Warp World
Authors: Kristene Perron,Joshua Simpson
O
THER BOOKS IN THE
W
ARPWORLD SERIES
Warpworld
What readers are saying about
Warpworld…
“Riveting story, great images, fast paced. Ama has captured my heart, Seg my mind. Hands down, this is the best science fiction I have read in a long while. Can’t wait for the next book!”
~Vangie Bergum, author
A Child on Her Mind
“This book is a page-turner … a full throttle adventure, balanced with a clever storyline & an engaging well developed cast of characters. … Not since Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Hunger Games have I been so expectant for the next book in a series.”
~ Lisa Esteb, Goodreads reviewer
“I was totally captivated by the pace, character reveal, movement of the story and the canter to Kristene's and Joshua's story telling voice. … If you like Sci-Fi… this one is a definite read!”
~ Stephen Filby, Amazon reviewer
“Warpworld is written with astonishing depth; to step inside its pages is to walk its strange lands in realtime and be caught completely in the action. It's total immersion of the heart-pounding variety.”
~ Anne DeGrace, author,
Flying with Amelia
“Politics, dystopia, action, mystery, fighting, survival, enemies and blurred lines … so many good things rolled into an extra-large book.”
~ Imane Ridouh, The Cherry On Top
justsimplynothing.blogspot.ca/
“If you loved Firefly, you'll love Warpworld!”
~ Tia West, Goodreads reviewer
“The worlds are real, the action breathtaking, the heroes deep and complex. It's our world, way down the line: class, gender, race and imperialist battles for resources remain unresolved, with the stakes higher and battles bloodier. Captain Ama Kalder and Theorist Seg Eraranat become our heroes in their unholy coalition to save the world.”
~Rita Moir, author
The Third Crop
“I loved the world building in this book… once there, it was a world I didn't want to leave.”
~ Sandra Stiles,The Musings of a Book Addict
themusingsofabookaddict.com
“I’ve read other reviews that compare this book to Stargate, The Hunger Games, even Harry Potter. I’d say… it’s all of those plus a bag of awesomesauce.”
~ Melissa L. Ruiz, Every Free Chance book reviews
everyfreechance.com
“After reading this book I only can say ‘What a ride!’”
~ Márcio Sousa, Goodreads reviewer
“The way that Perron and Simpson wove the worlds together was incredible, it was almost like reading two different stories that were woven together but fit perfectly. … I thought I might like it, but how wrong was I! Like isn't a strong enough word, I loved this book!”
~ Laura Greenwood, Trips Down Imagination Road
a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk
“I haven't been so caught by a book since Harry Potter.”
~ Robyn Skolbalski, Goodreads reviewer
“…imaginative and well written, and not quite like anything I've read before.”
~ Jenny Quinlan, Let Them Read Books
letthemreadbooks.blogspot.ca
“…never a dull moment. Seg and Ama, Warpworld's two protagonists, are very finely drawn, yet different enough to ensure a constant tension and electricity between them. … Warpworld falls into a genre of literature I don't generally read. Thanks to Perron and Simpson's fine writing however, I may have to reconsider.”
~ Brian D’Eon, Goodreads reviewer
“Perron and Simpson have created a work that is highly readable as it cocoons the reader in a time and space nothing like our own, yet totally believable.”
~ Ricki Marking-Camuto, Reading Challenged
readingchallenged.blogspot.ca
“I'm hooked and want more. You will too. You'll see.”
~ Faith D. Flaherty, The One True Faith
theonetruefaith-faith.blogspot.ca
“A truly original storyline, Warpworld is one of those science-fiction stories that truly engrosses the reader.”
~ Lissette E. Manning
simplistik.org/lissetteemanning
©
Copyright 2013 Kristene Perron & Joshua Simpson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the authors.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1490499109
JoKri Publishing
PO Box 478
Gardendale, Texas 79758
Contents
Joshua
For my parents
Kristene
For Fred
A WORD ABOUT OUR WORLD
“
When is the next book coming out
?”
This has become both our favourite and most dreaded question.
Wasteland Renegades
surprised us more than a little. As Josh describes in his acknowledgments, it was indeed a journey of discovery.
For those who are curious, we have written rough drafts for all five books in the Warpworld series. Rough means exactly that—
rough
. The final draft of the first book looked virtually nothing like our first set of scribbled pages, and the same can be said of the second book.
Wasteland Renegades
was supposed to be a short, relatively straightforward story about life for Seg and Ama after they crossed through the warp back to Seg’s world. The beauty (and perhaps the danger), of working with a compelling cast of characters, however, is that they will often whisper in your ear, “But don’t you also want to tell them about …” The next thing you know, you have another page, another chapter, another sub-plot, and so on. And as the series continues you’ll see that this is much more than Seg and Ama’s story, even if they are the stars.
Other detours were very much our own doing. Yes, we write science fiction, with a dash of fantasy and a hint of thriller, but our goal has always been to tell the most realistic stories possible within the fantastic parameters of our worlds. It’s one matter for two people from very different worlds and cultures to fall in love—especially under the kind of super-charged circumstances that surrounded Seg and Ama in the first book—but what would that relationship
really
look like once the lovers got down to the business of day-to-day life? The answer may surprise you. The story will probably not be what you expected. But if we’ve done our job well, even the strangest parts of our world will feel real.
Connected to our goal of realism is our love of exploring the grey areas of all our characters and worlds. Black and white is easy but, we think, boring. Just as there are often no entirely good and entirely bad people in real life, the world of Seg and Ama is one where good people sometimes do bad things, bad people believe they’re doing good things, and the line between right and wrong is sometimes impossible to see. It takes more time to tell this kind of story but everything has a cost, right?
If this book is your first leap into the Warpworld universe, welcome. We’ve tried to give you enough clues and backstory to help everything make sense. If it still doesn’t make sense, well, we humbly suggest starting with book one—
Warpworld
.
For our returning readers, welcome back. You’re going to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. You’ll find some answers but we’ve also thrown in more questions—we can’t help
ourselves.
Now, it’s time to power up the gate and cross over. Remember, eyes and ears open. Keep watch for dangerous bioforms—plants, bugs, water, even the Storm-cursed dirt. Going extrans is always a risk but we’ll do our best to see you safely to the other side.
Blood for water.
Kristene
The World
Year 863 of the Well
G
rand Marshal Devian Bendure let her helmet dangle by its strap—rhythmically bumping her thigh as she surveyed the remnants of her forces. Etiphar’s Expeditionary Corps had barely managed to extract the Family Household, and at the cost of three quarters of their troops and riders. She had fewer than two hundred troops left, not counting hastily impressed House employees who were little better than fodder for the guns.
Legions. House Etiphar had once been able to call upon entire legions of troops. Their forces were among the greatest of the House armies and, with their financial resources, they could quickly augment themselves with a vast armada of independent raider charters. On a war footing, House Etiphar’s devoted troops and resources would have challenged any single opponent on the World.
But not
every
opponent on the World.
A rocky outcropping concealed the survivors of House Etiphar from enemy spotters. The wastelands of the World, however, were not a place of safety. The threat of the Storm was minor—their riders were well equipped with Storm cells—it was the terrain and its inhabitants that gave even the most battle-hardened raider good reason to keep a wary eye on the land, the sky, and even the rock. Everything that lived outside the protection of the cities had evolved to survive in an environment of scarce resources and the scourge of the Storm.
Hostile
was barely sufficient as a description for the wastelands.