This new release from
QueerTeen Press is an interesting metaphor for gay teens. On an island where citizens are fed propoganda and pills to keep them complacent, most people just go with the flow. After all, this island Colony is all that's left on a war-ravaged Earth. Even the weather is maintained to keep out the radioactive atmosphere outside the cloud cover. In spite of controlled test tube births and genetically prescribed desires, the teenage years are still an accepted phase of rebellion where guidance and direction are willingly offered. Most parents just tell their kids to keep taking the pills and the questions will go away, and that takes care of everything.
16-year old Aine is more rebellious than anyone else he knows. After accidentally missing a pill and dreaming for the first night in his life, he wonders what else he's missing out on. Especially since his dream was about his best friend, Kyer. He knows he could never openly act on the feelings this dream awakens because every citizen is assigned an opposite sex Other at lab-conception. Aine skips more pills after that. The Colony constantly tracks and monitors its citizens, so Aine doesn't have many options for privacy or anyone he can trust with his secrets. He questions his parents, teacher, and even the Overseer about why they live the way they do. When no one is willing to listen, Aine realizes he has to take matters into his own hands.
I think a lot of GLBT teens could relate to the fear, secrecy, and pain Aine goes through. Many gay teens feel isolated, questioning an entire way of life and rule system that many people mindlessly believe. Some feel they must leave everything they know behind for freedom to be themselves. Book Two will release in October. I'm looking forward to it, and hope Aine finds what he is looking for.
If you enjoy the Colony series, you may also enjoy my book The Divide, Book One: Uprising, also through
QueerTeen Press. The Divide, Book Two: Unity will release in March, 2014.
QueerTeen Press is an interesting metaphor for gay teens. On an island where citizens are fed propoganda and pills to keep them complacent, most people just go with the flow. After all, this island Colony is all that's left on a war-ravaged Earth. Even the weather is maintained to keep out the radioactive atmosphere outside the cloud cover. In spite of controlled test tube births and genetically prescribed desires, the teenage years are still an accepted phase of rebellion where guidance and direction are willingly offered. Most parents just tell their kids to keep taking the pills and the questions will go away, and that takes care of everything.
16-year old Aine is more rebellious than anyone else he knows. After accidentally missing a pill and dreaming for the first night in his life, he wonders what else he's missing out on. Especially since his dream was about his best friend, Kyer. He knows he could never openly act on the feelings this dream awakens because every citizen is assigned an opposite sex Other at lab-conception. Aine skips more pills after that. The Colony constantly tracks and monitors its citizens, so Aine doesn't have many options for privacy or anyone he can trust with his secrets. He questions his parents, teacher, and even the Overseer about why they live the way they do. When no one is willing to listen, Aine realizes he has to take matters into his own hands.
I think a lot of GLBT teens could relate to the fear, secrecy, and pain Aine goes through. Many gay teens feel isolated, questioning an entire way of life and rule system that many people mindlessly believe. Some feel they must leave everything they know behind for freedom to be themselves. Book Two will release in October. I'm looking forward to it, and hope Aine finds what he is looking for.
If you enjoy the Colony series, you may also enjoy my book The Divide, Book One: Uprising, also through
QueerTeen Press. The Divide, Book Two: Unity will release in March, 2014.