Synthetica
(Synthetica #1)
Release
Date: 04/01/15
Summary
from Goodreads:
This city is falling.
Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.
Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.
But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to
fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is
implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth,
especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may
already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker'
before he commits his most appalling crime yet...
Buy
Links:
Amazon
The first time Anais saw a man being murdered, she
was just seventeen.
She
was already acquainted with death – having witnessed the traditional burning of
both sets of grandparents some years earlier, she knew what was what. But she'd
never seen someone actually die. She'd never seen someone murder a man in cold
blood. It was not to be the last.
It
was a cold, clear day, which marked the beginning of autumn in the Imperial
City. The trees were a riot of colour, their crisp leaves crunching underfoot
or floating dreamily on the still warm breeze. Anais was safe at home. She
opened up the Food Dispensation Unit to find breakfast, predictably, waiting
for her.
“Good morning, Anais. Your biometrics indicate that
you are lacking in protein today. Please find your suggested breakfast option
below,” the cool female voice that inhabited the FDU intoned. Anais looked at
the plate of diced avocado and bobbly cottage cheese, sprinkled with quinoa, in
disgust and almost threw up.
“System override,” she said hastily. “Requesting
bacon and eggs.”
The FDU was quiet for a moment, in what Anais
imagined to be a sullen silence.
“This course is not recommended,” the voice said.
“Bacon and eggs has been requested three times in the last seven days.
Variation at meal times is the best option in getting the recommended amount of
vitamins and minerals per day.” Was it Anais' imagination, or was there a hint
of reproach in the machine's voice?
“Then stop making me stupid meals,” Anais muttered.
A little louder she said, “System override.”
The FDU remained silent. It's definitely taking
longer to prepare food Anais thought. Could machines have feelings, or was
she simply being paranoid? After a few seconds, the offending plate slid out of
view, and a minute later a new one rose up, complete with three steaming
rashers of bacon and two fried eggs.
“Stingy,” Anais said as she inspected the plate.
“You definitely gave me four rashers the other day.”
The FDU didn't reply, so Anais shut the door with
her elbow and turned away to place her breakfast on the table. She sat down and
began to tuck in, although she couldn't help feeling that the bacon wasn't
quite as crispy as usual, and the yolk in her eggs was only just runny
– clearly, she'd caused offence one too many times.
With
a sigh of satisfaction, she pushed her empty plate away and touched a spot on
the glass table in front of her. The embedded screen flickered into life, the
latest news and entertainment stories popping up to greet her. She scrolled
through the different windows, occasionally skim-reading a headline that looked
interesting. One pop-up informed her that black and white stripes were back in
season; while an advertisement for prenatal conditioning flashed repeatedly (Let
your baby shine; neon DNA now half price! Only 2,000 CRD for a limited time
only!). She touched the glass, beginning to turn off all the pointless
notifications, when one of them caught her eye, hidden behind a slew of
advertisements and celebrity gossip feeds. Her heart leapt. She maximised the
window and began to read eagerly.
About
the Author
So
what qualifies me to be a writer? Well, ever since an early age I've been more
interested in the worlds in my head, than the real one - so I thought it was
finally time to do something about it. I went to uni, got a degree in
publishing, worked in an office for a while, decided I hated it, went to China,
came back...and now I'm a teaching assistant by day and a YA writer by night.
Phew! It's been quite a journey, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Author Links:
Book Blitz Organized by:
0 comments:
Post a Comment