Monday, December 8, 2014

"Revolution"

Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she's an "experience junkie." She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University.

Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery: primates spend something like 80% of their time doing such exciting things as sleeping and eating.

Concluding that this discovery was her life's work in the field of primatology, she then moved on to such varied pastimes as grooming dogs and writing technical documentation.

Black applied the Page 69 Test to Revolution, the third installment in the Replica Trilogy Series, and reported the following:
From page 69:
"So what you're telling me," Angel said softly, her eyes narrowed in a glare that was probably supposed to intimidate the "real" truth out of Nadia, "is that our new Chairman isn't really a human being at all. Do I have that right?"

"I wouldn't put it quite that way," Nadia said. "I think Dorothy probably technically qualifies as human, it's just that her mind isn't human. Think of her as a kind of robot housed in human flesh."

Angel glanced over at Bishop. "She been dipping into the happy pills lately? 'Cause this all sounds more like a bad trip than reality."
Yes, I think that page is pretty representative of the book. Nate, Nadia, and their friends have the almost impossible task of trying to unseat the impostor who has taken over the Chairmanship of their state--all while being on the run from the authorities with a price on their heads. Not only do they have a whole lot of practical obstacles--how are a bunch of teenage fugitives going to topple a government?--but they also have to deal with the seeming implausibility of their claims.

The scene quoted above takes place in the Basement, which is basically the slums, only much more lawless than the slums of today's world. It's the only place they can hide where Dorothy's enforcers won't find them, but they won't be able to survive there--especially not with the price on their heads--unless they can convince some of the Basement power-players--like Angel--that they are worth saving.

I hope the page would make people want to read on. But I also hope it would make people want to catch up on everything that's happened so far and pick up the first two books, Replica and Resistance.
Visit Jenna Black's website.

Writers Read: Jenna Black.

--Marshal Zeringue