Guest Post by David Estes + Giveaway: The Moon Dwellers!

Hi everyone, today a guest is taking over my blog. David Estes will talk about the concept of Tri-Realms in The Dwellers Saga! This book is one of the most interesting ones out there. I want to read this SO badly! Stick around for the chance to win a signed copy and an ebook of the first book. ;)

I want to live in the Tri-Realms!

by David Estes

Many times when I read a book, I think, “Ooh, how cool would it be to live in that world?!” Do you ever think that? Some of my favorites are Hogwarts from Harry Potter or Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. The world I’ve created in my new series, the Dwellers Saga (The Moon Dwellers, #1, The Star Dwellers, #2, The Sun Dwellers, #3) is a world of darkness, set deep below the ground, created as a direct result of a rogue meteor rendering the surface of the earth uninhabitable. Some of you may be thinking, “Hell no! I’d never want to live underground!” and others may be saying, “I’ve been in caves before, they’re awesome. I’d love to give it a go!” I know that I want to live in the Tri- Realms, but before you make a final decision, let me give you an idea of what it would be like in the underground world that is the Tri-Realms.

Unbeknownst to citizens of the United States (or any other country for that matter), the U.S. government and its scientists had been expecting a meteoric calamity for years. In preparation, they began digging an underground network of enormous caves, deep below the earth’s surface, complete with makeshift stone buildings, filtered air from aboveground, and access to clean, fresh water from the many underground rivers and lakes. For years they widened and expanded the caves, benefitting from ever-improving mining technology. Despite their efforts, when the Armageddon-like event finally occurred, there wasn’t room for everyone.

In fact, there wasn’t nearly enough room.

Other countries were left to fend for themselves, and Americans were subjected to the Lottery—every man, woman, and child (other than “vital personnel” such as scientists, miners, an government leaders, who received an automatic ticket) were entitled to a one in a hundred chance of being selected to be a part of the new society. If your number wasn’t called, you were doomed. Families were ripped apart, their children placed with new parents who had been selected; lifelong friends said tearful goodbyes; soldiers physically tore babies from the arms of their mothers: for the weeks leading up to the start of Year Zero, it was literally hell on earth. 

And then the real hell began.

Those selected were taken underground, while the rest were left to face sure death at the hand of a meteor the size of Texas and the impending tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and drastic weather changes. Those underground waited and prayed.

When the meteor hit, those alive wept tears of sorrow for those they’d lost, tears of gladness for having survived, and tears of fear for the challenges yet to come. Humankind adapted to their new environment, gaining improved night vision due to long exposure to dim or dark conditions. Life expectancies, however, declined rapidly, hitting a low of forty six years old in the year 50 P.M. (Post-Meteor), but eventually the human lungs adapted, too, and became better able to cope with the dust-filled air that made breathing difficult. Life expectancies rose back into the fifties and eventually into the low-sixties, plateauing at around sixty five years old.

The population rose from three million to four million to five million. Democracy slowly morphed into dictatorship, so subtly and slowly that the citizens barely felt it until it was too late. The issue of overpopulation of the original caves led to the creation of the Tri-Realms, as two new cave networks were built, each deeper under the earth’s surface than the previous layer. The poor and powerless were sent to dig their own caves and forced to live in them.

The original topmost layer was coined the Sun Realm, and was populated by only the upper class and their servants, who were referred to as sun dwellers. By overtaxing the lower classes, the sun dwellers enjoyed such luxuries as the creation of an artificial sun, complete with sunrise and sunset, huge generators that provided almost unlimited electricity, and grand palaces and homes full of servants. Life was a constant event, with balls and parties and meetings and greetings. Life expectancies remained relatively high for the sun dwellers, at around sixty five years old.

The “middle-class”, which was more like a lower class, was full of hardworking miners and those with almost no savings (in the form of Nailins, the currency that replaced the U.S. dollar approximately 150 years after Year Zero, aptly named after the ruling President Nailin). They lived in the Moon Realm, deeper still, and were nicknamed the moon dwellers. For the moon dwellers, life was hard, with most males spending their days in the mines, choking on rock dust and sweating rivers of black filth, all for a Nailin or two a day, which was barely enough to buy bread and rice to feed their families. The women toiled in whatever occupation they excelled at, from sewing to baking to shipping, desperately trying to support their husbands and children. The children knew no other life than the one handed to them, except for what they dreamed about when reading the sun dwellers magazines and books. For them, the Sun Realm was a magical place, a fairyland, something to aspire to. No one told them they could never go there; it would break their little hearts. Life expectancies were barely over fifty years old.

The deepest, smallest, and most crowded caves were located in the Star Realm, in which lived the star dwellers. They worked the hardest and were taxed the highest. The heat in the Star Realm was intense, as they were very near to the lava flows, where waste was destroyed. Orphans were common and ran rampant through the streets, stealing for their survival. Disease and death were a part of everyday life, with life expectancies hovering in the mid-forties. Suicide was common.

You can only push people so far. Something had to change. A revolution was inevitable.

It all started with a moon dweller girl, Adele, and a sun dweller boy, Tristan. Adele’s in prison; Tristan’s the son of the President; each are bound together by a mysterious connection. Is it love at first sight or is there more to the tether that seems to constantly draw them together? Together can they find Adele’s parents and overcome the oppressive Tri-Realms government led by Tristan’s father? Read the first book in the series, The Moon Dwellers, to find out. (Read the full synopsis and reader reviews here http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13931214-the-moon-dwellers)

In conclusion, I want to say that I do want to live in the Tri-Realms, for despite all the hardships and challenges the people face, they still have one important thing: hope. The ancient values of honor, loyalty, trust, and family still exist in spades if you know where to look, and those who wield the weapons of good take their obligation to conquer evil very seriously. I want to be a part of the rebellion. And so I declare: I want to live in the Tri-Realms!

A special thanks to Precious for giving me the chance to come on her blog and talk about the grim and twist-filled world that is the Tri-Realms. The Moon Dwellers is now available everywhere ebooks are sold or in print via Amazon.com (links below).  Also, I pledged when I started writing to always respond to my readers, and I love getting comments and questions, so please contact me using one of my favorite social networking sites below.  As always, happy reading!!

About the Author:

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. David grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. A reader all his life, he began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and started writing full time in June 2012. Now he travels the world writing with his wife, Adele. David's a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table. He is the author of the YA series’ The Dwellers Saga and The Evolution Trilogy, and the children’s series, Nikki Powergloves.

Follow David: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Giveaway: Signed Paperback/Ebook of The Moon Dwellers

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.

In their world, someone must die.

Where you can buy The Moon Dwellers:

Amazon (paperback)

Kindle (ebook)

B&N (ebook)

Smashwords (ebook)

Rules:

• Open to US/CA (but if you have a US/Canadian addy that you can use, join!) everyone!
  

• Because this book is high up in my wishlist and I want you guys to get the chance to read this, following me is not mandatory!

• There are two rafflecopter forms - one for the ebook and one for the paperback - make sure you fill out the right form!

 
For US/CA residents, you can win the signed paperback:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For everyone, you can win the ebook version:

a Rafflecopter giveaway