Book excerpt from YA sci-fi novel Maia and the Secrets of Zagran by S.G. Basu

The Reviews and Interviews spotlight shines on the YA science fiction novel Maia and the Secrets of Zagran by S. G. Basu today.

As S.G. tours her book with Goddess Fish Promotions, she’ll be awarding a signed copy of the book to a lucky winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Author bio:

S. G. Basu is a telecommunications engineer by profession, but she likes to call herself a dreamer. Imagination, fueled by a voracious appetite for books, has been her steady friend since childhood. She discovered her passion for writing quite by chance and there has been no stopping her since then.

Find out more about the futuristic worlds she creates, the characters that are real with their emotions and ambitions, successes and failures, at www.sgbasu.com.

A little bit about Maia and the Secrets of Zagran:

Thirteen year old Maia thinks she has seen it all. 

She has survived an assassination attempt, she has been threatened by the chancellor, and she has faced off with saboteurs trying to bring down a nation. She lets nothing get to her anymore-not the ominous nightmares she has been having lately, not the fear of being targeted for another soul extraction, not even the memories of her dead mother's terrifying communique. 

More than ever, Maia wants the Initiative to resume. She longs to visit Zagran-the undersea capital of the Jjord. She wants to ride the underwater transport lines, learn about the Jjordic energy farms and most of all-she wants to goof off with her friends. 

But, around the charming city of Zagran, evil is gathering. Maia and her friends do not know it yet, the countdown to their planned extinction has already begun.

Excerpt from Maia and the Secrets of Zagran:

Dani walked up to the man next.

“You will please wait on that side.” The man smiled at her, gesturing to a bench along the wall behind him. “You will be boarding the fore, after everyone else has been boarded. An escort will be here shortly to walk you over to your seat.”

Dani looked uncertainly at the bench. “Why do I have to wait there?” she asked. “I would rather be here with my friends.”

The expression on the man’s face changed from shock, to sudden comprehension, and then to cold outrage.

“I am sorry. You will not be boarding on the same section with your friends.” He articulated the last part of the sentence with a chilly vehemence. “Your place has been chosen, and you will be taken there at the appropriate time.”

“Why?” Dani spat angrily.
“That is the rule. There are assigned sections for everyone, and yours is different from theirs. You cannot travel with them, not here in the settlements.”

We are being separated based on our heritage.

For a brief moment, Maia simply wanted to run away from the humiliation. To think that the Jjord would treat them this way; they were one people not so long ago. But of course they would. They had kept the Solianese away for a century, and they intended to keep that segregation alive. Just because the Solianese children were competing alongside the Jjord in the Initiative did not mean their nations had turned into compatriots.

“You can’t tell me whom I should travel with. That’s my choice,” Dani almost shouted. Her face had turned a deep crimson, and her lips trembled as she argued with the man. “Where I want to sit is my choice too.”

Links:

Website/blog | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon 

a Rafflecopter giveaway