Book Blitz: Fire Country (Country saga #1) by David Estes

I am so excited to be part of the book blitz for Fire Country, the first book in the new Country series by David Estes. I will be sharing my review with you (yes again :p, it is that awesome). And I got the change to interview one of the most awesome side characters in a book, Perry the Prickler. Really it is one of the most awesome interview I have ever done. I even laughed out loud when reading the responses. And there is also a book blitz wide giveaway, almost forgot to mention that.

About the Author:
David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. A reader all his life, he began writing novels for the children’s and YA markets in 2010. He´s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table

You can follow David at:
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Fire Country (Country Saga #1)
by David Estes

I got a copy from the author to beta read

The blurb:
In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer’s even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.

Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.

Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.

As the desert sands run out on her life’s hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.

I have written this review after finishing my beta read of this book. So it is entirely possible that the finished copy of this book is even better.

My review:
I had high expectations for this book, but the book was even better than I expected. It has that dystopia feel to it, even more than the dwellers series did. The story is awesome, original, fast paced and I just couldn’t stop reading it!

The story is great, it start off as a great dystopia book already, but it so much more. I love reading Siena’s story, she is an awesome main character and even though she isn’t perfect she is strong inside. I loved reading about the world in which she lived and about everything that happened. There were moments where I thought “no this can’t be happening”, I was surprised so often by all the twist and turns that I didn’t know what to expect anymore.

Siena is an awesome main character, she has so many flaws, but it is also obvious she is strong inside. I loved that she wasn’t perfect and had her own flaws and her own strengths. She felt like a real person. Some of the side characters also were really thought out, I loved getting to know Circ, Lara and the other characters. Although I do think that some characters motivations weren’t as clear.

The world building is awesome, David Estes created an awesome world in this book and even the little details are thought out. I would almost believe this world really exist. The world is thought out and I loved every piece of information I got about it and wanted to know even more about it. I really liked the fact the different language and word the people used, the words were chosen well and most of the times I immediately understood what the word meant, although I did had some problems figuring out the meaning of one or two words. There is also much about the world we still didn’t know and I want to know more about it, but I guess that means there is still space to learn more about the world in the next books in this series.

To conclude: the fire country surpassed my expectations, the story was awesome, I love the characters and the world building was done so well. I just want to read more and can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

Also Fire Country will be on sale today only, with 25% off. So grap your copy today and pay $2,99 today only!

And now it’s time for my awesome interview with Perry the Prickler.

Hi Perry! I am so excited to have the chance to interview you today! You are definitely one of my favorite side-characters of Fire Country!
Well, thank you for that. I wish you’d tell the natives, they can be extremely sour and unpleasant sometimes, bitching and moaning about their little “problems.” Meanwhile, they’re the ones trying to chop me and my brothers up to make salad or stew or some other such local dish.

Lolita: well I am glad they didn’t make salad or stew from Perry, else we would’ve missed a really awesome side character in Fire Country. Although now I am curious how Prickler stew and salas tastes.

So Perry can you tell us a little something about yourself (like who and what you are)?
Well, as you mentioned, my name’s Perry. Well, it’s not really. I never really had a name, until this strange black-haired girl came along and starting talking to me, which nobody had ever done to me before, and well, she called me Perry and it kinda stuck.

What am I? Hmmm, I understand that most of your readers are from the 21st century, so they’d probably understand the term “cactus” although the people of fire country refer to me as a “prickler.” Basically, I’m a thick-skinned plant that grows even under the harshest conditions, like in fire country, where’s there’s not enough burnin’ water to barely quench my thirst. I’ve got spiky little buggers all over me, so watch out if you get too close—Siena learned that the hard way when she ran smack into me. I’m able to store loads of water in me, so the natives like to use me for a quick drink and something to munch on, if they can get past my pricklers that is! Sometimes I bear beautiful flowers, but only if we get enough rain, which is rare, so usually I’m just plain old gray-green Perry the Prickler.

How old are you?
If treated well, I’m immortal, able to last for centuries even out in the desert, but because of the Meteor god, who became angry with the humans, all desert plant life was pretty much wiped out. Somehow, somewhere, some prickler buds survived though, and sure enough, I started growing once the great dust clouds rose and disappeared, and the searin’ humans started crawling from their hiding places. Long story for a short answer, I know. I’m approximately exactly Four hundred and eighty nine years old, by the humans’ reckoning. In prickler years that makes me twenty one, so I’d like to say hi to all the ladies out there looking for an extremely eligible bachelor. Hiiiii!

What is your favorite color?
I love a deep magenta with a yellow border. I sprouted these flowers once that were exactly like that. Absolutely breathtaking. A nasty baggard by the name of Keep picked them clean offa me and gave them to a female inmate up here in Confinement, trying to win her affections and such. Well, she spat in his face. But then she wore my flowers behind her ears until they withered away to nothing but brown mush.

What is your favorite time of the day?
Nighttime, when the searin’ humans are sleeping. Not that a little darkness ever stopped Siena. In fact, she seemed to talk to me more at night than any other time, always going on and on about conspiracies and her father and blah, blah, blah. I was like, hey girlfriend, can a guy get a little shut eye? Not that I have any eyes, but I still need my beauty sleep.

How is it like to be bound to one place?
Bound? Oh, I wouldn’t call it bound. I mean, I ain’t got any feet, but that don’t stop me from walking far and wide. Maybe not in person, but through the eyes of other pricklers. You see, all pricklers are connected. We see what each other see, we hear what each other hear, we know what each other know, you get me?

Ha! I could see it in your eyes that you bought that whole load of tugblaze! I was just screwin’ you around a little, all in good fun of course. Honestly, it really sucks sometimes, not being able to move from one place. I’ve got to rely on all the action coming to me up in Confinement, but I still feel like I miss so much of the goings on in fire country. But I guess it could be worse. I could be one of those pricklers stuck in the middle of the desert with only ’zards, Cotees, and vultures to keep them company. Or worse yet, one of those pricklers that end up in someone’s prickler salad, all cut up into little chunks.

How does your normal day look like?
Well, when the sun comes up and turns the sky all red and the clouds all yellow, I usually start with some stretching, reaching for the sky, working the kinks out. Then I do mental jumping jacks, just pretending, trying to get some exercise. It’s almost the same thing as actually doing them, and I swear I would do them if I had legs and well, arms.

What next? Ahh, yes, I drink a smidgen of the water I’ve got stored inside me, just enough to quench my thirst and keep me from drying out and getting too brittle. Nobody likes a brittle prickler! Then, if there are any brambleweeds being blown past by the wind I do my best to catch them on my spikes. You know, like sort of a game. It’s fun. I mean, I can only lean a centimeter or two to either side, but sometimes that makes all the difference.

When I get bored in the afternoon, I usually take to taunting anyone who’s nearby. I’m an avid taunter, did you know that? Of course, I’m sure you do. I pretty much taunted Siena every second of every day she was stuck in that cage of hers, and even when she wasn’t. I tend to taunt those I like the most, so she got a very healthy dose.

As night falls I always watch the sunset, because hey, I got the best seat in the house and who doesn’t like a good sunset?

Nighttime is for listening, and although I’ve got a big mouth, I can listen pretty searin’ good if I put my mind to it. The desert has so much to say at night with creepy-crawly things, well, creeping and crawling and slithering and scurrying. And Cotees howling too, a mournful, eerie sound that makes you shiver in the best way possible.

What do you like doing in your free time?
Just having fun mostly. I mean, what else is life about but having fun. So I usually try to keep things exciting by making up new taunts I can use on any passing humans. Or I might scare a passing ’zard with a loud “Argh!” in their face. That always gets me laughing. But really, I don’t have too much free time, what with all the humans passing through to observe. Then it’s my solemn duty to pass any information I get through the mental telepathies of all the other pricklers….Ha! Got you again! I wouldn’t know a prickler on the other side of fire country from a prickler sitting right next to me.

Can you tell us something about your first meeting with Siena?
Well, first of all, you should read her book, Fire Country, because it’ll tell you everything that happened. But if you want to know one thing, it’s that I didn’t mean to prick her with my spikes. I tried to move, I swear it, but my two-centimeter lean wasn’t nearly enough to get out of her way. And when she crashed into me and my spikes got her, I felt awful, terrible really, for maybe five, ten seconds. And then I just thought it was really funny and I couldn’t stop laughing, because who runs into a prickler!

Can you tell us something interesting you have seen happen in the confinement of Fire Country?
Nothing really. These humans are so wooloo, I never know what they’re thinking. They shove people in these cages, which is pure foolishness, because what a waste it is to have perfectly good arms and legs and not be able to use them. That’s why I was really happy for Siena when she used her perfectly good arms and legs to bust out of Confinement, not once, but twice! Impressive, really, although I couldn’t help giving her a hard time about it. A human’s gotta be free and a prickler’s gotta laugh, right?

Thanks so much Perry for letting me interview you! I think it was one of the most fun interviews I have ever done ?!

Wow, is that it? Is that my fifteen minutes of fame? But I’m not done yet, I have so much more to tell, I just want to say—

***It was at this point that a tugskin was thrown over Perry’s spiky head to convince him it was nighttime and that he should be sleeping. Thankfully, he fell for it and shut the scorch up***

And now for the giveaway. One winner will win a signed paperback copy of Fire Country! I mean how awesome is that? So go and enter the giveaway now!

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