Title: Omitted Pieces (Transformed Nexus #2)
Author: Stephanie Hansen
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Book Blurb:
By 2164, the new Sierra is on a new planet with a new problem. The mad scientist Cromwell has kidnapped her mother and set up shop on planet Scepter. In order to save her, Sierra will need to make new friends in this place of glowing leaves and a floating capital.
Back on Vortex, Al's shut down the old facility but will he be able to make it to Scepter? What about those who made it to Earth? Can they all work together or are they closer to danger than they realize? The amazing conclusion to the Replaced Parts duology, Omitted Pieces, explores new territory and old with dangerous compassion.
Excerpt:
I awake hungry and thirsty. Is this what the afterlife is like? I never expected Dr. Cromwell to follow through on his promise to put my conscience and memory in a qualified body. Hunger pains me again and I rise to find myself in a tropical forest. I’m surrounded by lush green, but the color is unlike any I’ve seen before. It’s as if the leaves are neon shining off of their surroundings. My body knows what to look for, even though I don’t. Where am I? What planet have I been transported to? Where’s Mom? I look down at it, this hourglass figure. I’d never been blessed with such curves in my sixteen-year-old body. I wonder if my dad will recognize me in this new one. I wonder if Al will still love me after everything? I also try to map out how to get home, but it’s all too much for this newfound body and I quickly find myself napping under a sea of green.
I’m roused by a series of clicks and identify the circular metal in front of me immediately out of place as it may be.
“Vex, how’d you get here?”
“I told ‘past’ you your mission was full of danger, Sierra.”
“How long has it been since I lost consciousness?”
“I calculate two weeks and five days since the ‘new’ you left Planet Vortex.”
“What? How have I been out for that long? Where’s Al? Did the shuttle make it to Earth?”
There’s a stream of beeps. “My universe data scan shows that the Al you’re asking about still has a pulse. It’s the Al ‘old’ you met on Planet Vortex, right?”
My heart warms, it beams. “Yes. Wait, your universe data scan, what’s that?”
“The World Government equipped all clopils with new scanners and applied all Counter Friction strings when the Planet Vortex revolution hit the news. The scan also shows that everyone who had been on your scheduled shuttle made it to Earth. The processes at the medical facility ended, too, but more on that later. We need to get to your mother.”
Mom, are you okay? I try to reach her telepathically, the way I had back on Vortex.
I’m fine. Just need to figure out where I am exactly.
“Sierra, there’s much at stake. We must embark on our journey at once,” Vex says.
Sunrays stream through openings in the canopy of leaves above us as we hike. I keep having to reassure myself it’s me when I look down and see someone else’s smaller feet. At least Cromwell dressed this body in proper attire. I don’t know what I’d do without these boots. Vex, on the other hand, is not well equipped for this terrain at all. He was made for modern city living. He’s used some of the tools he brought to lengthen his arms in order to help, but I keep assisting him, wishing he’d move faster. I think being locked up in the Vortex facility for so long gave me a sort of cabin fever. Now, being out in the open, I want to stretch my (these, no my, oh whatever) legs and cover the ground between us and Mom as quickly as possible.
Also, the weight’s gone. My legs had felt like they were filled with lead because of the guilt. But now, now that Viscerous and Albina are alive and safe on Earth; now that Pixie’s where no more harm can be done (well, no more harm than a painful exam in the graduate mathematics program at Stanford); now that Dad is free and no longer having to save Cromwell’s subjects, my legs feel light as air.
Mom, we’re headed to you. How are you doing?
I wait for what seems like an eternity, but she doesn’t respond.
“Vex, are you sure this is the way to Mom?”
“Yes. While she appears to be moving constantly, she has continually returned to the location toward which we’re headed.”
“Why? What’s there?”
“I’m not 100% sure. A new blocker is interfering with my scanner, causing inaccurate readings. I’m running diagnostics to prescribe next steps.”
“That’s weird. Isn’t it weird?”
“There’s a 3.34% possibility of it occurring. But it is ‘weird,’ as you say, that it’s occurring now not only where your mom is but also on Earth.”
“What? Where on Earth?”
“My coordinates match home base, Sierra.”
No, no, no, it’s as if the wind has been knocked out of me. Not again. Not them both! They need to be together so we can get my brother back. Then, I’ll finally meet him.
“Your heart rate has increased. A health scan would be beneficial.”
“I just need a small rest, Vex.”
I sit on a log and Vex stays near me. I try to let the breeze flowing through the leaves soothe me. It’s not like this means something’s wrong. All it means is that I can’t communicate with them. I take a deep breath in and a deep breath out while envisioning meditation circles.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
"Omitted Pieces is the second installment of the Transformed Nexus duology by Stephanie Hansen, which concludes the series in a fast-paced whirlwind of non-stop action. Following up on the events from the previous book, Vienna is on a trans-planetary mission to save her mother and long-lost brother, who have been taken by the evil leader Cromwell to play roles in his warped plan to reassemble his own family. On another planet, Vienna's clone, Sierra, recruits her own alliances to aid in Vienna's mission. Al can't stand being separated from his girlfriend, but he must keep secrets from her as he goes on his own secret mission to leave Vortex and rescue Vienna's brother. Planets apart, the three of them must find a way to work together for their common goal.
Without beating around the bush, Omitted Pieces jumps right into action, and it doesn't stop until the very last page. Stephanie Hansen has brought back the majority of old characters in addition to new and unique characters who are introduced as three different stories happen all at once. The perspective shifts between Vienna, Sierra, and Al are easy to follow, and it is fun to see how their stories intersect and build on one another. With just the right mixture of science fiction and action/adventure, I love the unexpected twists and mysteries that the characters encounter. The way that the multiple dystopian worlds come together on their adventures is unpredictable, and it is all wrapped up with an unforeseen yet satisfying conclusion." -Reviewed By Amy Powers for Readers' Favorite
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $20 Amazon US or Amazon Canada gift card
Open Internationally. You must have an active Amazon US or CA account to win.
Runs September 6 – September 14, 2022.
Winner will be drawn on September 15, 2022.
Author Biography:
Stephanie Hansen is a PenCraft and Global Book Award Winning Author. Her debut novella series, Altered Helix, released in 2020. It hit the #1 New Release, #1 Best Seller, and other top 100 lists on Amazon. It is now being adapted to an animated story for Tales. Her debut novel, Replaced Parts, released in 2021 through Fire & Ice YA and Tantor Audio. It has been in a Forbes article, hit Amazon bestseller lists, and made the Apple young adult coming soon bestsellers list. The second book in the Transformed Nexus series, Omitted Pieces, released in 2022. Her next novella, Ghostly Howls, releases 2/7/23. She is a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community so she tries to incorporate that into her fiction. https://www.authorstephaniehansen.com/
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