Tuesday, December 8, 2015

2015 Debut Author Bash (Guest Post): Tessa Elwood, author of INHERIT THE STARS @tessaelwood @YaReads @RP_Kids


Thank you so much for visiting by Bibliophilia, Please for my stop of the 2015 Debut Author Bash! Today, I'll be featuring Tessa Elwood and her debut novel, Inherit the Stars - and it's also the release date!



Title: Inherit the Stars (Inherit the Stars #1)
Author:
Tessa Elwood
Publisher: Running Press (Perseus)
Release Date: December 8, 2015

Three royal Houses ruling three interplanetary systems are on the brink of collapse, and they must either ally together or tear each other apart in order for their people to survive.

Asa is the youngest daughter of the House of Fane, which has been fighting a devastating food and energy crisis for far too long. She attempts to save her family’s livelihood by posing as her older sister in an arranged marriage with Eagle, the heir to the House of Westlet, only to threaten their already precarious balance. All the while, she must save the life of her other sister...possibly from the hands of their own father.

But as Asa and Eagle forge a genuine bond, will secrets from the past and the urgent needs of their people in the present keep them divided?


Guest Post

City-states are fascinating.

I was a die hard Koei fan as a kid. They're a Japanese game developer, probably best known for the Dynasty Warriors series. Apart from my favorite title (New Horizons, still among my top five), I was enamored of Genghis Khan—a historical simulation of warring city-states, with mechanics much like Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Except in Khan, arranging strategic marriages and assigning governmental roles to family members was just as important as troop movements and sieges. I spent a great deal of time grooming various key relatives for high-stat unions that would help me not only win the war, but were also blissfully happy for everyone involved. I mean, obviously. I created whole backstories to prove it.

That tie between family and power—love, resentment, and jealousy—the rooks and queens that jack with everyone's fate? Pure fascination. People are people, no matter what heights they reach. Except the higher they are, the more they affect.

The Houses in INHERIT are nation-states on an interplanetary scale, collectively known as the Triplicate. They are at peace, and have been for as long as anyone can remember. At least, officially. Each is controlled by a family bloodline, the rulership passed down from enthroned parent to the oldest living child. Each can trace that line back to time immemorial, and government is based in blood, family and power.

The House of Fane, smallest of the three, has the purest line and commands the most in-House influence—much like a dictatorship. The ruling family's word is final and without recourse. But the family of Fane have a long history of integrity and honor among their people, and are much loved. Or were. That faith has been shaken with the energy crisis that opens the book. On the flip side, Fane is also highly isolationist—has closed its borders and blocked all inter-House communication for the last thirteen years. So while internally the Fane family's power is unrivaled, beyond their borders their House is by far the weakest of the three.

In some ways, the House of Galton could be Fane's inverse. Galton is larger than the other two combined, with the most inter-House power and least amount of national pride. While all the Houses can be ruthless when necessary, the atrocities of Galton include the systematic annihilation of whole planets and their populations. Such destructions were recent. Everyone remembers, fears, and. . .turns a blind eye. Even Fane.

The House of Westlet is the median. Twice the size of Fane, but smaller than Galton, its bloodline the most branching. The Westlet family is chock-full of nephews, aunts, and cousins thrice removed. The rulership has bounced between this branch and that—one family choked out so another could succeed. As a result, the internal power of Westlet is held by the Electorate—monied families who control various aspects of technology or trade. The ruling Lord of Westlet doesn't dictate national action so much as corral Electorate approval/backing.

Officially, the current galaxy-wide economic crisis is everyone's top priority. Energy is a finite resource, and each House must secure a viable supply or face blackout.

Unofficially? Stability lies somewhere between a sister's love and a mother's betrayal, a son's responsibility and a father's resentment. When the blood under your skin defines a nation, emotions are political. Victory isn't in the troop movements or stats, but the backstory.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond
Google Play | iTunes | Kobo




About the Author






Tessa Elwood is a Midwestern web-designer obsessed with stories, coffee, and running shoes. She writes YA sci-fi and is particularly fascinated by messy lives and complicated loyalties.






Links
Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

2015 Debut Author Bash

To follow the tour, visit
http://www.yareads.com/announcing-the-2015-debut-authors-bash-schedule/blog-tour-2/14494

Giveaway

Thanks to the lovely Tessa Elwood, we have an ARC of Inherit the Stars up for grabs for one lucky reader!

Terms & Conditions Found on Rafflecopter Form
US ONLY
Ends at 12:01am CST on December 23rd

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

  1. I just love INHERIT THE STARS. And I love reading more about the houses! Wonderful, wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete

You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!