Goddess in the Machine

Lora Beth Johnson

Jun 2020 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Andra wakes up from a cryogenic sleep 1,000 years later than she was supposed to, forcing her to team up with an exiled prince to navigate an unfamiliar planet in this smart, thrilling sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Renegades and Aurora Rising.

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?

Ratings and reviews

I cannot express how impressive this novel is. I am not usually a fan of sci-fi, but this book seamlessly blends the futuristic and fantasy elements that it feels both old world magic and futuristic space colony while making total and complete sense. Beyond that, the language is incredible. Lora Beth Johnson has created a new dialect of English that is as middle English is to modern English, yet I could understand the exact intent. I have never read a book that has done anything like this with a fantasy language. It's brilliantly evolved in a way that makes complete sense and from an etymological standpoint had to have been exhaustively researched. I am in complete awe. Beyond the basics, the story is beautiful. I love the characters and the relationships they develop throughout the novel. The two narrators are incredibly deep and developed, and I cannot wait to see how they continue to evolve throughout this series. The world she has created is so well layered and I am so excited to read these books for years to come. Although, I definitely wish the next in the series was in my hands now, I can say with certainty, it will be worth the wait.

From the opening hook, I was pulled into this unique and believable world and never wanted to stop reading. The world felt so real, with sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touch senses all working together to build a fantastic world for me to experience while reading. I loved Andra and felt every emotion, every pain, sharing right along with her. The author tossed surprising twists at me that I truly never guessed were coming. They delighted me and made this a five star read for me. The ending left room for a sequel that I'm hoping will be coming soon as I need to know what happens next! My mind was blown and mouth left open at some of the twists near the end especially. This book has everything I love about fantasy and science fiction all twisted together in a perfect package--danger, intrigue, secrets, hints of romance, friendship, and deceptions so fierce, plus plenty of action. The science fiction part was my favorite as nano technology, cryogenetics, and AI fascinate me.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for an advanced copy! I won it in a giveaway, and this in no way impacts my review of the ARC copy of this book. Brief Summary: Andra and 1 million other colonists are chosen to travel across the galaxy to find a new home on the planet Holymyth. To do this, they are put into stasis for 100 years. Except Andra wakes up 1,000 years later than she's supposed to on a foreign planet, surrounded by foreign people with a foreign language. Not only that, these people consider her to be a goddess- who can blame them since she's basically a fairytale princess in a glass coffin?- who can save them with her magic. If not, she'll be executed. Pretty concerning, right? Andra is determined to find a way off this planet and return home to Earth. Her life depends on it. Zhade is the bastard prince of Eerensed, though the people don't know it. He was banished to the desert for 4 years after the execution of his mother. Zhade will do anything it takes to get back into his home and avenge his mother's murder no matter the cost. I was torn between giving this 3 and 4 stars. I don't typically read a lot of sci-fi, though I do consider it to be one of my favorite genres. I'm not sure exactly why I wasn't 100% feeling this book, so let's delve in and try to figure it out. First, in this society, the people consider technology to be magic. No one understands it for what it is, and they don't really know how to use it. I don't understand what could've happened to make people forget what technology is. It's not like technology went away after the original colonists died? People still knew what it was/how to use it/how to create it. How could that knowledge just die out generations later? This is not explained in the book. It just seems a little odd to me, and I would've been fine with it if it was explained somehow. However, it does make sense that it's not explained since the book is mostly in Andra's POV and she doesn't even know what happened to cause her to wake up 1,000 years too late! So it's not like she'd know how the knowledge of tech died out years ago, and there's no history books for her to read. The plot and the characters are very solid. I honestly had no clue how this book was going to turn out which is really rare for me! It was very action packed, and the situation seemed to change chapter by chapter. There were so many twists, and I'd say I only had an inkling for one of them. The characters were well rounded. There's a nice cast of supporting characters. My favorite character was obviously Zhade. I mean who doesn't love a confident, quick-witted, bastard prince? I am kind of mad at Zhade for doing this thing I don't think he really needed to do, but I guess I'll get over it. I loved the banter between him and Andra. I only wish there could've been more! I almost feel like we didn't see them together that much. Sure, there are lots of scenes where they are together but it's skimmed over. It goes along the lines of, "Zhade and Andra were together for hours doing this thing. Here's a few lines of their conversation. Aaaaand next chapter where it's the next day." I want more! I'm greedy for banter and relationship development it seems. The ending is a slam dunk! I've got so many questions, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. There's so many things that need to be tied up, and I can't wait to see how Andra and Zhade do it. It's definitely a cliffhanger ending, so buckle your seatbelts and hold on tight! We've got a long wait ahead of us *cries in Eerensedian*.

About the author

As an only child, Lora Beth Johnson grew up telling herself stories and reading past her bedtime. She spent her adulthood collecting degrees, careers, and stamps in her passport before realizing her passion for creating fictional worlds. When she's not writing, she's teaching college English and learning new languages. She lives in Davidson, NC with her little roommate, Colocataire the Yorki-poo. Goddess in the Machine is her first book.

Find Lora Beth on Twitter @LoraBethWrites