Wednesday, April 16, 2025

BBNYA2024 Blog Tour ~ 11th Place Finalist ~ The Half-Life Empire by Shami Stovall







Hacker Kita Yamasaki would do anything to escape the post-apocalyptic landscape that was the result of the Forever Winter. But for a normal person, the only options are the war-hungry nation-state of Ex Cathedra or the isolationist United California. Fortunately, Kita is anything but normal.


When she finds a faded brochure for the BC Oasis—an underground greenhouse capable of sheltering a quarter million people—she jumps at the opportunity, even going so far as to steal a fission battery the oasis requires to operate at full capacity. There’s just one problem . . . The battery belongs to the ruthless judges of Ex Cathedra.


Now Kita finds herself the target of a deadly chase. In her race to safety, she picks up three fellow travelers: Dallas; his mute daughter, Crouton; and Bishop, a junk hunter. But will they betray her and take the battery for themselves? Is one of them a member of the cultist Iron-Blooded who worship the few remaining alien invaders scattered across Earth’s wasteland?


Faced with certain death if they’re caught by the judges’ power-armored soldiers, Kita must put aside her suspicions and make a headlong dash for sanctuary—and the promise of a new life.




BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website or Twitter





Shami Stovall
2 October 2023
Sci-Fi | Dystopian
372 Pages

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble



Kita Yamasaki has a plan. It’s an ambitious plan, but it should work. She needs it to work. She needs to get the hell out of Dodge. Or, in her case, Ex-Cathedra. The beginning of her plan is executed flawlessly. Too bad the rest of it goes to shit. Now she’s having to improvise on the fly and she’s more of a methodical planner. But it’s improvise or die. And she may die anyway.


This is one hell of a ride! From the first moment the tension grabs and doesn’t let go. It’s a suspense-filled journey from beginning to end. The world building is fantastic and the characters are three dimensional. Kita thought she’d be going it alone, but she picks up people along the way. The path twists and turns and each time it does more is revealed about this new world, before and after the Forever Winter. Aliens. Figures it would be aliens. I mean, mankind can fuck up this world all on their own. They don’t need aliens to do that. Anyway, this is a story that entertains all the way through. There is a decent stopping point at the end, but it’s obvious the plot is just picking up speed. I look forward to continuing this story in book two.




Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators.










BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie or small press authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2025 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website, Twitter BBNYA, or follow this link  to enter! Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.

If you are Book Blogger or reviewer you can apply to be part of the awesome 2025 BBNYA panel via this form. Please remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up.

BBNYA is brought to you in association with book blogger support group TheWriteReads.




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