Welcome to the tour for this exciting new YA Sci-Fi/ Fantasy, Technopaladin: Clarity’s Edge by Elizabeth Corrigan! Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a $25 US Amazon E-Gift Card!
by Elizabeth Corrigan
May 17th, 2021
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/ Fantasy
Clarity’s paladin order forbids her from entering the Azure District, the one location in her high tech city that refuses paladin rule and technology. When she receives an illicit invitation to violate the prohibition, spurred on by rumors of suffering in the district, she passes through the crumbling brick entryway into no-man’s land. Within, she finds the residents lack not only the ocular implants and three dimensional computers she takes for granted, but also medicine to fight a disease infecting the children.
Clarity knows her order isn’t perfect—after all, they stole her from her parents when she was a small child to raise her with their values—but she cannot believe they know what’s going on in the Azure District. When she confronts the head of the order, he refuses to aid people who have rejected his help in the past, even the children. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Clarity enlists the help of the leader’s son Cass and takes matters into her own hands.
Clarity engages in increasingly questionable behavior—deleting official records, lying to her friends, and manipulating people who can help her. As the nefarious nature of her actions tarnishes the purity of her cause, she must determine what it truly means to be a paladin, in both name and action.
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/ Fantasy
Clarity’s paladin order forbids her from entering the Azure District, the one location in her high tech city that refuses paladin rule and technology. When she receives an illicit invitation to violate the prohibition, spurred on by rumors of suffering in the district, she passes through the crumbling brick entryway into no-man’s land. Within, she finds the residents lack not only the ocular implants and three dimensional computers she takes for granted, but also medicine to fight a disease infecting the children.
Clarity knows her order isn’t perfect—after all, they stole her from her parents when she was a small child to raise her with their values—but she cannot believe they know what’s going on in the Azure District. When she confronts the head of the order, he refuses to aid people who have rejected his help in the past, even the children. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Clarity enlists the help of the leader’s son Cass and takes matters into her own hands.
Clarity engages in increasingly questionable behavior—deleting official records, lying to her friends, and manipulating people who can help her. As the nefarious nature of her actions tarnishes the purity of her cause, she must determine what it truly means to be a paladin, in both name and action.
EXCERPT:
“You broke the girl’s leg, Al!” Cass said as soon as the door to his room shut. He’d been waiting half the day to unload on the owl, and the barracks seemed the best place to do that where no one would overhear. My going home has nothing to with what Tenacity said. I needed to talk to Al, and I didn’t have any urgent work, and I wanted to work on my personal projects. Most paladins kept their living spaces sparse and utilitarian, but Cass surrounded himself with broken gadgets, half-constructed gizmos, and spare parts for both.
“Hoo.” Al perched on top of Cass’s closet door, his glassy eyes innocent.
“Don’t you ‘Hoo’ me!” Cass threw his jacket on the bed, then flopped down after it. He scowled at the bird.
Meg sauntered past him and jumped onto his desk. “What do you care? You don’t like her anyway." She stretched, knocking a part---Cass couldn’t see which one but felt certain he would need it later---onto the floor.
“Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I want her to suffer bodily harm!” Cass said. “We’re paladins! We have certain ethical standards to uphold!”
“Oh, so you’ve been thinking about her body, then,” Meg said as she curled up and closed her eyes.
Cass opened his mouth to form a retort he was sure would be quite cutting---not that Meg would care---when Al spoke. “Uphold ethical standards like Valor does?”
Cass clenched his fists. The sound of his brother’s name was enough to put him into a headache inducing rage. “Just because Valor is the world’s worst paladin doesn’t mean I have to be. I don’t have morals because it impresses my father and the Council. I have them because it’s the right thing to do.”
Al flew down next to him. “I’m sorry, Cass,” the owl said. “It was just supposed to be a few pranks. I didn’t mean to injure her.”
Cass stroked the top of Al’s head, and the robot closed his eyes and preened as if he could feel it. “I know, buddy. But let’s leave the pranks alone for a while, shall we? I don’t want to have to change your programming.” Cass could never explain to Tenacity why it would be a violation to modify the AI’s algorithms, especially since they weren’t sentient, just complex. Maybe Tenacity was right about him needing some human friends.
“I don’t think the girl’s so bad.” A purr reverberated through Meg’s words.
“That’s because you don’t know her,” Cass said, sitting up. He’d wasted enough time moping. He needed to get some work done on his fetching drone. He pulled his magnifying goggles out of his shirt pocket and put them on.
“Do you know her?” Al asked, flying alongside Cass as he moved to the desk and looked for his micro-screwdriver. It wasn’t where he’d left it, so he had to assume it had been Meg’s victim.
“I inadvertently went to dinner with my parents a few times when she was there,” Cass said, dropping into a crouch to look for the device. “She was horrid. Always deferential to my father about everything.” From the silence that followed, Cass could imagine what was going through at least Meg’s mind. He was always deferential to his father, too. Total obedience was the only way to deal with Steadfastness Hughes. “Besides, she’s dating Valor.”
“Hoo.” Al perched on top of Cass’s closet door, his glassy eyes innocent.
“Don’t you ‘Hoo’ me!” Cass threw his jacket on the bed, then flopped down after it. He scowled at the bird.
Meg sauntered past him and jumped onto his desk. “What do you care? You don’t like her anyway." She stretched, knocking a part---Cass couldn’t see which one but felt certain he would need it later---onto the floor.
“Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I want her to suffer bodily harm!” Cass said. “We’re paladins! We have certain ethical standards to uphold!”
“Oh, so you’ve been thinking about her body, then,” Meg said as she curled up and closed her eyes.
Cass opened his mouth to form a retort he was sure would be quite cutting---not that Meg would care---when Al spoke. “Uphold ethical standards like Valor does?”
Cass clenched his fists. The sound of his brother’s name was enough to put him into a headache inducing rage. “Just because Valor is the world’s worst paladin doesn’t mean I have to be. I don’t have morals because it impresses my father and the Council. I have them because it’s the right thing to do.”
Al flew down next to him. “I’m sorry, Cass,” the owl said. “It was just supposed to be a few pranks. I didn’t mean to injure her.”
Cass stroked the top of Al’s head, and the robot closed his eyes and preened as if he could feel it. “I know, buddy. But let’s leave the pranks alone for a while, shall we? I don’t want to have to change your programming.” Cass could never explain to Tenacity why it would be a violation to modify the AI’s algorithms, especially since they weren’t sentient, just complex. Maybe Tenacity was right about him needing some human friends.
“I don’t think the girl’s so bad.” A purr reverberated through Meg’s words.
“That’s because you don’t know her,” Cass said, sitting up. He’d wasted enough time moping. He needed to get some work done on his fetching drone. He pulled his magnifying goggles out of his shirt pocket and put them on.
“Do you know her?” Al asked, flying alongside Cass as he moved to the desk and looked for his micro-screwdriver. It wasn’t where he’d left it, so he had to assume it had been Meg’s victim.
“I inadvertently went to dinner with my parents a few times when she was there,” Cass said, dropping into a crouch to look for the device. “She was horrid. Always deferential to my father about everything.” From the silence that followed, Cass could imagine what was going through at least Meg’s mind. He was always deferential to his father, too. Total obedience was the only way to deal with Steadfastness Hughes. “Besides, she’s dating Valor.”
Even to his own ears, that argument was starting to sound weak.
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Elizabeth Corrigan has degrees in English and psychology and has spent several years working as a data analyst in various branches of the healthcare industry. When she’s not hard at work on her next novel, Elizabeth enjoys playing tabletop role-playing games and cooperative card games. She refuses to watch most internet videos and is pathologically afraid of bees. She lives in Maryland with two cats and a very active iphone.
Twitter Tags: @ERCorrigan @RRBookTours1 #Technopaladin #RRBookTours #CoverReveal
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