{"product_id":"ninth-city-burning-isbn-9781101991466","title":"Ninth City Burning","description":"\u003cb\u003eFor fans of \u003ci\u003eEnder’s Game\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Red Rising\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Hunger Games\u003c\/i\u003e comes an explosive, epic science fiction debut...\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Cities vanished, gone in flashes of world-shattering destruction. An alien race had come to make Earth theirs, bringing a power so far beyond human technology it seemed like magic. It was nearly the end of the world—until we learned to seize the power, and use it to fight back. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The war has raged for five centuries. For a cadet like Jax, one of the few who can harness the enemy’s universe-altering force, that means growing up in an elite military academy, training for battle at the front—and hoping he is ready. For Naomi, young nomad roaming the wilds of a ruined Earth, it means a daily fight for survival against the savage raiders who threaten her caravan.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When a new attack looms, these two fledging warriors find their paths suddenly intertwined. Together with a gifted but reckless military commander, a factory worker drafted as cannon fodder, a wild and beautiful gunfighter, and a brilliant scientist with nothing to lose—they must find a way to turn back the coming invasion, or see their home finally and completely destroyed.\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eNinth City Burning\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Grabbed my attention from the first page—fresh and un-put-downable. An intriguing cocktail of science fiction, fantasy, and military adventure stirred into something new and satisfying.\"—Patricia Briggs, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of\u003ci\u003e Fire Touched\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “A finely crafted and original science-fantasy epic full of wonder and spectacle. Highly recommended.”—Anthony Ryan, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Waking Fire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Ninth City Burning is simultaneously an epic fantasy, a science fiction adventure, a coming of age story, and a delight.” —Seanan McGuire, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eMagic for Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Fans of Ender, Harry Potter, \u003ci\u003eStarship Troopers\u003c\/i\u003e, and manga-style armored mobile suits will find Black’s debut the perfect ticket to a fantastic new world…This thrilling kickoff to an action-packed series will appeal to those who enjoy science fiction mixed with fantasy.” –\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Black is a fresh new voice who pays respect to the classics of SF in this enjoyable adventure debut…Given this strong foundation, readers can expect more thrilling adventures from this new author.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eNinth City Burning\u003c\/i\u003e is an intense, complex, engrossing story, a tale of multiple lives intersecting… Fans of both fantasy and science-fiction will want to keep an eye out for the next, and the next… \"—Jean Johnson, national bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Terrans\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eJ. Patrick Black\u003c\/b\u003e has worked as a bartender, a small-town lawyer, a home builder, and a costumed theme-park character, all while living a secret double life as a fiction writer. While fiction is now his profession, he still finds occasion to ply his other trades as well. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he likes to visit the ocean. \u003ci\u003eNinth City Burning\u003c\/i\u003e is his first novel.\u003cu\u003eJax\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1.\u003cbr\u003e We’re only a few minutes into our quiz when the sirens start, and the first thing I feel is relief, even though I know that’s totally wrong, totally not how I should feel. I can still remember the panic, the terror that used to come over me when I heard the atmospheric incursion siren, the signal that our city is under attack. And I know that’s how all the kids around me must be feeling this very second. But it’s different for me now. Once the first shock of the wailing siren passes, it’s true I’m afraid too, but it isn’t the same kind of fear I used to feel. It’s more like fear of letting everyone down, and even that’s not so bad yet, though I know it’s going to get worse. But for a moment, just a moment, there was that relief, because I’m totally not prepared for this quiz, which I know is crazy, because what kind of person is like, \u003ci\u003eOh great I won’t have to take a quiz because everybody is going to die.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I’m not a bad student, really. Even in biology, which is the subject of this quiz, which is about photosynthesis, which is how plants turn sunlight into energy. The trouble is whenever I sit down to study I end up picking up the Academy Handbook. It isn’t a long book, but each time I finish I just flip back to the beginning, like maybe if I read it one more time I’ll find the answer I need. Like maybe I just missed it the other hundred-million times. But even though the Handbook has all the rules for life at the Academy, it doesn’t tell me the one thing I really need to know. Oh, and there’s nothing about photosynthesis either.\u003cbr\u003e “Pencils down, cadets.” That’s Danyee, our rhetor. Everyone in Sixth Class Section E has her for biology, physics, and irrational mechanics. She had been pacing the rows of desks, looking over our shoulders one by one, but at the sound of the siren she walked to the front of the room. “In line by the door, please,” she says, her voice calm, almost cheerful, like this is just another lesson.\u003cbr\u003e All around there is the sound of chairs creaking from beneath desks. Near the back of the room, a girl gives a little squeal of panic: her pencil is still scribbling away. She smacks it down like someone swatting a fly, then glances up to see if anyone’s noticed. We all have, including Rhetor Danyee, who takes the girl by the hand and leads her to the line of cadets forming by the door. Using an artificed pencil during any kind of test is totally against the rules, as anyone who’d even picked up the Academy Handbook would know. On a normal day this girl would be in for some big-time trouble, but not today. Rhetor Danyee, who is usually pretty tough, gives the girl’s hand a reassuring squeeze before ushering her into line. If they’re still alive tomorrow, they can talk about punishment then.\u003cbr\u003e I’m cadet 6-E-12, meaning Sixth Class Section E Seat Twelve, so I take my place twelfth from the door. As I walk down the line, I can feel the other cadets watching me—not staring, because you’re supposed to be face-forward when you’re in formation, but from the corners of their eyes. My uniform is the same gray as any other cadet’s, and on my collar I have the same six black pips as everyone in Sixth Class, but there isn’t a person in this city who would mistake me for a normal kid. The symbol I wear at my neck, a golden circle with a second circle inside, is just a reminder. During school hours, everyone is expected to pretend like I’m just another student at the Academy, but that’s all they can really do: pretend.\u003cbr\u003e Over the past few months I’ve gotten used to everyone looking at me differently, gotten used to setting off whispers everywhere I go. It isn’t like people are mean to me. If anything, they’re extra, extra nice. Actual officers will stop and salute me, or congratulate me, or ask to shake my hand. I’ve made a lot of friends since starting at the School of Rhetoric, and my friends from before are still my friends. The kids in Section E seem proud to have me, usually. But not today. Today things are different. Today everyone’s nervous. They know that in a little while their lives could depend on me. \u003cbr\u003e Of all the eleven and twelve year-olds who came back from Sequester, I’m the only one who turned out to be fontani, and as the youngest fontanus in the city, it’s my job to stand for all of us during an attack. The last line of defense. In ten minutes all of Ninth City could be gone, and I will have to fight, to protect whoever is left. And that’s the look the other cadets are giving me now: they’re wondering if they can trust me with their lives, this kid with his long nose and curly dirt-brown hair, who’s somehow skinny and a little pudgy at the same time, who’s in the bottom half of his class in chin-ups and push-ups and don’t even ask about the five-kilometer run. Who’s never been really, really good at anything. They’re seeing the same Jax they’ve known for twelve years, only now I’m somehow supposed to protect them from complete destruction. Even Rhetor Danyee seems tense. I don’t blame them: I wish they didn’t have to depend on me either.\u003cbr\u003e When all the cadets of Section E are in line, Danyee opens the door and we file out of the classroom, forming two columns of ten, everyone moving smoothly in time. Each of us has been doing atmospheric incursion drills practically since we learned to walk. As a section, our best time is classroom to shelter in three minutes and forty-two seconds. It’s all so familiar I almost forget this is the real thing. But only almost.","brand":"Ace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300051407077,"sku":"NP9781101991466","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781101991466.jpg?v=1767733772","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/ninth-city-burning-isbn-9781101991466","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}