Goddess in the Machine
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Andra wakes up from a cryogenic sleep 1,000 years later than she was supposed to, forcing her to team up with an exiled prince to navigate an unfamiliar planet in this smart, thrilling sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Renegades and Aurora Rising.
When Andra wakes up, she's drowning.
Not only that, but she's in a hot, dirty cave, it's the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists--including her family and friends--are dead. They died centuries ago, and for some reason, their descendants think Andra's a deity. She knows she's nothing special, but she'll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.
Zhade, the exiled bastard prince of Eerensed, has other plans. Four years ago, the sleeping Goddess's glass coffin disappeared from the palace, and Zhade devoted himself to finding it. Now he's hoping the Goddess will be the key to taking his rightful place on the throne--if he can get her to play her part, that is. Because if his people realize she doesn't actually have the power to save their dying planet, they'll kill her.
With a vicious monarch on the throne and a city tearing apart at the seams, Zhade and Andra might never be able to unlock the mystery of her fate, let alone find a way to unseat the king, especially since Zhade hasn't exactly been forthcoming with Andra. And a thousand years from home, is there any way of knowing that Earth is better than the planet she's woken to?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Johnson's science fiction debut, 17-year-old Andromeda "Andra" Yue Watts awakes from her cryogenic sleep in the year 3102 to a world changed beyond recognition. She was only supposed to sleep for a century: instead, a thousand years have passed, and her contemporaries are long dead. Now she is alone on Holymyth, the planet where she, her family, and the other colonists planned to settle as they escaped the dying Earth. Johnson explores the relationship between science and religion through the people of Eerensed, who view Andra as the Third Goddess and nanotechnology as magic. Determined to return to Earth, Andra teams up with the charmingly untrustworthy Zhade the bastard exiled prince of Eerensed to gather the resources she needs for a new spaceship. In return, she must perform "miracles" to secure his status a dangerous undertaking with Maret, Zhade's half-brother and the skeptical ruler of Eerensed, watching her every move. Though light on scientific exposition and heavy on evolved linguistics that may frustrate some readers, a complicated romance and passable worldbuilding round out the tale. Zhade, Maret, and Andra are compelling, morally ambiguous characters, and Johnson's plot twists ensure the narrative maintains interest. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
Amazing!
What a fun read! Goddess in the Machine follows Andra, a girl who was supposed to wake up from her cryogenic sleep after 100 years. Instead, she wakes up 1,000 years later. Far from home and her family, Andra must try to find her way back. But what happens when you throw a crazy ruler, an attractive exiled prince, and a lot of secrets into the mix? Andra might find herself having to choose between her desire to find her family and the survival of the world she finds herself in. This was such a fun, exciting read! I loooved the linguistic aspects of the book. I really want to talk to the author and find out how she kept everything straight. I found myself understanding the "language" more as a read, which was kind of a fun aspect of the novel! The plot is also very interesting. We know everyone is hiding something - we just don't know what. I can honestly say that I didn't expect some of the twists and turns that Johnson gave us, nor did I expect them. The story went along at a great pace and it kept my attention throughout. I also loved the characters. Zhade is probably my favorite (because he's sassy). The development and storyline between Zhade and Andra is compelling and fun to read. Overall, I highly enjoyed this book! I would recommend it to anyone who loves YA fantasy!
Incredible New Series
I cannot express how impressive this novel is. I am not usually a fan of sci-fi, but this book seamlessly blends the futuristic and fantasy elements that it feels both old world magic and futuristic space colony while making total and complete sense. Beyond that, the language is incredible. Lora Beth Johnson has created a new dialect of English that is as middle English is to modern English, yet I could understand the exact intent. I have never read a book that has done anything like this with a fantasy language. It's brilliantly evolved in a way that makes complete sense and from an etymological standpoint had to have been exhaustively researched. I am in complete awe.
Beyond the basics, the story is beautiful. I love the characters and the relationships they develop throughout the novel. The two narrators are incredibly deep and developed, and I cannot wait to see how they continue to evolve throughout this series. The world she has created is so well layered and I am so excited to read these books for years to come. Although, I definitely wish the next in the series was in my hands now, I can say with certainty, it will be worth the wait.
This is more of me getting excited and ranting about the book ( spoiler free though I think :) :/ )
Wow. This book is just wow. I can’t even express the amount of glee I got at the end of this book. IT WAS SO FRICKING GOOD! Not good great. No better than great extraordinary! I- the ending dudddddeeeeee the ending had me wanting another book. Now. I neeed another book now. It’s just so dang good that I can’t even tell you how good it was. It’s so hard to find good books, but I was hooked to this book at the start. Now. Now I need another book. I need certain people we heard a lot about (I’m saying it like this for those of you who don’t want spoilers :) ) to be in the second book. Also there needs to be a second book because if you leave the book ending like this I will go ahead and write the book for you. But you know you’ll do better so can you please write the second book. I totally recommend this book to litterlly anyone. Read it to yourself, your friends, your family, your dog or cat, your goldfish, READ IT TO YOUR FRICKING PARROT!!!! Just read the book. Trust me when I say it is good. Well don’t trust strangers, but you get the jazz of it. Ik I said jazz. I am very passionate about this book and like I just finished it. Maybe 5-10 minutes ago. Maybe less. I don’t know. Anyway read it. It has so many twists at the end. Like at first I was like huh, then what, then (cue fist pumps in the air), (cue shocked gasp, cue reading, cue me gasping again, cue me squealing with delightment at the ending so much I had to look away from my page to cAlm mY oVEreXcItMeNt, cue me finishing the book and writing this review. Anyway I hope you’ll enjoy it, I sure did. Please make ANOTHER BOOK! I will be waiting. Well that sounded creepy, but I’ll still keep that in my review. :) Anyway bye I got to go do something and search for the second book updates. SECOND BOOK PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Okay, well that’s it byeeee! Also have a great rest of your dayWow. This book is just wow. I can’t even express the amount of glee I got at the end of this book. IT WAS SO FRICKING GOOD! Not good great. No better than great extraordinary! I- the ending dudddddeeeeee the ending had me wanting another book. Now. I neeed another book now. It’s just so dang good that I can’t even tell you how good it was. It’s so hard to find good books, but I was hooked to this book at the start. Now. Now I need another book. I need certain people we heard a lot about (I’m saying it like this for those of you who don’t want spoilers :) ) to be in the second book. Also there needs to be a second book because if you leave the book ending like this I will go ahead and write the book for you. But you know you’ll do better so can you please write the second book. I totally recommend this book to litterlly anyone. Read it to yourself, your friends, your family, your dog or cat, your goldfish, READ IT TO YOUR FRICKING PARROT!!!! Just read the book. Trust me when I say it is good. Well don’t trust strangers, but you get the jazz of it. Ik I said jazz. I am very passionate about this book and like I just finished it. Maybe 5-10 minutes ago. Maybe less. I don’t know. Anyway read it. It has so many twists at the end. Like at first I was like huh, then what, then (cue fist pumps in the air), (cue shocked gasp, cue reading, cue me gasping again, cue me squealing with delightment at the ending so much I had to look away from my page to cAlm mY oVEreXcItMeNt, cue me finishing the book and writing this review. Anyway I hope you’ll enjoy it, I sure did. Please make ANOTHER BOOK! I will be waiting. Well that sounded creepy, but I’ll still keep that in my review. :) Anyway bye I got to go do something and search for the second book updates. SECOND BOOK PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Okay, well that’s it byeeee! Also have a great rest of your day everyone! :)