We recently redesigned and rolled out new covers for the Rebel series. Let us know what you think.
You can check out more on the stories on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.
New Covers Rebel Series
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Tag Archives: sci fi
New Release/Cover Reveal
After a long period away from posting due to writing and joining grandparenthood, we are pleased to announce the release of the collection of short stories and novelettes: Short Sci-Fi Adventures.
This brings together 6 previously published shorter science fiction/fantasy stories. You can check it out on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
We are also announcing the upcoming release in June/July of the 4th book in the Regina Shen series Regina Shen: Endurance.
This series has been a labor of love and we hope you enjoy. We will keep you posted on the specific timing of the release, a planned blog tour, and any special promotions associated with the new release. You can check out the rest of the series by visiting Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other venues.
Promotions and Freebies
Lots of timely news.
First, we’re holding a Kindle Countdown for Regina Shen: Resilience, the first book in the Regina Shen series, only 99 cents until December 17, 2015. Visit Amazon to check it out.
Second, we’re delighted to offer free novelettes in the Rebel and Regina Shen worlds for those who sign up for our newsletter.
By signing up, you’ll receive occasional notices about new releases, special offers, other free materials, and news related to my stories. To get your free downloads, just tell me where to send them here.
Lastly, we’re in the process of changing the covers on the Rebel series. You can still see the old covers on the print books:
The Kindle covers have already been changed:
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this change.
To create a little excitement over the new covers, we will be offering the Kindle version of the first book in the Rebels series (The Rebel Within) for only 99 cents from December 18-23, 2015 on Amazon.
Help us celebrate the cover change and promotions.
Thanks,
Lance
http://www.amazon.com/Lance-Erlick/e/B00C1PKYSA
Another Regina Shen Vigilance Review
By D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
This second novel in the Regina Shen series continues the engrossing post-apocalyptic saga begun in the first book. The setting is a world where the ice caps have melted and created two levels of society, and Regina is one of the outcasts here until authorities discover her unique DNA makeup, which holds possibilities for the continued existence of an increasingly threatened humanity.
Book One set the stage and should really be enjoyed before Vigilence; but even newcomers to this series will be able to quickly absorb its setting and characters, which open with Regina’s concerns about her new family and threats to its existence. She’s on a mission, hunting for a kidnapped sister – and to do so, she must jump the wall and enter a forbidden world filled with uncertainty and threats.
Part of what drives the action in the Regina Shen series is psychological depth: Regina doesn’t just react to events; she strives to understand the people behind them: “Alice was cute in a big-girl way. But she had hunger in her eyes to get what she wanted. In the swamps, I avoided bartering with her type. They tried to steal what you brought, and then steal what little they bartered in exchange. Afterwards, they gloated at your misfortune.”
In any fictional account, it’s this level of emotional depth and attention to motivations behind actions that elevate the superior read from the mundane nonstop staccato action thriller – and Regina Shen: Vigilance features this in abundance.
From the psyche of the Federation and its different lifestyles (““You want to race?” I asked. “That’s Marginal,” she whispered. “The Federation promotes Harmony, not competition.”“) to nefarious plans to exploit Regina’s DNA for less than altruistic or survival purposes, the story line is fast-paced but loses none of its tension by exploring different protagonists’ motivations and concerns.
The result is a gripping sequel in the series, highly recommended for both prior fans and newcomers to Regina Shen.
Regina Shen: Vigilance Review
By Dawn
Vigilance is a good read but there’s not near as much as action in it as there was in Resilience. Instead, it has a lot of suspense, and the action is at the end.
It is 2 years after book #1. Regina and Wendy have learned enough that their teacher, Mo-Mere, thinks they’re ready to go to University on the other side of the wall. Regina makes new friends and new enemies in the Federation. She also finds out that life in the Federation isn’t any better than life in the swamp, at least not for those who are Working Stiffs. She feels all alone at first but eventually finds allies.
The characters continue to grow. Regina is driven to find her sister, Colleen, but in the back of her mind she begins to wonder what her destiny is. Mo-Mere always told her she is special. Maybe she is…
Chief Inspector DeMarco, whose primary objective is supposed to be to find Regina and hand her over to the governor, continues to be full of surprises.
I liked Vigilance and anyone who likes science fiction and/or young adult books will enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Regina Shen: Vigilance Review
By Majanka
I previously read and reviewed the first book in the series, Regina Shen: Resilience, and after reading it, I looked forward to starting the second book in the series. Regina Shen: Vigilance takes place two years after the events of the first book.
Mo-Mere believes Regina is ready to jump the Barrier Wall, and start looking for her sister. After two years of training, studying and honing her survival skills, now is the time for Regina and Colleen to be reunited and to find some answers. Except, well, what did you expect, things don’t go as planned. For Regina, she’ll have to remain vigilant and find out who she can trust and who she can’t – but the same counts for the other characters too. DeMarco is still after her, and will do whatever it takes to capture her. Regina’s quest to find her sister brings her to university, close to where they’re holding her sister – but will she able to find her and save her?
I thought this book was more thrilling even than the first, and I already enjoyed that one a lot. The ending was very surprising, and I actually had to re-read it; I hadn’t expected some of the plot twists.
I loved Regina in the first book, but I liked her even more in this one. She’s grown as a person, she’s more determined than ever, and she knows how to keep her head cool in dangerous situations.
The new characters were an excellent addition too, especially Ester. A solid sequel to the first book, and a great addition to the series. Can’t wait to read the final part.
Regina Shen Interview B
By Lance Erlick
What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby is to read illegal print books from before the Federation, which is part of my motivation to stay in school. My teacher knows where to find more books. I’ve helped her salvage thousands of banned books from the depths. These stories tell of a time of plenty, back before abrupt climate change and rising seas destroyed most of that world, and point to lies told by the Federation. I also like to salvage the depths, though over the past three centuries, most of the great treasures have been looted, and the Federation sets traps to make it harder to find anything of value.
What is the challenge you’re trying to overcome during the story?
A hurricane blows through our area, destroying my home and school. During the storm, my mom leaves. Then I get separated from my younger sister. During all this, Federation agents take my blood and determined that me, a Federation outcast, has the DNA they needed to avoid extinction. During the first book in the series (Resilience), my struggle is to stay alive and try to find my family while avoiding agents trying to capture me. Two years later, in the second book (Vigilance), I make it over the wall to look for my sister, but the Federation is a strange caste society where everyone spies on their neighbors. I don’t know if I can avoid the many traps laid out for me. In the third book (Defiance), I have to set out across a barren landscape from Virginia through deserts to Alaska to hunt a treasure big enough to barter for freedom for my sister and me with roadblocks everywhere.
Regina Shen Interview A
By Lance Erlick
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I, Regina Shen, am an outcast, condemned by the World Federation to live on the seaward side of barrier walls they built to hold back rising seas and to create a place to throw those who disobey their rules. My mother won’t talk about it, but she was cast out before my younger sister and I were born for something I presume is too horrible to put into words. On the other hand, I don’t believe a word the Federation tells us, so perhaps I would have done the same.
Six days a week Mom sends my sister and me to the only remaining school in the swamps that the Federation hasn’t closed. She barters dearly for this privilege. It’s treacherous paddling to and from school in a hollowed-out canoe with genetically-enhanced gators, bounty hunters looking to kidnap girls to sell as slaves over the wall, and a host of desperate people trying to live on our shrinking lands. Life in our world is all about survival, but it helps when neighbors look out for each other.
What is your role in the story?
The Regina Shen series is my story. As Resilience begins, I’m just trying to live my ordinary life in the swamps over the flooded city of Richmond, Virginia. Ordinary for me is school, doing underwater salvage for things to barter for food, and avoiding Federation agents who forbid us from doing salvage. They also traffic in slaves shipped over the wall to work in factories, in mines, or on farms. I didn’t count on being anyone special though my teacher has high hopes for me. I just want to survive, take care of my mom and sister, and avoid trouble. Unfortunately, as an outcast, every day brings trouble.
New Regina Shen Review
By Mira
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.
Review: Amazing world-building meets an intelligent, clever, resourceful heroine in “Regina Shen: Resilience”. The World Federation forces Regina to live on the seaward side of the wall built to hold back the rising seas. Books are forbidden, but she does manage to find a few that teach her more about the world and everything wrong with it. The inspector of the Department of Antiquities believes Regina holds the key that’ll help the world avoid extinction. Meanwhile, Regina struggles to stay alive and find her family back. An action-packed read focusing on climate change, bravery, and with great writing.
Regina Shen Review
By Majanka
Regina Shen: Resilience is the first book in a trilogy focusing on Regina Shen, a young girl who is forced by the World Federation to live on the outside of the Wall. Aforementioned walls were built to hold back rising seas due to climate change and to protect the world behind the walls. Like that wasn’t bad enough, a hurricane raging overhead separated Regina from her family, and she’s now completely run out of luck. Meanwhile, the Federation agents claim she has unique DNA that could save mankind – except that Regina doesn’t trust the Department of Antiquities at all, especially not after what she’s read in the forbidden books she gathered from sunken cities. So now Regina must fight to stay alive while looking for her family.
The best thing about this book, hands down, is the world building. I liked the idea of barrier walls, of how the world is dangling on the brink of extinction, the climate changes that happened, and so on. The world Regina Shen lives in is anything but friendly for the people inhabiting it (which gets kind of scary if you think of it as a futuristic version of our planet). Add in the bonus of no books existing in this dystopian world (oh no, no books!) and you get an intriguing setting for this first book.
Regina Shen is tough. Tougher than most main characters, especially teens. She’s a survivor through and through, and no matter what life throws at her, she manages to get through it. As the title says, she’s resilient, our Regina, resourceful, clever and determined. She’s complex and feels like a real person, and I couldn’t help but cheer her on.
I won’t spoil the ending, but it definitely made me curious for the next book.
Regina Shen: Vigilance Review
by Tori Shultz (Litpick Reviewer)
Regina Shen is back in this thrilling new sequel! On the run from Antiquities Agents, Regina is still searching for her sister. In order to find her, she will have to brave the wall separating the higher-ups and the lower class. If she can make it past the wall, she will be able to blend in and find her sister. Will she be able to succeed?
Opinion:
This sequel to Regina Shen: Resilience is just as good as the first, if not better. The book gripped me in the beginning and I never got bored. I was excited to see what would happen to Regina throughout the book.
The cover art, like the last book’s, is amazing. It is simple, yet gripping. The symbol they use on the front cover is also very well-made.
The author does an excellent job at telling this adventurous story, and their description of the post-apocalyptic world that Regina lives in is beautifully executed.
With a great plot that’s sure to keep you entertained, Regina Shen: Vigilance is sure to blow your mind.
5* Regina Shen: Resilience Review
by D. Donovan (Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review)
Regina Shen and her family are outcasts in a world being deluged by rising waters from climate change – but a hurricane is proving to be the least of her problems as The World Federation which has condemned her family discovers that her unique DNA may prove the salvation of humanity itself; and so she goes from an unwanted outcast to a wanted outcast.
Only Regina’s knowledge of the swamps and wetlands created by climate change can keep her from the clutches of a savvy and sly Federation: but, for how long? She now has two problems: locating the family lost to her in the storm, and avoiding the bounty hunters and clutches of the Federation that rules her world.
Under a different hand, Regina Shen: Resilience (the first book in a projected series) could have been more one-dimensional (so many young adult dystopian stories are). Using a different approach, it could have focused on the physical challenges of disaster, on a teen girl’s coming of age, or on a family’s obstacles to survival. But any who expect Regina Shen to be your typical teen disaster story are in for a surprise: it tackles issues of freedom, domination, change in the face of challenge, and a feisty girl whose flexibility and love of learning prove her keys to success.
Regina’s acceptance of her world creates a story that is believable and involving on both a political and a personal level – and that’s a fine line indeed, incorporating elements of past and present events to create an atmosphere of future reality firmly cemented in present-day fact: “…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.”
In such a future, the fine lines between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are blurred – but Regina stands out firmly as ‘good’, even to strangers who encounter her. In such a world, the elements of survival are intrinsically linked to an ability to present a refreshingly honest face to strangers: “Therese couldn’t help wondering why the injured girl so interested Antiquities, the Federation, and her. Regina was a tough girl, a survivor, not unpleasant in the way other desperate souls became during and after storms. It had been the lack of guile that convinced Therese to help her…”
It’s Regina’s perceptions of the wants, needs, and efforts of those around her (strangers she encounters, who become ‘family’) that drives a story line that is personal as well as political (“Guilt. I’d added burdens on her while she tried to help me stay safe. Already, I thought of the twins as my sisters, though they couldn’t replace Colleen. But more bodies meant more heat signatures for patrols and bounty hunters to find.“). These elements, together, create a story line that is compelling, vivid, realistic, and with far more psychological depth than the usual young adult dystopian read.
In Regina’s world, there’s a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Resilience‘s satisfying conclusion leaves the door open for more Regina stories but provides a logical ending for this particular saga, which makes for both a powerful predecessor to a series and a rewarding stand-alone read.
Lance Erlick, Author 