Title: Golden Skies
Author: Juan Zapata
Publication Date: June 2018
Genre: Science Fiction
A man-god and his army of religious zealots swarmed the South nine years ago. As a child, Malik watched severed heads falling, blood spurting onto concrete, and his dear grandfather run through by a black sword.
But there’s peace…somewhere. At least that’s what Malik tells himself as his body is ripped apart by whips at a religious conversion camp. That’s what his best friend whispers as he frantically creates new force jetpacks to rescue Malik.
Yet when war bursts through the skies, and the sky troopers, assassins, and heroes fall—when the world comes crashing down—Malik Zoha stands strong amidst the sands, infidel of the state number one.
Golden Skies is the first book in the The New Order trilogy.
Golden Skies is a thrilling and gripping debut novel by Juan Zapata. The story is about the fight for justice, the fight for freedom, and the fight for rights.
The story starts on a gore and violent note – the merciless whipping and torturing was heart-wrenching! No matter how bad the torture and the pain was, Malik was resilient. And that is what made him fight for justice.
I loved the blend of technology, religion, friendship, and politics. Wings of Heaven (jetpacks), swords, force fields, evil-godman – woohoo, excellent combination of the good and the bad.
The story is full of twists and turns. The trio – Kafed, Malik, and Eliza plan to escape Atemhop when Cyrus (Kafed’s father) and Minerva (Kafed’s mother) tells them about their ‘secret group’. They plan to eliminate Mujadin – Mailk’s father and ardent follower of Safad (evil godman). I loved it, even more, when the northeastern troops rescued the trio and Cyrus during the ambush and military-trained them in 5 days. And the best of the best was when Onyx, one of the northeastern troopers and an assassin did something unbelievable! There is more to it than it meets the eye!
The violet moon, the harsh sun, 32 hours in a day – these details made the story even more interesting. And what do I tell you about Kafed! He’s a genius! From building jetpacks to cracking silly jokes, even in serious situations, this guy was a power-package! I like the way the friendship between Mailk and Kafed is portrayed. I also liked the relationship that Malik had with his sister, mother, grandfather and Kafed’s parents.
Each character in the story plays a unique role in the story. Be it Alayna, Henry or even the beggar (in the end), for that matter. I loved the story, minus the torture.
Thank You, Shalini and DigitalReads for letting me be a part of this blog tour.
The Book Decoder 