Title: Apparent Power
Series: DiaZem Series
Author: Dacia M Arnold
Genre: Sci-Fi, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian
Publisher: Immortal Works
Release Date: 8th February 2019
BLURB from Goodreads
A dormant gene awakens in a quarter of the world's population and the effects are apocalyptic. With an even rarer gene, the life of Valerie Russell turns into a shocking race against time. When the human body begins to require more electricity than needed to keep a heart beating, cars lose power, phones no longer function, and planes fall from the sky. Stranded in southern Colorado, a hundred miles from home--and from her two-year-old son-- Valerie must find it within herself to trek the distance with the help of a questionable assembly of ex-military friends of the family. But the awakening has a different effect on Valerie. While others absorb electricity, Valerie's abilities are not as limited, making her the key to unlocking a worldwide genocide of those who were not affected. As she evades the rising totalitarian government, Valerie is also faced with a moral choice: risk failure and attempt to save the masses from the regime's deadly plot or run and preserve only the lives of her family.How does a mother make such an impossible choice?
PURCHASE LINKS
REVIEW
I
actually had this book recommended to me. The cover basically shows a glowing
light bulb, and when I first looked at it, to be totally honest I was a little
unimpressed, but that changed when I read the blurb, which I found interesting
enough for me to want to read the book. There is already another book within
this series but was told I did not need to read that one first, and upon
reading the blurb of Reactance I think I would like to read it, and personally
think it will be a better read for having read Apparent Power first. The genres
I have seen listed for this book are Sci-Fi, Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic
which I totally agree with and would add the book also has futuristic elements
within it too.
The
main character of this book is a 35year old, wife and mother, Valerie Marie Russell
who wakes up as normal, still tired, body aching etc. she feels every year of
her 35 years, but things are about to change drastically. Valerie goes about her normal routine meaning
she walks into the bathroom to have a shower. When she reaches toward the
shower door handle electricity seems to shoot from her fingers to the shower
door handle. Valerie naturally pulls her hand back to her. The shock she
received didn’t hurt as much as it was more of a surprise than anything else.
Then she looks at herself in the mirror and cannot believe what she sees. The
image staring back at her in wonder is a much less tired and worn, there’s no
skin blemishes, her pregnancy bumps, bulges and weight have also disappeared. She
looks in the mirror with wonderment it’s as if her body has gone back in time,
speaking of time she is running late so starts rushing, she will have to think
of her physical changes later. Valerie is a medical nurse who fills in when
hospitals are short staffed, today she is a two hour drive away. Valerie’s
husband Scott comments on how good she looks and goes off to work himself, then
Valerie gets their 2year old son Caleb ready for the arrival of the nanny, Gia.
As
Valerie drives to work its clear something is horrendously wrong when people’s
cars just stop, and airplanes begin dropping out of the skies. As she is almost
at the small medical centre she is due to work in, she continues on foot. It is
there she meets Dr August Wilkes, also a stand in Doctor who seems much older
than his looks suggest. They attend the wounded with the help of the medical
centre employees Betty and Roy. Naturally all Valerie can think about is
whether Caleb is safe at home with Gia. All power has gone down meaning she
cannot check in with Gia or contact her husband Scott. It is then Valerie
decides she will walk home, but she will need some more supplies and a change
of clothes for her journey. As she is in the neighbourhood of her brother Kevin
and father Mike that’s where she heads first. Her brother Kevin, nor his wife
are at home when she gets there so she lets herself in and goes straight for
hiking equipment, backpack, medical supplies, food, weapons etc. Valerie is
used to hiking so the walking doesn’t bother her at all. She used to go hiking regularly,
it was something her father was very strict with his kids about. He believed
they should know how to survive off grid and have survival skills. With some of
the items she needs she heads off to her dads. Mike has a small amount of time
to attempt to explain what is going on to Valerie and he cryptically keeps
saying, “it wasn’t supposed to be you”. It soon becomes clear that Valerie and
others like her are being hunted. She has to leave her dads home very quickly,
and is to be helped on her journey back to her son by some military friends of
her father.
The
”event” has uncovered a gene that had been laying dormant for years in human
beings. There are “normal” people, then humans that are classed as conductors
and then those with even more power who are called DiaZem. I don’t want to
reveal a great deal more as this book is a fantastic read and you are told what
details you need to know slowly within the book. Everything is revealed at the
right time within the book for it all to make sense.
I
really liked Valerie, I loved her morals, the fact she believes everyone to be
equal. I also adored the way she stood up for herself, and those around her
that she comes to class as friends. There’s a lot of rather, thought provoking
material within the book, such as, why certain people should live and others
considered inferior are to be wiped out. Valerie has her own strong ideas about
what is right and wrong. Valerie has to fake acceptance a few times in the book
as to be honest would mean the death of those she loves the most. The book has
lots of action, suspense, betrayal and loss, all of which make it an exciting
read that you will not want to put down. I managed to read the book in just two
sittings. If I could have sat and read as long as I wanted (not being
interrupted by chores, making food etc) I would have read this book in one sitting,
it was that good”. I also came to adore the other strong female character in
the book, Hyka. Hyka is a military medic and is part of SASQUATCH, which you
will learn all about when you read the book. I thought the relationship between
Valerie and Hyka was really well written. They seemed to start out almost hating
each other but become great genuine friends by the end of the book. Valerie
also has a fiery relationship with Major who happens to be Hyka’s dad. With
Valerie and Major it’s more like a power struggle as well as Major making
decisions with a military head whereas Valerie bases her decisions on what she
feels to be right in her heart. There were of course other characters I liked
such as Dr August Wilkes, Jack McGuire, Griff and Major.
Of
course, when you have characters you love on the “good side”, you also have
those you love to hate on the “bad side”. The characters that fall under this
title and worth mentions are Dr Lucas Jarrett who will stop at nothing to
ensure Valerie does his bidding. Then there’s Mike Burton who has kept a lot of
information that he should have given to his daughter long before the “event”
happened. Max who does have a difficult decision on which side to be on.
I
was undeniably pulled right into this book, the world it was set in and its
characters. I found the descriptions so good that they made it easy to
viaualise whatever was being described. The book flowed well at a fairly medium
pace and explained the whole genetic differences really well in a way I could
understand it and work out which characters had the different genes quite
easily. The book could be read by a YA audience but I honestly think this one
will do really well with an older age range of reader also. The well written book
style reminded of Steven Konkoly and a little like Grace Hamilton. It
characters that you would say were preppers, ready for any possibility that
could arise.
When
I finished the book my first thoughts were, Wow! what can I say? Amazing read,
looking forward to more!
To
sum up I certainly wish to read more about books in this series. I would also wish
to take a look at any other titles written by this author. When can I read more??
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
How many books will be in
the DiaZem series?
The
series consists of 3 books following Valerie Russell, the heroine of the
trilogy. There is also one companion novella written separate if the main
series. Those characters will merge into the main story by book 3.
When should I read
Reactance?
The
fun thing about Reactance is that it is more of a bonus story. If you never
read it, you can still read the trilogy and not really miss too much. Stephenie
Meyer did something similar with “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” and her
Twilight series. I originally wrote the novella as a teaser to book 1, but it
follows the timeline between books 1 and 2. If you were going to read it at
all, any time before the 3rd book is perfect.
How did you get your ideas
for Apparent Power?
Apparent
Power is a mash up of books and TV shows I was digging at the time and a
fruitless search for adult dystopian novels like the ones written for YA.
I
joined the army at 19, so while reading Divergent, I related a great deal to
the main character, Tris, in the fact of being so young and going through this
rigorous military training. When I finished the series, I tried doing a search
for “adult version of Divergent” or “books for adult fans of Divergent” and
came up with more YA novels.
So,
I decided to write this book I could not find. At the time, Revolution was on
TV and the plot circled around the world being without electricity. I am a
sucker for interesting dystopian plot lines so I adapted it to something more
original and took off with this adult story.
How did you choose the word
“DiaZem” for the title for your series?
For
everyone who is not an electrician, Apparent Power is an electric term used to
describe anything with power. This is also a pun on the main character being a
mother and having power. The original title of the book was DiaZem, but I knew
if I saw this on a shelf at the bookstore I would not pick it up. Dia is a
latin word for “between” and Zem is a take on the Turkish word, Zemin, meaning
ground. So, in keeping with the electrical theme, DiaZem is essentially a
“grounding rod”.
Did you have to any
specific research for Apparent Power?
If
so what/how did you do it? I did a little research regarding metabolic
science as well as electricity and how to demagnetize a magnet. Because I gave
the body an alternative way of absorbing and expelling energy instead of taking
in food and expelling calories through exercise, I wanted to keep within a
believable set of rules which the reader could really buy into. All of the
science mentioned in the book is based on real life principles which govern
those systems.
Who designed the Cover of
your book? Do you have a lot of input into the process?
Max
Seidel of Immortal Works Press, my former publisher, designed the cover where I
had a huge hand in the dream of this cover. Like the popular dystopian novels,
the subsequent covers will be different in color but maintain the light bulb
for continuity.
If you had to choose to be
a character from Apparent Power, which would you be and why?
Hyka
is most everyone’s favorite character. She comes off very intimidating, but her
humor is hilariously subtle and dry. She was likely my favorite to write which
is my much of Shifting Power, the second in the series, we will see a lot more
of her.
Do you, basic plot/plan
for each individual book in the series, before you actually begin writing it
all out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
I
wrote Apparent Power beginning to end without an outline. I followed the
formula of many YA dystopian novels, to include a moment before the climax
where you have no idea how the main character could ever get out of their
situation, I just had no idea what each plot point actually looked like going
into it. The sequel, Shifting Power, which is due out November 5th, 2019,
required much outlining to keep consistent with the previous story and new
stakes.
How long did it take you
to write Apparent Power?
I
began writing Apparent Power March 2015. I signed it to a publisher on December
2017. In between I took a solid 9 months off a writing while I transitioned
between promotions at work. I never wrote anything before, but I did a lot in
between which will be available in a collection in late May.
Did you have to do a lot
of research for your DiaZem series?
I
am doing a fair bit of research regarding country wide disaster planning, past
disaster clean up, nationwide surveillance and power grids. Being the leader of
a rebellion is hard and there is so much to know and learn even as an author.
What can we expect from
you next and in the future?
The
following titles are currently in the works:
Brightest
Firefly: A Collection of Short Works May 28, 2019
Shifting
Power (Book Two of the DiaZem Trilogy) November 5, 2019
Memoirs
of a Dacia December 6th 2019
And
a fantasy adventure The Hunt For Bheanoira 2020
When can we expect more of
the DiaZem series?
Shifting
Power, Book Two comes out November 5th 2019 and the final installation,
Taking Power, will be out Fall 2020.
Where can your readers follow you?
Blog: https://daciamarnold.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/daciamarnold/
Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18134027.Dacia_M_Arnold
Twitter: https://twitter.com/daciamarnold
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daciamarnold/
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