Thursday, December 29, 2022

📚 10 Things You Might Not Know About The Lightbound Saga by Author S.G. Basu #10things

S.G. Basu is an aspiring potentate of a galaxy or two. She plots and plans with wondrous machines, cybernetic robots, time travelers and telekinetic adventurers, some of whom escape into the pages of her books. Although she’s an engineer by training, writing has been her passion since childhood. Her other loves include extra-hot lattes, fast cars and binge watching sci-fi movies.

Find out more about the futuristic worlds she creates at sgbasu.com. She can also be reached at sg@sgbasu.com.

Books by S.G. Basu:

The Lightbound Saga series (YA Dystopian Science Fiction)

Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy

Maia and the Secrets of Zagran

Maia and Regency Protocol

The Lightbound Saga 3 Book Bundle

The Firefly League-A Lightbound Saga novella

Elementals-The Serial Thriller (Paranormal Science Fiction)

Population Morpheus (Near Apocalyptic Science Fiction)

Jumpers (Paranormal Thriller)

You can visit the author’s website at www.sgbasu.com or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

10 Things You Might Not Know About The Lightbound Saga

The series of six books took 8+ years to write (I did also write many other books during those years). The last book was written in a little over three months. This book, incidentally, is also the longest of the six.

The central five characters are meant to represent the five fingers of a hand. Together they form a fist and the team of five is a play on the strength of unity.

The Lightbound Saga began as a challenge triggered by the disappointing conclusion of an anime series. I decided to write my own story so my characters could get endings that satisfied me.

The central premise of the series (that the star of a planetary system could be extinguished any day) came out of a challenging commute one winter day. That day I realized how important the sun is for us, yet how little control we have over what happens to it.

The protagonist’s name was inspired by the Sanskrit name Maya, which means “illusion.” But it was subsequently changed to Maia, because the Greek meaning of that name, “great,” seemed more appropriate.

Miir, the deuteragonist of the series and cast as an antihero, was the first character to be developed.

Sana, Maia’s cousin, was only supposed to make a one-book appearance in Book 3, Maia and the Regency Protocol. But she grew into a central character and found room in all three subsequent books, thanks to her unending sass and spunk.

Supervisor ‘Bones’ Aerika, the warden during the Initiative’s second phase, is based on a real-life teacher.

Maia’s pet cat is a male calico. A male calico is such a rarity that it is referred to as a unicorn of cats.

Title: The Lightbound Saga Trilogy
Author: S.G. Basu
Publisher: Dreamwater Press
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult

Series Blurb:

13-year-old Maia is a land-dwelling Solianese living on the planet of Tansi. She has been raised by her doting grandfather. Her mother, Sophie, supposedly deceased, is accused to be a traitor who fought for the Xifarians who have subjugated Tansi. Loathing her family’s history, Maia has put herself into self-exile, vowing to steer clear of the temptations that led her mother astray. But when she is drafted into a peace summit by the Xifarians, she must walk into Xif, the planet she has always wanted to avoid. Here she meets loyal teammates Kusha, Dani, Nafi, and Ren, as well as Miir, their Xifarian team mentor who is as accomplished as he is temperamental. As Maia and her teammates thwart a plot to harm the underwater settlements on Tansi, she also discovers that her mother, Sophie, was not what she seemed. Sophie sacrificed herself to save Tansi before the Xifarians could destroy the Tansian system.

Maia visits the Jjord nation in their underwater colonies on Tansi. More of Sophie’s secrets come to light while she is in the colonies as well as more of the Xifarians’ plots to rebuild the dark heart of Xif. As Maia’s link with Sophie becomes apparent, Maia soon finds herself in the crosshairs of the Xifarians who kill her family and send her running for shelter across the dead lands of the Solianese. Chased by the Xifarians, Maia barely manages to stay alive with the help of her teammates.

While on the run across Tansi, Maia meets a mysterious man who unlocks a power within Maia. When her mighty Xifarian foes corner her, Maia unleashes the power on them, overpowering everyone, including her former mentor, Miir.

Maia struggles with her newfound power. The team is on the verge of fracturing when Maia reveals she might have killed Miir. Meanwhile, the R’armimon, an ancient and powerful enemy of the Xifarians, are on the way to the Tansian system, seeking vengeance from the Xifarians. On finding this, the Xifarians grow desperate to resurrect the dark heart that would enable them to leave the Tansian system. Maia narrowly escapes the Xifarians’ trap with a mysterious ally but her new alliance takes a toll on her friendships.

Maia is alone and hopeless but she forges on to regain the trust of her teammates and tries to convince the Tansian leaders of the impending threat of the R’armimon fleet. With help from her allies, Maia continues to uncover more of Sophie’s past. Together with her friends, Maia rushes to find the artifacts needed to thwart the R’armimon as the massive Execution Fleet of the R’armimon appears next to Tansi.