Goddess in the Machine
by Lora Beth Johnson
Synopsis:
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?
Review:
The synopsis hooked me when a girl is woken up 1,000 years in the future instead of 100 on new planet. Andra wakes up to everyone calling her a goddess and expecting her to use her powers to save them. But she knows she’s just a girl, with everyone she’s ever known long gone.
Goddess in the Machine is the first in an inspired, new YA series. Set in the far distant future, this group of humans that Andra wakes up to are not familiar with any advanced technology. And the young man who woke her up has his own, secret agenda. Full of danger, suspense, political intrigue, romance, and betrayal – this is an impressive debut novel. It’s fast-paced and compelling. I certainly look forward to the next installment.