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Steelstriker
681 pages
A desperate, high-stakes fight for survival and connection in the ashes of a fallen nation.
What it feels like
Reading this smoldering dystopian sequel feels like standing in the ashes of a fallen world, fueled entirely by desperate hope and the visceral need for rebellion. The narrative moves at a propulsive, urgent pace, plunging the reader into an oppressive atmosphere of tyranny, captivity, and forced betrayal. It is a deeply intense experience, anchored by the emotional weight of severed loyalties and the fragile, enduring link between separated allies. The prose is action-oriented and emotionally charged, capturing the harrowing reality of becoming a weapon against one's own people. Young adult readers who crave epic, high-stakes science fiction will be swept up in this dark but fiercely earnest journey of reuniting fractured bonds to save a broken world.
- Mood
- smoldering
- desperate
- high-stakes
- oppressive
- Tone
- urgent
- intense
- earnest
- dramatic
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- loyalty and betrayal · survival under tyranny · the cost of war · enduring connection · fighting for a broken world
- The writing
- Action-oriented and emotionally charged, focusing on the visceral stakes of a dystopian conflict.
- The arc
- Moves from devastating loss and forced betrayal to a desperate, smoldering fight for reunion and rebellion.
- Who it's for
- Young adult readers who crave epic, high-stakes dystopian sci-fi with intense emotional bonds and themes of rebellion.
Content notes
- war and combat
- torture
- captivity
- forced betrayal
About the book
As a Striker, Talin was taught loyalty is life. Loyalty to the Shield who watches your back, to the Strikers who risk their lives on the battlefield, and most of all, to Mara, which was once the last nation free from the Karensa Federation’s tyranny.
But Mara has fallen. And its destruction has unleashed Talin’s worst nightmare.
With her friends scattered by combat and her mother held captive by the Premier, Talin is forced to betray her fellow Strikers and her adopted homeland. She has no choice but to become the Federation’s most deadly war machine as their newest Skyhunter.
Red is no stranger to the cruelty of the Federation or the torture within its Skyhunter labs, but he knows this isn’t the end for Mara – or Talin. The link between them may be weak, but it could be Talin and Red's only hope to salvage their past and safeguard their future.
While the fate of a broken world hangs in the balance, Talin and Red must reunite the Strikers and find their way back to each other in this smoldering sequel to Marie Lu’s Skyhunter.
Description from Open Library.
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