Exo by Fonda Lee: Exclusive Sneak Peek + Contest

Today, I am so delighted to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for Exo by Fonda Lee, a thrilling new sci fi adventure about a battle for earth. We have an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek at the book, which comes out next week, plus your chance to win a copy. So be sure to keep reading for all the details!

A Nurse was making his way around the semicircle, walking on three legs in a rotating motion. With the other three limbs he was marking children off a list on a computing disc and scanning them for signs of illness or infection. He stood slightly taller than the children themselves, and when he reached Donovan he bent his supporting limbs so two of his solid yellow eyes were level with Donovan’s face. He seemed kind, and he moved his fins in a gesture of calming as he checked Donovan’s pulse and temperature. “Don’t be scared, hatchling,” he strummed, too quietly for the translation machine, but Donovan murmured, “Yes, zun,” politely, as he’d been taught.

As each child was checked off, the two nurses-in-erze, a plump, friendly young woman named Evangeline and an older grandmotherly woman named Theodosia, led the kids away from their parents and through an arched door. There were hugs and tearful partings. Some of the younger children cried and had to be carried out. Some of the grown-ups cried too; the others smiled with false bravery. Donovan looked up at his father. His father looked serious but unconcerned, as if they were standing in line in a store. Donovan relaxed a little. Everything would be okay. He just wished his mom was here.

“Do you remember what it means to be an exo?” His father held him at arm’s length.

Donovan nodded.

“When you wake up, you’ll be better and stronger than you are now. You’ll have erze status for life, and when you grow up, there’s nothing you won’t be able to do. Maybe one day you could even fly in a spaceship to other planets if you want to.”

Donovan nodded. His bedroom at home was cluttered with small toy spaceships, and he was jealous that one of his classmates, whose parents were engineers-in-erze, had visited the zhree orbital stations and the Moon.

“You will have enormous advantages and responsibility. Do you understand?”

He didn’t. He was only five years old. But he said, “Yes, Father,” and then Evangeline led him away. He looked over his shoulder. His father was standing silently, watching him go. He didn’t know it at the time, but everyone else, zhree and human, had been watching Dominick Reyes as well. They observed the new Prime Liaison’s public display of loyalty, his calm confidence as he sent his only child to be Hardened.

It’s been a century of peace since Earth became a colony of an alien race with far reaches into the galaxy. Some die-hard extremists still oppose alien rule on Earth, but Donovan Reyes isn’t one of them. His dad holds the prestigious position of Prime Liaison in the collaborationist government, and Donovan’s high social standing along with his exocel (a remarkable alien technology fused to his body) guarantee him a bright future in the security forces. That is, until a routine patrol goes awry and Donovan’s abducted by the human revolutionary group Sapience, determined to end alien control.

When Sapience realizes whose son Donovan is, they think they’ve found the ultimate bargaining chip. But the Prime Liaison doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, not even for his own son. Left in the hands of terrorists who have more uses for him dead than alive, the fate of Earth rests on Donovan’s survival. Because if Sapience kills him, it could spark another intergalactic war. And Earth didn’t win the last one . . .

In stores January 31st

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Fonda Lee writes science fiction and fantasy for teens and adults. Her debut novel, Zeroboxer was an Andre Norton Award finalist, Jr. Library Guild Selection, ALA Top 10 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Oregon Book Award finalist, and Oregon Spirit Book Award winner. Her second novel, Exo, releases from Scholastic in February 2017.

Fonda wrote her first novel, about a dragon on a quest for a magic pendant, in fifth grade during the long bus ride to and from school each day. Many years later, she cast her high school classmates as characters in her second novel, a pulpy superhero saga co-written with a friend by passing a graphing calculator back and forth during biology class. Fortunately, both of these experiments are lost to the world forever.

Fonda is a former corporate strategist who has worked for or advised a number of Fortune 500 companies. She holds black belts in karate and kung fu, goes mad for smart action movies (think The Matrix, Inception, and Minority Report) and is an Eggs Benedict enthusiast. Born and raised in Calgary, Canada, she currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

3 winners will receive a finished copy of EXO, US Only.