by Beth Revis
The World Divided
These Secondary States, angry at what they felt was unfair treatment at the hands of the second Prime Administrator, devolved from protests to open warfare. The Secondary States quickly joined with nations who could not previously afford to join the UC—or which did not want to join the UC—to become collectively known as the Secessionary States.
The battle lines were quickly developed. On the one side, the Unified Countries, led by the Representative Administrators and the Prime Administrator. On the other side, the Secessionary States, who remained divided among leadership and acted as individual nations allied under one common goal: to dismantle the world government.
The Secessionary War became known as “the war to end all wars,” a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the previous war labeled such, World War I. This violent, bloody, ruthless war saw more deaths of civilians than deaths of the entire casualties of WWI and WWII combined. This came about in no small part due to the increasing efficiency of weapons of mass destruction, and the ruthless nature of both sides of the battle.
The Secessionary States favored cybo-robotics in an attempt to make the “perfect soldier,” equipping their armies with impenetrable suits of armor that provided the soldiers with super strength and durability. The UC favored nano-technology warfare, using nanobots to spy on and, in some cases, attack the enemy.
In the end, though, neither of these advancements in warfare ended the Secessionary War. It was the development of a solar glass bomb, dropped on the neutral nation of Malta during a rally led by key UC players, that turned the tide of war. The UC nations, outraged by the hundreds of thousands of deaths resulting from the bomb, eviscerated the remaining Secessionary States, which apparently had no other such solar glass weapons after the first. The Secessionary War ended soon after the Battle of the Seine, where the UC held the occupied nation of France in siege, infecting the waters of the river Seine with nanorobotics that led to riots and violence, ending only after the Secessionary States withdrew and admitted defeat.
A Tentative Peace
The war ended in the Great Treaty of Malta, but the resulting government was on shaky ground. Soon after the treaty, the Prime Administrator was voted out of office, replaced by Prime Administrator Hwa Young, currently on her second ten-year term in office. A popular choice for PA, the UC has flourished under PA Young’s leadership.
One of the first things PA Young did was increase the defensive strategies of the UC. “There will never be a war to end all wars,” she said during her famous State of the World address the year she took office. “We must always be prepared for the next one.”
Not only did PA Young fund further development of scientific advances in the Lunar Colonies, she also developed Malta as the new seat of the UC. Under her supervision, the great city of New Venice was built, a bridge city between two of the largest islands of the nation of Malta. Malta is now the seat of the world’s government, and New Venice is the capital where all the Representative Administrators meet with PA Young.
A Flourishing Renaissance
Since the Secessionary War, Malta and the city of New Venice has flourished, becoming the seat of a new Renaissance of art, literature, science, and government. With Triumph Towers as a beacon of hope for all citizens, the city is now the most visited location in the world, a Mecca for anyone who wants to discover the riches of the UC after the war.
PRAISE FOR BETH’S WORKS
The Across the Universe Series
--Three weeks on the NY Times Bestseller’s List
--Two Kirkus Starred Reviews
--Romantic Times Seal of Excellence
--Two-time recipient of Romantic Times YA Futuristic Book of the Year
--YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Award of 2012
Across the Universe
“Cunningly executed thriller…a compulsively readable crowd-pleaser.”
–-Booklist
“…a believable romance and a series of tantalizing mysteries that will hold readers’ attention.”
–Publisher’s Weekly
“Who Should Read This: Well, sci-fi and mystery fans will love it, but so will any girl or boy who’s ever sat in a room full of quiet conformists and wanted to scream at them all, ‘Wake up!’”
–MTV.com
A Million Suns
“Revis has penned a fast-paced, action-packed follow-up with her dystopian, sci-fi thriller…that explores not only the nature of authority and loyalty but fear of the unknown and fulfilling one’s personal destiny.”
–LA Times, 8 January 2011
“There literally isn’t one dull moment in the entire story!”
–Seventeen.com
“Setting and plot are the heart and soul of this ripping space thriller, and they’re unforgettable.”
–Kirkus, starred review
Shades of Earth
“A tense and delicious ride — one that satisfyingly brings the series full circle.” –The Examiner
“[Revis has a gift] as a propulsive storyteller with a knack for jarring surprises and raising the stakes.” –Booklist, Dec. 1, 2012
“[Shades of Earth] brings it home on a planet far from home.” –Kirkus, Dec. 1, 2012
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book came from two things I love most in the world: reading and traveling. The first time I left the continent was in college, with a trip through my education program organized by Dawn Shepherd. She led us fearlessly to a little island none of us had heard of before. Malta left an indelible print upon my soul, and I have been forever, irrevocably entranced with this beautiful, unique country. Subsequent trips—notably to the Italian version of Venice—helped me to see the world in a new perspective and invent a new one of my own.
But of course, The Body Electric is more than a world—it is also a story. And while Ella and Jack and the rest are fully mine, I was inspired, like many other modern science fiction authors, by the work of the brilliant Philip K. Dick. Ella Shepherd is an homage to Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and the Reverie Mental Spa owes a debt to the novella Total Recall.
I have so much gratitude to the people who helped me produce this book. Merrilee Heifetz and Sarah Nagel at Writers House are my very own knights in shining armor, and among the few people who inspire me to never give up. I will never forget how awesome you are. Thanks go also to Gillian Levinson for reading and providing editorial feedback. Hafsah Faizal developed a beautiful cover and interior design for the book, and I’m so honored to have the chance to work with her.
Carrie Ryan and Lauren DeStefano are my heroes; thank you for the countless emails, the tea and sympathy, and the encouragement as I wrote this story. Elana Johnson and Natalie Whipple are both fantastic writers and incredible people; thank you for giving me information, advice, and cheers as I started to turn this story into a book. Extra love to Alan Gratz and the Bat Cave group for helping me to revise the story, especially Megan Miranda and Megan Shepherd for reading the whole thing; Heather Zundel for being so enthusiastic for this tale; Christy Farley for willing to drop everything to read for me; the Breathless Girls, who have become my sisters: Andrea Cremer, Marie Lu, and Jessica Spotswood. I know I’m forgetting people—I’m sorry! I have the best friends in the world, and my life is better for it.
Huge thanks to my local independent bookstore, Malaprops, for always wanting my next book!
There are three people who are more important to me than all the words on all the pages: my parents, Ted and JoAnne Graham, and my husband, Corwin Revis. I will never forget your love.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth Revis is the NY Times bestselling author
of the Across the Universe trilogy, hailed by the LA Times as “fast-paced [and] action-packed.” The complete trilogy is now available in more than twenty languages throughout the world. A native of North Carolina, Beth loves to travel, and first visited Malta when she was in college. She currently lives near
the Appalachian mountains with her husband and dogs, and is working on several new books.
Find her online at www.bethrevis.com
or on Twitter @BethRevis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
copyright
map
dedication
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty-one
twenty-two
twenty-three
twenty-four
twenty-five
twenty-six
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
twenty-nine
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-three
thirty-four
thirty-five
thirty-six
thirty-seven
thirty-eight
thirty-nine
forty
forty-one
forty-two
forty-three
forty-four
forty-five
forty-six
forty-seven
forty-eight
forty-nine
fifty
fifty-one
fifty-two
fifty-three
fifty-four
fifty-five
fifty-six
fifty-seven
fifty-eight
fifty-nine
sixty
sixty-one
sixty-two
sixty-three
sixty-four
sixty-five
sixty-six
sixty-seven
sixty-eight
sixty-nine
seventy
seventy-one
seventy-two
seventy-three
seventy-four
seventy-five
seventy-six
epilogue
A SINCERE THANKS TO ALL MY READERS
INSPIRATION FOR THE TURING TEST
THE TURING TEST
EXCLUSIVE AUTHOR INTERVIEW
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE BODY ELECTRIC
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNIFIED COUNTRIES
PRAISE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR