A thousand years post-Earth, music thrives, while humanity…tries.
Although their music-guided propulsion systems have allowed them to mine the mazelike nebula known as Caerdroia, the colony space stations of the New World Federation are dying, with no actual New Earth in sight.
But Jude Aberdeen is more than just a Federation guitarist; he’s a believer. Like his grandfather before him, Jude sees visions of a Green Place when he resonates with his music, a New Earth somewhere out beyond Caerdroia’s coils. To survive an expedition no one but his offbeat drummer and illicit-AI bassist believes in, he’ll need to win the Federation’s legendary Battle of the Bands and secure this year’s grand prize: a ship up to the challenge of the nebula’s dangers. And he’ll need to do it without losing himself to the fame and fortune, sponsors and competitors that turn out to be their own kind of dangerous, and soon.
Because the colonies aren’t the only thing that is dying.
About the author:
Courtney Grace Powers has been telling stories since she was six years old, sometimes with music, sometimes with costumes, sometimes with photos and art…but always with her first love, the written word. She believes ferociously that Storytellers of every medium are the sculptors of history and culture, with powers that should be leveraged for good. A Dungeon Master, Rebel Legion member, and mom, she lives with the Kanan to her Hera in the middle of Ohio cornfields.
Rating: 5 couches!
How do I start a review of this amazing book RESONATE, by Courtney Grace Powers, without fangirling all over the page? First, let me say that I've been starved to read a new sci fi novel, a GOOD one, for YEARS, and there really is a dearth of them out there, particularly in the young adult arena. I'm not sure why that is? Maybe because it takes a little more work as a reader to become used to the world so these novels are not as accessible or as popular? I also believe that being able to TRANSLATE such a detailed world onto the page, especially a sci fi one is extremely difficult and cannot be done by most writers successfully.
Thankfully, this is not the case in RESONATE, and this sci fi YA drought has been resolved with this new arrival. First, I want to say that whenever someone self publishes a book, I get a little worried about starting it. Typically, not as much editing goes into self pub, and the story may get lost in a bunch of wasted, unnecessary exposition and multiple typos.THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH RESONATE. If that is a concern for any of you, put that worry away right now! The novel is well written, paced, and plotted, and all of the characters have arcs for themselves. The world building is extraordinary. It took a couple of chapters to get used to how the characters speak and how the world is referred to, but that made me stick with it even more because I could really immerse myself. The characters have their own lingo, and it shines from the page.
So the plot. The main story revolves around Jude Aberdeen, an 18 year old kid, who begins on a second rate ship, powered by music-- literally. The crew has to compose of at the very least a guitarist/vocalist, bass and drums to power and move the starship. The world he lives in is on borrowed time, as it is falling apart in more ways than one. And Jude dreams of a new world, a world with green trees reaching for the sky. He also has a time constraint-- his sister, Falcon, is sick and running out of time. He believes that if he can find this new world, it could mean the cure for her from this sickness, the reaping, that is befalling more and more of the population. The best way he can think of is to create his own band/crew and win the battle of the bands contest to obtain a ship that can make such a journey.
Jude Aberdeen is lovable from page one. You feel his yearning to his past, mainly towards his grandfather who played a huge role not only his visions of a new world but also in his likely genetically inherited skills on the axe (that's a guitar for those of you not in the lingo). Jude is also tied to his present by his dying sister and his deaf family (can I say how much I love how hearing and sign language play into this book??? I am also reminded of another book that I'm super duper in love with: Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, who stars a deaf female protagonist who is a band manager). At the same time, he is striving towards making his own path and future in a world that already knows and reveres the legend that is his grandfather. Jude loves fiercely, wears his heart on his sleeve, but has fears like any other character, and sometimes, makes the wrong choice. But you never stop cheering for him throughout the story, and that's important in a book like this-- or any book in my opinion. I want to see him through to the end.
The side characters should receive more than a small note. Kindle Joh, the tech, has been Jude's best friend from childhood, and has discovered a way to amplify the power source of the ship without making it explode. She is a minute Asian fireball, and reminds me of several strong Asian sidekicks-- notably Rose, from the star wars trilogy, and Lane Kim, from Gilmore Girls (Kindle has her own personality, never fear, but these similarities were a happy welcome to me). Naveen Suresh, the new bassist, reminded me purely from his name alone, Mohinder Suresh from the show Heroes, and Naveen Andrews from Lost. The combination of the two is not far off from Naveen in the novel. That said, there are a lot of secrets that will need to be uncovered about this very lovable but fascinating character. The third of their trio, a drummer... will have to be discovered by the reader. I don't want to give too much away. But I will say that there are a lot of twists involving all the characters that took me by surprise, which is hard to do these days. I fell in love with most of the characters, but there was one I was suspicious of but equally intrigued by (as was Jude). However, Powers treats this new interaction with kitten gloves and great timing, and doesn't fall into an easy trap here, which I am equally relieved and awed by.
But most importantly, Resonate... well, RESONATED with me... for lack of a better word, because it is full of HEART. It is very clear to me that the author LOVED this world and these characters, and their very essence leaps from the page. I am also relieved to hear there is a follow up, called Gravitate, so that I can revisit these characters and follow their journey once more.
I haven't talked much about the music. The music and the love for music, and how that echoes in every word and every chapter is so essential to the book. The author has actually composed a song for the series, and I cannot wait to hear it. The hook of the sci fi Battle of the Bands and how a band's music literally powers ships was enough for me to read the book, but that really took a sideline to everything else I mention above just because the book is so much more than that hook. I hope a traditional pub takes notice and elevates this to a wider audience because this book is much better than a lot of traditionally pubbed novels I've seen in the past 10 years.
Overall, an absolute delight to read from start to finish with amazing lovable characters, a lightning paced plot with many twists to keep your attention, and world building so encompassing that you leave your own world behind. A must read for anyone this year.
