Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1)
Page 26
The cyborgs walked on. The great wall on the city crumbled.
The dragons swooped in and blasted their fireballs over the screaming people.
Sebastian opened his eyes. “Now we end it,” he repeated.
*
And the roar could be heard for miles, so loud that it was solid. The beast ripped out of the shielding and rose up, towering above the city. Its great arms reached into the sky and swatted the dragons out of the air in mid-flight.
Its tail whipped around, carving through hundreds of the cyborgs. The beast turned and glared over the advancing army with its mechanical red eyes. A stream of fire erupted from its mouth, so hot that the sand melted to glass.
Within minutes the battle was over. The wrecked city stood, victorious.
Sebastian stood on the terrace looking up at the beast. The beast looked down on him. They stood looking at each other for a long time, lost in some kind of understanding.
Melanie rushed up to Gavin and gave him a hug, the bruises and battering from the day forgotten. “You made it. I’m so glad you got the dish set up.”
“Ah, that’s the thing. We didn’t get there in time. The passage was blocked. Deliberately, Nikola thinks. He’s not even sure the energy came from the batteries. We won’t know until we get down there.”
The beast moved. It stepped backwards and turned away. It stomped off toward the distant mountains.
“Welcome back,” said Sebastian.
Welcome back, came the echo.
42
NIKOLA, MELANIE AND Sebastian all looked out to the west, watching the boiling sun drop below the horizon.
The comments of the old woman floated around Melanie’s head.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” Nikola said to Sebastian.
“Was there any truth in what she told me?”
“Some of it. And some parts were missing.”
Sebastian was quiet for several moments. He kicked some loose stones, which rolled off the edge of the great wall. He placed his hands behind his back and looked steadfastly out to the bleak horizon.
Eventually he spoke. “I’ll get her back.”
The adventure continues in book two of the Tesla Evolution:
AWARDS:
Foreword Reviews’ Indiefab Book of the Year Finalist (Science Fiction)
the Bookbag’s Top Ten Self Published Books of 2014
SPR Full Moon Awards Runner-up 2014 (Science Fiction)
National Indie Excellence Award Finalist (Science Fiction)
Wishing Shelf Award Silver Medalist (Teen Readers)
In Praise of Decay:
A significantly darker outing where the first was more of a quest to discover Sebastian’s destiny and his mother’s fate, Decay has no such strong light at the end of the tunnel. The theme of the book is stagnation and despair. This is in no way a failing of the book’s writing, which is excellent; the tone of the book is well set and motivations of the characters have become individual and complex ... Lingane is certainly an author to pay close attention to this year and in the future. 5 Stars
- SPR
Dialogue is crisp, pacing is strong, and despite its generally grim tone and flashes of violence, the story is dotted with touches of humor. Seb and Melanie are fun, personable teens whom readers can identify with and enjoy.
- Kirkus Reviews
Decay offers good commentary on contemporary society. The cyborgs parallel contemporary technology overtaking our lives. Have we become robotic as we rely on technology? Are people increasingly critical of anyone different? There is good commentary about how to proceed in this wartorn world. Some are pacifist and some are calling for war, the debate from all sides effective and engaging. There is much subtlety and nuance in describing the humans’ plight. There is humor to balance out the darkness. The novel is plenty dark, but it is not unrelentingly grim. Recommended
- SPR Full Moon Review
Lingane’s prose style is warm, humorous, energetic, and controlled, a tough job to handle when the pacing moves at air-scorching speed. He’s mastered the art of moving a story through action without leaving the reader behind. 5 Stars
- Foreword Reviews
It’s obvious to see how Mark’s grown as writer and the Tesla series is more than a pinnacle: it’s a pinnacle with the phrase ‘movie material’ balancing on the top. 5 Stars
- theBookBag
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Mark Lingane writes, and has written, a lot over a long time. Not much of it is interesting. Even if it sounds interesting, it isn’t. For those who are interested, further comprehensive and quality insights—like this—about his past, and future publications might be found at: mark-mywords.co where you can also join the reading group.
Check out these other great novels by Mark Lingane
Para-noir-mal Detectives
Beyond Belief
Sucker
The Ellen Martin Disasters (Rom-Com Adventures)
Chasing Heart
Desert Heart
The Tesla Evolution (Young Adult Science Fiction)
Tesla
Decay
Faraday
Fusion