My Fire Country Playlist

So today I am going to share with you my personal playlist for Fire Country!  I have some pretty diverse selections here, I really didn't stick to a particular genre theme.  I was more concerned with the lyrics.  Just beware, I will be describing my choices and there may be some spoilers involved!  Enjoy!

My Playlist




The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti & Spearhead  This is a pretty jaunty song for a pretty dark world.  I picked it because it makes me think of Siena and Circ and their friendship at the beginning.  Circ is really Siena's only brightness in her world.  A lot of the lyrics make me think of Fire Country as well.
Stand by Rascal Flatts   I thought of this song for the scene were Circ and Siena are being bullied and tormented by Hawk. Again, its a pretty upbeat song--if I fit every song to every mood, this would be a pretty depressing playlist!  But the lyrics are perfect!
Monster by Skillet  Finally a dark song that really represents things!  This is Roan's song.  Enough said.
Roar by Katy Perry I am hooked to this song at the moment.  This made me think of the Tug hunt.  Specifically in how Siena's feeling when she sees Circ in danger.  It also makes me think of Lara, who probably is more like the voice in the song. They are both extremely brave in this scene!
Slow and Steady by Of Monsters And Men This one is for Siena and Circ, and how their relationship slowly evolves.  They can't be together, but that doesn't seem to stop them!  Love the feel of this song and the lyrics.
Pacha Nights by Cafe Chilout de Ibiza This one is Perry the Prickler's song!  Don't give me that look, Perry had to have a song! This made me think of him!
Black Balloon by The Goo Goo Dolls  I love the Goo Goo Dolls. This song is the part in the book after Circ dies, and how Siena deals with it.
For Good by the cast of Wicked This is a tribute to the friendship of Siena and Circ, and also a little bit of Siena and her mom.  My favorite song from Wicked!
Now by Paramore I love Paramore!  This song is for a very dark scene when Siena is almost raped and then runs away from her village.  
Try by Pink This song is all about the Wild Ones, and how Siena learns how to fight and basically channel her inner strength.  
This Is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars This song represents the epic battle scene at the end of the novel.
Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts  Can you tell I love Rascal Flatts? Hehe.  This is at the very end, for the reunion between Siena and Circ.  

And that's it!  Leave me any comments if you think of any songs I should add!  I love suggestions!

Fire Country--A Reading Excerpt by the Author!

David Estes is back!    He's here to read us  the first few chapters of Fire Country! Thank you, David!

Fire Country is the first book in the Country Saga series.  Take it away, David!





Check out Fire Country!
Goodreads

And don't forget to grab your FREE copy of Fire Country, the first book in it's sister series!  Check out my Earth Dwellers Book Blast for more info!

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a chance to win a David Estes ebook!

Fire Country by David Estes

Goodreads
398 pages, YA Dystopian
The Country Saga #1
My Rating: 5 stars

Fun Fact: Prickler Salad and 'Zard Soup are staples of the Fire Country peoples' diets.  Prickler Salad=Cactus Salad   'Zard Soup=Lizard Soup

Synopsis

In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely. 

Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.

Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with. 

As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.

My 2 cents

This seriously is one of the best YA dystopians I have ever read. No lie. I will try to hold myself back from gushing out too much praise, but no promises. I'm afraid this will be a pretty raving review! 

First of all, let's talk a little about Fire Country. Fire Country is a very harsh environment to live in. Life expectancy is somewhere in the 30s, and the heat is unforgiving. Daily life is a struggle. Added to this is the cruel laws of the land. The world building was great in this, I could almost feel the heat, and had no issues imagining any of it in my head. 

The story starts with our MC, Siena, about to turn 16 and basically losing all her freedom. She only wants to be with her best friend, Circ. I LOVED Siena. She is one of my favorite MCs ever! I love her name, and how she seems like she's the runt of the society, but she has a strong mind and personality. I could really relate to Siena, and it was so easy to understand her and her thoughts. Circ was also awesome, and the two made such a great pair in this story. 

Siena's father, Roan, meanwhile is the perfect villian of the story, and I hated him with every fiber of my being. There are a few other villians I also loved to hate, but Roan really takes the cake for despicable creatures. 

The other awesome character in this story was a big fun surprise--a prickler (cactus) named Perry. He's basically alive in Siena's imagination, and helps her through some tight spots. Perry the Prickler made me giggle. And those giggles were needed to balance out the dark turns the story was taking!

There are some horribly bleak and dark moments in this one, and there were several places I was terrified for Siena and was holding my breath. Along with a few tears in certain places. I won't give away any spoilers, but this book made me feel a huge range of emotions. 

And like all David Estes books I've read, I didn't know what to expect! I did not guess most of the twists, although there was one that I saw coming. But I was surprised a lot and I love that!

The best part of the story for me was Siena and her journey. She goes through so much, but she has a lot of spirit. I think this is a great story for teens to read, and they could get a lot out of it. And like I said, this is one of my favorite dystopians now! If you love dystopians, I really recommend this one!

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes--A Reading Excerpt by the Author!

Today I have a fun treat for y'all!  David Estes has provided me a "sneak peek" reading from his book, The Moon Dwellers! Thank you, David for taking time out of your busy travel schedule!   

The Moon Dwellers is the first book in the Dwellers series, and its a wonderful dystopian novel.  Take it away, David!



Check out the Moon Dwellers!
Goodreads
Amazon

And don't forget to grab your FREE copy of Fire Country, the first book in it's sister series!  Check out my Earth Dwellers Book Blast for more info!

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a chance to win a David Estes ebook!

The Earth Dwellers Blog Blast + Free book code AND giveaway!

 

Your favorite Dwellers and Country Saga characters come together in this epic seventh book!

As President Borg Lecter threatens to annihilate the Country tribes in order to expand his glass-domed empire, Adele ventures into the belly of the beast. Her only hope of survival is the consolidation of Dwellers and Country power before it’s too late. Former demagogue President Nailin is eliminated, yet civil unrest infects every alliance. To save Adele, President Tristan faces his greatest challenge yet: unifying unfriendly Dwellers in the Tri-Realms to raise an army against Lecter. Meanwhile, Dazz must convince the Ice Country leaders to march with Siena and the Tri-Tribes on the gates of the Glass City. The world sits on the edge of a knife. Will Adele, Tristan, Dazz, and Siena defeat Lecter and his army of killers before the Glassies wipe them off the face of the Earth?

See where it all begun with The Moon Dwellers and Fire Country

To celebrate the release of The Earth Dwellers by David Estes, the fourth book in both The Dwellers series and Country Saga, David is giving away UNLIMITED free eCopies of Fire Country, book one in the post apocalyptic, dystopian, Country Saga. A little over a year ago, David published his first young adult dystopian series, The Dwellers, and it has changed his life forever. Since then, he’s gone from struggling Indie author to fulltime writer, he’s watched in amazement as his Goodreads fan group has swelled from 300 members to over 1,600, and growing. He's been featured on Buzzfeed, as one of the '15 Book Series To Read If You Enjoyed The Hunger Games', and has just signed on to Andrea Hurst and Associates literary agency. Andrea will we working with David to expand both the Dwellers and Country Saga, taking David's career to a whole new level.

So before the two series collide in The Earth Dwellers, grab the coupon code below and download your eCopy of Fire Country from Smashwords. Share the code with your family, friends and literary inclined pets. The only thing David asks for in return is that if you enjoy the read and continue on with the series, to please leave a positive review on Amazon.com, Goodreads and blogs for each of his books that you read.

 

Visit: Smashwords

Simply use the coupon code: WM49N and download your FREE eCopy.

Expiration Date: September 15, 2013

 

The Earth Dwellers will cap off an eighteen month journey that has taken me from unknown Indie author to still-mostly-unknown fulltime Indie author. The change is a subtle one for most people, but for me it’s a dream come true. To the hundreds (and now maybe even thousands!) of readers who have come along for the ride with me, either by reading the Dwellers Saga, the Country Saga, or both, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now down to business. There may be some of you who have only read the three books in the Country Saga or only the three books in the Dwellers Saga, and are now thinking you’ll read The Earth Dwellers, which is supposedly the 4th book in BOTH the Country Saga and the Dwellers Saga. Well, that’s awesome! However, I must highly recommend that before reading The Earth Dwellers that you read the three books in BOTH series. Trust me, doing so will greatly enhance your experience, as The Earth Dwellers will be taking significant characters from both series and crashing them together (yes, like a water country wave) into an action-packed tale of struggle and loss and hope and friendship… And maybe a little love, too.

The Country Saga

Fire Country  Ice Country  Water & Storm Country

The Dwellers Series The Moon Dwellers  The Star Dwellers  The Sun Dwellers

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife and soul mate, Adele, who he’s now been happily married to for more than two years.

A reader all his life, David began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and has completed 13 novels, 11 of which have been published.  In June of 2012, David became a fulltime writer and is now travelling the world with his wife while he writes books, and she writes and takes photographs.

David gleans inspiration from all sorts of crazy places, like watching random people do entertaining things, dreams (which he jots copious notes about immediately after waking up), and even from thin air sometimes! Recently he’s been inspired by some of his favorite authors, like Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and Maggie Stiefvater.

David’s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table.  He loves responding to e-mails, Facebook messages, Tweets, blog comments, and Goodreads comments from his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends.

Where you can find David Estes hanging out:

David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite

Blog/website Facebook page Goodreads author page Twitter

Other Young Adult Books by David Estes:

The Evolution Trilogy: Angel Evolution   Demon Evolution   Archangel Evolution

Children’s Books by David Estes:

The Nikki Powergloves Adventures: Nikki Powergloves- A Hero is Born    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Council    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Trappers    Nikki Powergloves and the Great Adventure   Nikki Powergloves vs. the Power Outlaws (Coming soon!)

The Sun Dwellers--3rd book in the Dwellers series by David Estes

Goodreads
370 pages, YA Dystopian
The Dwellers #3
My Rating: 5 stars

This book had my heart racing the entire last half of the story.  I have never read the end of a book as fast as I did as the Sun Dwellers!  I just had to find out what was going to happen!  Check out my review below!


Fun fact:  Tristan and Roc get the pleasure of playing fashion designer and dressing Trevor while he's unconscious! 


Synopsis

With those she's closest to dying around her, Adele embarks on a secret mission to the Sun Realm to assassinate the President. Along the way she'll uncover secrets about her relationship with Tristan that she might not be ready to face. 

Tristan has a secret, too, one that's been eating him up inside ever since he met Adele. Will he reveal all, and risk the loss of friendship and love at a time when he needs it the most?

At the same time, Adele's mother, General Rose, must lead her soldiers into battle to face the sun dweller army in the hopes of holding them off until Adele can complete her mission. Can she outlast the strength of President Nailin's elite fighting force?

There's only one truth in their world: someone must die.

My 2 cents

The Sun Dwellers is a major roller coaster ride of shivers, tears, and emotions!  I was so ready for this ride, even though I had no idea where it would take me!  It took me up, down, and even upside down sometimes, making my stomach drop.  And after it was all over, I wanted to ride it all over again!  Good news for me, there are more books!

This book is the final efforts of Adele, Tristan, and their friends to assassinate the President.  They know this won't be easy, and they may die in the attempt. But they also know it must be done for any chance of peace to exist in the Realms.  

Helping them on this final journey is Roc, Tristan's best friend; Tawni, Adele's best friend; and Trevor, who is part of the rebel army, and a good friend of Adele's mom.  They all have something to lose.  For Adele, its her only chance for freedom, for herself, her mother and her sister. The theme of family lives on in this book!  Tristan also wants to be free from his father's sadistic ways and help his fellow citizens.  Roc is mainly there for Tristan, but he also has something to prove--exacting revenge for his mother.  Tawni has lost just about everything dear to her, and also wants her freedom.  Trevor is all about equality, and maybe seeing the President's head on a stick.

So we go on another journey, this time into the lion's den.   Even though there is almost constant action going on, we still get lots of little moments between characters, which is what really makes the story for me.  Adele is very conflicted through the first half of the book, which brings us back to the beginning--why are Adele and Tristan so drawn to each other?  

In the previous books, we got a little comic relief from Roc and Tristan's friendship.  In this story, though, Roc and Adele bond a little bit, and Trevor kind of takes over on the comic front.  This one doesn't have as many laughs--these kids are in a dire situation, after all!  

The ending was the most gripping and nail-biting part of this ride.  There were some very scary moments, and of course, lots of dark moments.  But in the end, I was more than satisfied with the conclusion to this trilogy. 

To wrap it all up, this book is crazy good!  The characters, the setting, the plot, and all the details were excellent!  Everything made complete sense to me, and left me wanting more!  So, its on to the next book for this girl!

The Star Dwellers--Book 2 in the Dwellers series by David Estes

Goodreads
YA Dystopian
The Dwellers #2
My rating: 5 stars

I normally have a hang up on the "middle" book in a series, but not so with this one!  This book was twice as good as the first, and I loved it so much!  Check out my review below!

Fun Fact:  Adele and Tawni catch a virus called "bat flu" while on the run.  Its as gruesome as it sounds!

Synopsis

After rescuing her father and younger sister, Adele is forced to leave her family and Tristan behind to find her mother in the cruel and dangerous realm of the star dwellers. 

Amidst blossoming feelings for Adele, Tristan must cast his feelings aside and let her find her own way amongst the star dwellers, while he accompanies Adele's father to meet with the leaders of the moon dwellers and decide the fate of the Tri-Realms.

Will Adele be able to rescue her mother and make it back to the Moon Realm before the President and the sun dweller soldiers destroy her family?

Can Tristan convince the moon dweller puppets of the error of their ways?

Was Adele's lost kiss with Tristan her one and only chance at love?

In her world there's only one rule: Someone must die.

My 2 cents

I'm a huge David Estes fan, so this may be biased...but I LOVED this book! This is the second book in the Dwellers series, a dystopian series where humanity has retreated underground for survival. We left off in Moon Dwellers with the Star Dwellers invading and bombing the Moon Dwellers, Adele heading off to try and rescue her mom, and Tristan teaming up with Adele's dad, Ben, to try and unite the Moon and Star Dwellers against their common enemy, Tristan's dad.

Things pick up right where we left off, with everyone still running and trying to survive. Now everyone has a purpose, which makes things all the more fun! The world building continues to amaze me. Everything is so descriptive. Its almost like watching a movie in my head!

I never knew what was going to happen next. Between things like "Bat Flu" (Yuck!)and trains running behind hidden caves, there was always something new coming at us. There were also a couple of surprising twists that I didn't see coming, and it makes me wonder what else the author has in store for us later!

The highlight of the book for me was Tristan and Roc's "Bromance." I just love the banter between these two, and it really helps lighten things up sometimes. I got to know Roc a lot better in this story, and I can't wait to see him become more of a hero. Adele and Tristan also had some more time together towards the end, which was great. I love the two of them together!

Adele also learns a lot about her own family, and their part in the Resistance. Her dad, Ben, is just an amazing man. He and Tristan spend a lot of time together in the beginning of the story, and Tristan sees in him the father he never had. Its amazing how much the theme of family is carried throughout the book, and I loved it!

You might be tired of hearing me say that, but I honestly can't think of anything in this story I didn't like. This is an amazing thing, because usually the second books in a series are my least favorite of the series. This girl can't wait to see what happens next in Sun Dwellers!