Resilience
(Regina Shen #1)
by Lance Erlick
Genre: Science Fiction
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: May 15, 2015
Blurb:
Outcast Regina Shen is forced by the World Federation to live on the seaward side of barrier walls built to hold back rising seas from abrupt climate change. A hurricane threatens to destroy what’s left of her world, tearing Regina from her family.
Global fertility has collapsed. Chief Inspector Joanne Demarco of the notorious Department of Antiquities believes Regina holds the key to avoid extinction. Regina fights to stay alive and avoid capture while hunting for her family.
You can find Regina Shen: Resilience on Goodreads
You can buy Regina Shen: Resilience here:
- Amazon
By LANCE ERLICK
Richmond Swamps, June ACM 296
A
gray Department of Antiquities patrol boat motored across our path. I paddled
into a cattail-covered cove, kept a wary eye for alligators, and waited for the
gray-uniformed agents to leave. In the morning heat, sweat trickled down my
neck and soaked my green canvas top, causing me to itch. I ignored the
irritation and swarms of black flies.
“Regina,
we should go home,” Colleen whispered from the front of my log-boat.
“We’ll
be fine, sis,” I said to keep her calm. “School is safe.” I hoped.
While
there was ebb and flow to life in the swamps, three patrol sightings so far
this week were unusual, and it was only Thursday. Something was up.
The
Antiquities boat finally headed up the channel. We crossed and tied the mooring
rope to reeds below our school. I made sure the log-boat was secure and hidden
from view, in case the patrol returned. Then I led Colleen up the rocky incline
beside stilts that kept the wood-frame buildings above water.
Colleen
and I hurried to our respective classes. There was no one in the clearing
between the buildings, on the stairs, or at the tiny balconies by classroom
entrances. I ran up the steps, pushed open the rickety wood door, and dropped
my wet, muddy boots beside others on a stone slab inside.
School
was the best part of my day. I didn’t have to watch my twelve-year-old sister,
since she was secure in her own classroom. Mo-Mere, our nickname for our
teacher, Marisa Seville, brought the dozen girls in her class warm soup of
beans, turtle, and spuds.
My
favorite part: she let me touch real books—brittle paper ones, yellowed, edges
worn, with stories that tickled my mind, stories the World Federation had
purged from the Mesh-cloud. Mo-Mere’s books made the six-days-a-week slog
through miles of swamp in a hollowed-out log worthwhile.
“Regina,”
Mo-Mere placed her weathered face next to mine and whispered in a warm voice
with a tough edge. “You might be my best student, but that doesn’t excuse tardiness.”
She pinched my cheeks to let me know she meant both comments.
She
was too kind. Though I was fifteen, doing seventeen-year-old work, I took too
much of Mo-Mere’s time. She was like a second mom to me. In fact, the other
girls gossiped that she was my donor mother, providing half her DNA to Mom to
conceive me in the local fertility clinic. Mom refused to talk to me of such
matters.
Mo-Mere
nudged me toward the four rows of four small tables facing the front of the
room. “Take your seat. I was telling the class I received a report of a Category-5
hurricane bearing down on us tomorrow night.”
I
shrugged. This would be the second big storm of the year.
A
new student sat in the first row, in front of Mo-Mere’s rough-cut maple desk. I
took the vacant seat next to her, where no one else wanted to sit, so I could
learn without all the distractions of the older girls whispering. Mostly they
gossiped about how I had a little girl’s body. My hips hadn’t filled out, and I
refused to stuff my bra like two girls did.
We
all wore the same faded green canvas trousers and pullovers. Raw canvas came in
one color, dull green, and most of us Marginals had nothing to barter for
expensive dyes. Mo-Mere said if I studied hard, she might get me into the
university on the other side of the Great Barrier Wall, in the Federation
proper. “You could become a Professional and have a real future.”
Yet
life outside the Richmond Swamps seemed unimaginable. This was the only world I
knew, unless you counted the literary world of banned books by ancients such as
Charles Dickens, Isaac Asimov, and David Brin.
Compared
to the river and swamp channels, the classroom felt small, boxy, and musty,
though I didn’t mind if it meant I could read.
“Let’s
pray to the Blessed Mary,” Mo-Mere said, as part of our Federation-required
morning ritual.
Tapping
my foot, I mumbled along with the other students, paying no attention to words as
distant as the world beyond the Great Wall, a massive concrete structure that
separated us from the Federation. They accepted only one religion, though it
seemed to me they’d picked the wrong one: devotion to Mary Devereaux and the
other Grand Old Dames.
Our
teacher pointed a gnarled wooden stick at the board on the right side of the
room. “Let’s recite our Twelve Commandments.”
I
mouthed by rote, recalling phrases with what Mo-Mere called my photographic
memory. “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not leave
the Marginal swamps without Federation permission.” Blah, blah, blah.
“Everyone
should live as a Marginal swamp rat for a year,” Mo-Mere said, “before
complaining about their life.” She made this sound like a badge of honor, a way
to build character and help us survive in our drenched world. She’d said this
on my first week and repeated it whenever a new student arrived.
“Who
can tell Beth how the Community Movement and Federation began?” Mo-Mere’s
intense eyes looked from student to student. When no one volunteered, her sharp
eyes drilled into me until I nodded.
She
expected me to give the official answer for the new student, another chance to
stand out so the older girls could ridicule me. It didn’t matter. They wouldn’t
be friends with the “little girl” no matter what I did.
While
I longed to be out, making preparations for the storm, my heart raced to recall
official histories. I wanted Mo-Mere to like me so she’d let me read precious
books she hid from other students. “You’re the luckiest of the lucky,” she’d
told me. She only accepted students whose mothers could barter food, clothing,
or other necessaries. Those whose moms couldn’t pay had to drop out.
“Three
centuries ago,” I said, “our atmosphere warmed, glaciers melted, and oceans
rose, destroying croplands. The Great Collapse threatened to destroy
civilization. The Community Movement rose up to establish the World Federation.
They restored peace in order to save us.” The last was a big lie. They restored
peace so they could be in charge and remake the world in their image. To do so,
they purged all knowledge and books from Before the Community Movement (BCM).
I
didn’t add how GODs ran the Community Movement and its World Federation. Their
notorious Department of Antiquities controlled all electronic information on
the Mesh, eliminating anyone and any information that threatened their control.
Even those were just words to me. I’d never seen the Federation, GODs, or the
Community Movement, although Antiquities patrols made their presence known.
I
stopped my foot from thumping on the creaky wood floor.
Girls
behind me snickered. “Restoorr.” They
were making fun of my Federation accent, which Mom and Mo-Mere insisted I
learn. It made me sound like Beth and some of the other newcomers.
Mo-Mere’s
face hardened. “That’s enough.” She looked around the classroom then at me.
“Very good, Regina. With waters rising, the Federation built the Great Barrier
Wall to our west to hold back the seas and protect as much cropland as they
could.” She gave the same introduction to each new student. Listening to it
again had me squirming in my seat.
“Why
are we on the wet side of the Wall?” I blurted out, since Marginals had helped
build the Wall centuries ago.
Mo-Mere
scowled at such an obvious question. “Why don’t you answer for Beth’s benefit?”
I
shifted my bony rump on the wood seat, hung my head for disappointing her, and
gave the official answer. “Marginals were cast out of the good lands after they
rebelled.” Except my ancestors had been in the Federation at that time.
“And?”
Mo-Mere prompted.
“We
must work hard to prove our worth to the Federation.” I looked up. “But every
year, the waters swamp more of our lands. Soon, we won’t have anywhere to live.”
“That’s
why you must work for a chance to go to their university.”
“But—”
“Regina
Shen! That’s enough. See me after class.”
While
pretending to frown in shame, inside I smiled at the chance to spend more time
with Mo-Mere. Looking around, I realized I’d dug a bigger grave for myself with
the other girls. I wanted to learn, even if they didn’t.
Mo-Mere
stood in front of her desk, towering over me. “This storm could be the worst in
my lifetime.” She let that sink in.
Worst
was relative. Each storm took homes and land, and made us scramble, but they
were all bad. She seemed more worried this time.
“Since
the storm isn’t expected until tomorrow night, school will be open in the
morning, unless your moms want you home. Don’t take unnecessary risks. If you
do come, bring examples of how you’ve prepared. In order to survive, we must
share with other students and neighbors.”
She
looked around the small room to be sure we were listening. “Find the highest
shelter you can with protection against storm surges. Make sure you have
emergency supplies, including medicines. Think about how the storm will affect
your gardens and how you’ll hunt for food. Be careful what you scrounge to eat.
Remember the pictures I showed you of poisonous seafood.”
*
* *
Inspector
Joanne Demarco watched the growing storm system onscreen from the helm of her
Department of Antiquities patrol boat in the middle of the Richmond Swamps.
Waves broke along the port side. The
hurricane will make landfall tomorrow night, she thought. A big storm would
send tens of thousands of Marginals scrambling for the Barrier Walls created to
hold out them as well as the seas. They’ll
offer themselves into servitude for a chance to live.
She
remembered those days as a child. She swore never to let anything return her to
the life of a swamp rat. Yet here she was, doing the Federation’s dirty work. A
promotion might improve that.
An
alarm pierced the calm, the sort that would send you jumping for lifeboats.
Demarco cursed under her breath, forced a smile, and locked the cabin door. She
took a deep breath and activated her Mesh-reader.
North
American Governor Gina Wilmette’s ancient face filled the screen with a wide
canvas of wrinkles and tufts of skin. Like all Grand Old Dames, the governor
was more than 300 years old. Meds, treatments, and replacement parts had
helped, though she still looked like the fossils Demarco seized while clamping
down on local salvage efforts.
“How’s
my favorite Antiquities agent?” the governor said in a politically cheery
voice.
I’m probably
the only Antiquities agent you know. “There’s a storm brewing,” Demarco
said, sending an image of the massive swirl on her weather screen to the
governor. It was the biggest she could recall, as if three storms had merged
into one.
“There
always is,” the governor said, the mask of surgeries and makeup dulling any
facial expression. “The reason I called is … are you aware fertility clinics
are failing everywhere?”
“I
was not, Your Majesty.” Though Demarco had heard rumors.
“We’ll
need more than flimsy Barrier Walls to protect us from this. The Antarctic
governor pretends she has matters under control, but they’re failing. Failing!
The Federation made a huge mistake putting all our eggs in her basket, but she
convinced the premier that Antarctica was the safest place on the planet.”
While
the governor let off steam, Demarco contrasted the calm of the swamp around her
to what this new storm would do. At least the southern continent didn’t have
Marginals to deal with. Their glass-domed cities were impenetrable, though
maybe that was a lie perpetrated by Antarctica’s Department of Antiquities. As
North America’s chief inspector, Demarco had manipulated enough reports on
behalf of Governor Wilmette to know how.
She
returned her thoughts to the governor’s comments. Though birth rates had
dropped worldwide, Demarco never suspected a conspiracy, certainly not one
involving the rivalry between Wilmette and the Antarctic governor. “Do we know
the cause?”
“My
medical experts tell me more defects enter the process with each generation.
EggFusion Fertilization now fails to provide live births. If we can’t solve
this, we’re a generation away from extinction.”
The
inspector mulled over the news. She had no children by choice, mostly the job, but
the possibility of never having kids raised the stakes. This was the first time
the governor discussed this issue so candidly. Demarco wondered why Wilmette
was telling her now. Then it came.
“I
need you to track down rumors of Marginal DNA offering better potential. They
certainly replicate like mosquitoes.”
The
chief inspector rarely interested herself in affairs beyond North America, but
this was big. It was time to toady up to her boss and set expectations. “I’ll
take this on personally, Your Majesty, but so far we’ve found no evidence.”
“Look
harder.” The skin on the governor’s face pulled in various directions, as if
all the surgery in the world couldn’t fix her. “You know what it means if we
find a solution, even if it does come from our Marginal swamp rats.”
“I
understand the urgency, Your Majesty. I’m on it.” A win could put the governor
of North America in line as successor to the current Federation Premier,
another GOD whose health was … less than robust. Yet what did that mean for
Demarco? Well, failure meant return to the shrinking swamps as an outcast, or
worse.
Demarco
cleared her throat. “I sent you an image of the storm.”
“I
see it.”
“Our
meteorological group reports the super-cell will hit the east coast tomorrow
night. Rains will be heavy with damaging winds. We expect flooding on our side
of the Wall.”
“Your
recommendation?” the governor asked.
“Open
the dams. Push river and lake water beyond the Barrier.”
“Will
that stabilize our water levels?”
“It’ll
help. It’ll also thin out the Marginal population.” Demarco lowered her voice.
“Meaning fewer candidates for—”
“I
know what it means. Have all your resources to put tracking devices on
Marginals and draw blood samples. When the storm comes, have patrols and bounty
hunters round up all the girls. We’ll sort them later, use what we can, and
throw back the rest.”
Like
throwing back undersized sea bass, Demarco thought. “We’ll tag as many
as we can. Then I’ll oversee the roundup. What about the dams?”
“Open
them. I don’t need mayors complaining we let them down. Then find me girls with
productive DNA.”
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Regina Shen: Vigilance
(Regina Shen #2)
By Lance Erlick
Genre: Science Fiction
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: May 15, 2015
Blurb:
Regina Shen is pursued by the notorious Department of Antiquities for her unique DNA. She jumps the Barrier Wall into the Federation to find her kidnapped sister. Stuck on a heavily-guarded closed university campus, she must use her wits to escape and rescue her sister without letting either of two rival Antiquities inspectors capture her.
Blurb of the first two books/ series:
World: This takes place 400 years in the future after abrupt climate change has melted ice caps and flooded the coasts. Civilization collapsed and was replaced by a World Federation that suppresses knowledge from the past. Three-hundred-plus-year-old Grand Old Dames rule using a caste system.
Regina Shen is an outcast condemned by the World Federation to live on the seaward side of Barrier Walls built to hold back rising seas. She is Chinese-Hispanic, tough, lives by her wits, and thrives on salvage from sunken cities, including illegal print books from before the Great Collapse. She also has unique DNA the Federation believes can reverse a worldwide fertility collapse. Regina doesn’t trust the Federation.
Chief Inspector Joanne Demarco of the notorious Department of Antiquities polices Barrier Walls and destroys evidence from the past, including print books. Ambitious, she sees Regina as the key to securing her future.
Inspector Vikki Volpe is a ruthless hard-core Antiquities agent who believes Demarco has gone soft and wants the chief inspector’s job.
Book 1 (Regina Shen: Resilience): A hurricane threatens to destroy what’s left of Regina’s world. Separated from her sister, her mom, and her home, with Demarco in pursuit, Regina fights to stay alive and avoid capture while hunting for family.
Book 2 (Regina Shen: Vigilance): Pursued by the Department of Antiquities, Regina jumps the Barrier Wall into the Federation to find her kidnapped sister, and winds up on a closed-university campus with heavy surveillance. Regina must use her wits to escape and rescue her sister without letting either of two rival inspectors capture her.
Lance Erlick likes to explore the mysteries of intriguing worlds with interesting, often strong female guides facing and overcoming adversity as they try to change their world. He hopes readers will enjoy his writing as they discover different worlds, going places they may never have been.
He writes science fiction thrillers, appealing to young adults and adult readers. He is the author of The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap, and Rebels Divided, three books in the Rebel series. In those stories, he explores the consequences of following conscience for those coming of age. He authored the Regina Shen series—Regina Shen: Resilience and Regina Shen: Vigilance. This series takes place after abrupt climate change leads to the Great Collapse and a new society under the World Federation. A related short story is: Regina Shen: Into the Storm. Lance is also the author of unrelated short stories: Maiden Voyage and Watching You.
You can find and contact Lance here:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Newsletter
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