To follow Alex’s review we have an extract from the novel.
Eventually, he summoned up the courage to push off from the railings and began to wander around the balcony, not really paying any attention to the doors, corridors and rooms that he passed. This circular, central area was huge, he observed, perhaps two-hundred metres across, and each level seemed to have its own network of adjoining areas, like a huge three-dimensional spider web. Strangely, while he could see people walking around on the levels above and below him, there was almost nobody on the same level as he was. He’d seen perhaps only two or three others, far on the opposite side of the balcony.
This thought was rudely interrupted by a loud gurgle from his stomach, and he realised that he was actually quite hungry. He fiddled with the square slab in his trouser pocket, remembering what Diana had told him about it also allowing him to get food, and decided to make his way down to the plaza. He looked around for an elevator, or at least something that resembled one, surmising that they must look pretty much the same here as they did on the moon base. He spotted a likely candidate about twenty metres away and started walking towards it, but then something caught his eye. It was a huge door, set back from the balcony edge. It reminded him of the doors in the city space port back on the planet, where he had first met Maria, and where he’d later made the fateful decision to have himself blasted into space with her. Ethan approached it more closely and noticed a sign, surrounded in a red and white striped border that read, ‘Restricted Area – Level C9. DO NOT ENTER’. To the side of the large door was a smaller door, and next to this was a square, silver pad. Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out the square card that Diana had given him. Written on it was, ‘Diana Neviah – C9’ and a picture of Diana’s face, framed by her red hair. He looked at the picture. The green eyes stared back. The thin, red lips were pressed together, not smiling. She looked younger in the photo and, despite not smiling, somehow happier. He read the name again, ‘Diana Neviah – C9’, then looked again at the sign on the door: ‘Restricted Area – Level C9’.
He stood for a time with the square card in his hand, looking at the door. Diana had made it clear that nowhere was off limits; she had made of point of it more than once. But she hadn’t mentioned any restricted areas. Did she secretly want him to go in here? Or was she just trying to show that she trusted him, by giving him access to all areas, but trusting also that he wasn’t stupid enough to enter a restricted area? He flipped the pass over and over in his hand, tossing the different possibilities around in his mind. Maybe behind this door there was something to help confirm Diana’s story, or throw it into question. The temptation proved overwhelming. Ethan walked up to the door and pressed the pass against the silver square to its side. Moments later, a green border lit up around the square and he heard a solid, mechanical thud from within the door. He pulled the handle, and it opened.
You can take part on a giveaway to win a copy of Gareth’s first novel by following the link below:
Prize 1: Signed paperback of The Planetsider (UK only)
Prize 2: eBook copy of The Planetsider (International)
The Planetsider – Synopsis
Several generations after ‘The Fall’, the scattered clusters of civilisation that grew in its wake live in ignorance of the past. No-one wants to know what caused such devastation or why. No-one, except Ethan.
Ethan used to believe in the guardians; mysterious lights in the sky that, according to folklore, protect the survivors, so long as you believe in them. But the death of his parents shattered his faith and forged within him a hunger to know more. One night, a light grows brighter in the sky and crashes to the planet’s surface. Ethan then embarks on a heartbreaking journey in which harrowing discoveries unveil the secrets of the past, and place him at the centre of a deadly conflict.
Powerful, thought-provoking and emotionally absorbing, The Planetsider is a gripping, post-apocalyptic thriller that will keep you hooked until the very end.
Book links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38474204-the-planetsider?ac=1&from_search=true
Everything Is Better With Dragons 