Welcome to LM Preston's Blog Tour Announcing Explorer X Beta

Image by Gravitywave via Flickr

"...he really missed Earth. He'd never dreamed
that when his parents forced him to go to the
TEGRC space camp, he would find out that he'd
been created to conquer worlds. A crapped up
science project. That he would evolve into
something--not quite human..."

Explorer X Beta


By LM Preston






I just have to start by saying that I think this author is one of the most imaginative, creative writers around. That, together with her goal to "write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds" makes her a writer that I have come to admire and respect. Preston takes her YA readers on great adventures. Her characters are not perfect, but they do have a drive to achieve and become...more... I don't think I would be wrong in saying that young readers are bound to come away from her books with feelings that they can, indeed, overcome...issues in their lives!

Take, for instance, Aadi, a team leader for a group of teens who was sent to a space camp sponsored by TEGRC. In this second book, Aadi has grown--and changed tremendously--but still strives to retain the character traits that had been instilled in him by his parents...

Even though they, along with the other parents who had authorized their attending camp, had, in one way or another, betrayed each of their children! You see, as kids are prone to do, once they were at the camp, they had started to check out the facility and had found out that they were all part of an experiment! The camp was mostly made up of children who had been genetically altered before they were born. Others had later received the same genetic changes, but the DNA-type material had been synthetically altered. Still others were there as "control" groups.

Now the team had been broken up and sent out into space, only to be forced to land on various planets until they were able to reunite and return to earth. Aadi and Eirena had landed on a planet desert of brown rocky sandy which clearly had been destroyed at one time. They had been taken captive by the Femoh species and tortured. They had also discovered that their bodies had changed to that of the species that inhabited the planet. But with those changes, combined with the torture, their basic body makeup had also been permanently changed, so that once they had been able to escape the planet and had returned to their own bodies, they found they had gained power and certain abilities.

But they didn't have time to worry about that, they were on their way to find one of the team's ships that had been flown by Dakota and Carter. One of the attributes that Aadi had was that he was telepathic, so he had been able to find Dakota, enter his mind, and force him to remember his past and move to his present so he was able to locate where they had landed. But Dakota fought Aadi's entry into his mind--he was ashamed for what he had earlier done and, when they had landed, Carter was hurt, so had left him to try to find help, only to be captured. He had tried and tried to get back to Carter, knowing that he was dying...

"Eirena was the first to drop to the ground
in a convulsing heap. Aadi reached out a
shivering hand to stop her fall, but landed
on top of her in a trembling mass. Their veins
filled with ice, their body temperatures dropped.
Snake lines of dark blue traveled through her
face. The whites of her eyes brightened, as
the pupils clouded. Her face turned a pale blue
webbed by a darker hue. Ripping off his glove
he watched, shivering, as his own cinnamon
brown hand turned pale blue and cold...."
http://blog.timesunion.com/
outdoors/october-snow-doubles-the
-beauty-of-the-berkshires-really-it-does/6638/

But Addi had been able to pinpoint where they were and he and Eirena had found that the planet was nothing but snow and ice. At least, though, they realized this time what was happening as their bodies immediately responded to the planet's atmosphere and they turned...blue...

They split up, Aadi went to try to find Carter who had been taken from the space ship where he had been left...

Eirena went to find Dakota...

Both found themselves discovered and captured by the two warring species on the planet. Warring over the rights to the scarce water, because even though the planet was covered with snow and ice, it was not the same as on earth and could not be melted to water...

Because everybody on the planet was affected by this shortage, they had long ago felt that only the fittest could survive and therefore sent each teenager out on a personal quest--to kill or be killed! And once they made it through their quest, they were then "permitted"  to enter into games between the species which continued the kill-or-be-killed philosophy, until finally, each year they would fight to control the water.

But the earthlings were different enough that they knew their powers could affect what was happening there on that planet!

It is important to note that even on these different planets, there are violent people--but there are also good people who are trying to change things. The Explorer X team with their superpowers provide that "extra" support that those good people need to help improve and change, helping them to overcome what their pasts have been for many years...

If there is a young adult in your life, I highly recommend you consider introducing them to the books of LM Preston. Her creative genius will get them totally involved with each adventure, while what happens will show them much about the potential of change in their lives! Check below and read my reviews for her other books, you might want to get both Explorer X Alpha now and get the reading started! Because I know that if the first is read, then your YA will be ready for Explorer X Betal!


GABixlerReviews

Author: LM Preston, www.lmpreston.com
blog: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/ (go to blog to see trailers and giveaways)

L.M. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. With a thirst for knowledge she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her first published novel, Explorer X - Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

LM Preston
YA SciFi Author
WEBSITE: www.lmpreston.com
BLOG: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/
PARTY BLOG: http://bookpartylmpreston.blogspot.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/LM_Preston
FACEBOOK:http://tinyurl.com/2fev6qc

Writing stories for and about kids that overcome the impossible...

From LM Preston - Earlier Reviews

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2009/11/review-ya-explorer-x-alpha-need.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-read-my-review-then-enter.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-ya-novel-bandits-by-lm-preston.html