I'm delighted to take part in this blog tour for Take Back The Skies, this is a fantastic book from a young and talented author who looks set to have a bright future as an emerging writer, check out the excerpt that will be underneath my review
Be sure to stop by all these other blogs taking part in this blog tour as well.
Publication: 3rd June 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 384
Genre: Science Fiction/Steampunk
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.
So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .
My Thoughts.
Take Back The Skies is the fantastic first book in what is sure to be a brilliant series from debut author Lucy Saxon.
Set in a world where skyships are a mode of transport, and children once they hit the age of thirteen are rounded up as part of the Collections, where firstborn's aren't taken however any siblings born after them are taken to be trained to be soldiers in the ongoing war.
Catherine 'Cat' is the daughter and only heir of Nathaniel Hunter the head of the Anglyan government, Cat's Father is a cruel man whom is disappointed that he never had a son, and any wrong move and Cat gets beaten for it, and her Mother who has been bed-ridden for most of Cat's life is dying and she will soon be left all alone with her Father whom she despises.
Cat is desperate to get away before her Father marries her off to a boy who only cares about the money she'll bring into the marriage, so one day she manages to sneak away from her Father to the shipyard where she climbs aboard the skyship 'Stormdancer', she soon finds herself feeling like a part of a family with all of the people onboard, as well as developing a crush on a boy named Fox whom she more often than not finds herself butting heads with.
After Cat discovers that not only is there no war, there hasn't been one in seven years she with the help of her shipmates plan to overthrow the government, and it's through the planning and sneaking into and around the government building that it becomes clear to Cat and everyone just what happened to those children who were supposedly sent to war, it's horrifying and nothing that I could have ever guessed in a million years.
There was a little bit of romance, none of that insta-love just feelings developed over time which was so cute and sweet.
And then the end happened, which was a huge shock, and those of you who've read the book will know exactly what I'm talking about, I ended up shedding quite a few tears.
I'm intrigued to see where this series will go next, I assumed that the threat was pretty much taken care of in this book so it will be interesting to see what is planned for the next one, but I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and world-building in this story, the characters were entertaining and not at all annoying in any way.
I eagerly anticipate the next book so I can carry on enjoying this world that Lucy has brought to life.
Highly recommended.
I give this 4/5 stars.
Exercept.
Chapter 1
Rain fell lazily from
charcoal-coloured clouds as Catherine Hunter sprinted through darkening
streets, her long hair tied in a tight braid and tucked beneath a black knitted
cap. Her thick woollen coat and black work trousers disguised her gender quite
nicely. She was practically unrecognisable; only the people who knew her well
would have been able to tell who she was.
A faint smile tugged
at her lips as she reached the familiar tree beside the high stone wall that
surrounded the area in which she lived. It took barely any effort to swing
herself up into its branches, the knots worn into footholds by constant use.
With practised ease, she scrambled up as high as she could manage, edging on to
an outstretched branch that just brushed the wall’s peak. From there it was
just a short jump over the wall, her thud upon landing muffled by the grass.
Taking no longer than a second to regain her balance, she resumed running,
diving into a gap at the base of a bush. The fence panel behind it was open, as
she’d left it, and she crawled through without a care for the mud on her
clothes. Her father would never see them.
Flitting across the
garden to the back door, she pulled a pin from her hair and slid it into the
lock, opening it effortlessly. Leaving her boots at the very back of the hall closet,
she shut the door soundlessly behind her, hurrying in socked feet towards the
stairs. It was her habit to be silent, though she knew she was unlikely to draw
her father from his office. Catherine would rather not risk it; the punishment
for sneaking out was one she didn’t like to think about.
After a brief detour
to her bedroom to change into more appropriate clothing, Catherine wandered
down to the living room, pulling her hair loose as she did so. She was unsurprised
to see the newscast screen on in the corner; rarely did her father turn it off,
even if he was nowhere near it. She sank on to the plush grey carpet, pulling
her knees up to her chest and trying to regulate her breathing. Her father
probably wouldn’t want her to join him for dinner, but if he did decide to
summon her and she gave herself away by looking out of breath, she could expect
to be unable to sit down for at least a week.
She sighed to herself as
upbeat music began to blare from the newscast screen and another recruitment
broadcast played out. She wished that, just once, they might show something
other than the war. Yes, she understood that the war with Mericus was important
and people wanted to know what was going on – but didn’t people also want to
know what was going on in Siberene, or how the storms were in the East?
‘Your child will be
one of many, expertly trained to protect their country,’ the cast told her in a
proud, tinny voice. She sighed once more, tightly hugging her knees. Had she
been a common child she would have been one of those sent to fight so the
adults could stay behind and keep the country from crumbling. She wasn’t sure
whether to be thankful for her birth, or dismayed by it. Surely even war was
better than the life of pseudo-freedom she had now. No amount of sneaking out
to roam the streets could change the fact that she was trapped by her father’s demands
and expectations.
Gears whirred and she
looked up to see the family servant – a mecha she had affectionately named
Samuel – walking jerkily into the room, a tray of food in his claw-like hand.
‘Is Father not eating
dinner with me, Sam?’ she asked, standing to accept the tray. The purple-white
glow in Sam’s eyes dimmed.
‘No, Miss Catherine.
Master Nathaniel is working,’ he answered in his gravelly voice. Nathaniel was always
working. Not that Catherine minded, as she liked being able to eat without
being interrogated or insulted.
Sam reached out a
thick bronze arm to straighten the silk throw over the back of the sofa, puffs
of pale purple steam spilling from the thin chimney on his shoulder in time
with the mechanical tick of his metal insides. ‘And Mother?’ she asked, setting
her plate on the low table and sitting on the floor to eat.
‘Mistress Elizabeth is
sleeping.’
Her mother was always
sleeping these days. Sleeping, crying or having a shaking fit. Her father kept
telling her that the doctors were doing their best, but she couldn’t remember
the last time she’d seen a doctor at the house.
They had probably
given up, just like her father, and were waiting for Elizabeth Hunter to die.
‘Thank you, Samuel.
You may leave.’
Catherine
half-heartedly forked potatoes into her mouth. From the living room, there was
a very good view of the shipyard, second only to the view from her bedroom. She
spent a lot of time staring at the shipyard, watching skyships lifting
gracefully into the air with canvas wings outstretched, the propellers beneath
giving enough momentum for the ships to quickly latch on to the fierce updraughts
that wound through the docks. How she wished to fly in a skyship: the freedom,
the boundless space, with no expectations from anyone but herself and her crew.
The ability to travel to countries she only dreamed of seeing, meeting new
people and immersing herself in different cultures . . .
But that was all a
fantasy.
She was destined – as
her father had reminded her many times – to marry a high-born man, and produce
many strong, healthy little boys and beautiful, gentle little girls to continue
the family line. Though her father educated her like he would a son, that
didn’t extend to learning about the family business as a proper heir should.
She was to serve her husband in every way, obey his orders, and swear fealty to
the Anglyan government – just as her mother had. No one asked her whether
she wanted to swear fealty, or raise lots of children, or even marry a
respectable man, she thought resentfully. What if she wanted to marry a
scoundrel? Gods, how she wished she could be a commoner! She would give up some
luxuries for freedom of choice –
‘Are you watching
those silly ships again, Catherine?’
She jumped at the
familiar sharp voice, almost spilling gravy down her blouse. Turning, Catherine
tried not to grimace upon seeing her father’s tall, imposing form in the doorway,
his jaw set and his dark blue eyes stern.
‘Yes, Father. And
they’re not silly! They’re beautiful,’ she insisted petulantly, for once,
sounding much younger than her fourteen years.
Her father laughed
coldly.
‘Rusting piles of
gears and timber, that’s all they are. You’d best remove all that fanciful
dreaming from your head now. It won’t get you very far.’
Catherine didn’t say
anything; she knew better than to argue by now.
‘I need to tell you something,’
Nathaniel declared, and she refrained from rolling her eyes. Storms forbid her
father talk to her just because he wanted to.
‘You will be
accompanying me to the dockside office tomorrow morning. I have a meeting with
Thomas to discuss cutting rations, and he wishes you to be present.’
‘Of course, Father,’
she agreed, trying to hide her distaste. The only reason Thomas Gale wanted her
there was to discuss her betrothal to his loathsome son Marcus. He was an
arrogant, bull-headed boy whom she despised with every fibre of her being, but
her opinion mattered little. It
was a good match from a political
perspective and her own feelings were irrelevant.
‘Good. Wear your best
dress, I want you presentable,’ her father instructed, eyeing with distaste her
plain white blouse and tatty leather breeches. ‘I intend to formally offer the betrothal
contract, though I can’t submit it as you’re not yet a woman.’
Catherine nodded
dutifully, thanking her lucky stars for her late development, and Nathaniel
left the room, no doubt to go back to his office and continue working. Sometimes
she wondered if he ever actually slept.
Text copyright © 2014
by L. A. Saxon
Lucy Saxon is 19 and lives in Hertfordshire with her parents. She describes herself as a cosplayer, con-goer, book-lover and all-round nerdgirl.
Lucy wrote her first novel, Take Back the Skies, at the age of sixteen, finding a home for it with Bloomsbury at seventeen, and is now working on the rest of the series.
When not writing, Lucy spends most of her time on the internet, reading books and slaving over her sewing machine.
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