Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Sanctuary
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://carynlix.com/
CITY:
STATE: AB
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2018008857
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2018008857
HEADING: Lix, Caryn
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100 1_ |a Lix, Caryn
670 __ |a Sanctuary, 2018: |b ECIP title page (Caryn Lix)
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Received M.A. in English literature.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and educator.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Caryn Lix is the author of the debut science-fiction novel Sanctuary, a story set on an outer-space prison. “As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system,” wrote the contributor of an interview with the author to the Carolyn M. Walker website, “Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward…. At first, she’s confident her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom.” The superpowered teens “take Kenzie hostage,” explained Tom Malinowski in Voice of Youth Advocates. “She spends time among the hostages and begins to question the reasons for their incarceration.” The situation becomes more complicated with the discovery of “a monstrous alien threat,” said a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “which motivates Kenzie to work with the prisoners in order to survive a cat-and-mouse sequence of action and escapes.” Sanctuary is an “energetic novel,” declared Cindy Welch in Booklist, “that dispatches the adults early so the superpowered teens can come into their own.” “The juxtaposition of superpowered teenagers, marauding aliens, corrupt corporations, and dark secrets,” stated a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “makes this an exciting … story.”
Lix’s attraction to science fiction began when she was a teenager. “I started writing when I was fourteen,” stated the author in an interview appearing on the website Chikaru. “We had just moved, I was going through a lot, I was dealing with undiagnosed anxiety and depression, and I felt alone a lot of the time. Writing gave me a way to hang out with ‘people’ in my mind, to create my own worlds. And fortunately for me, it turned out that I loved it. That was when I first realized that my goal in life was to become an author. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that miracle overnight success story… it took me another quarter century of writing.” “I love space. I love aliens,” the author said in an interview appearing on the Patricia Bailey website. “I love messy decisions and blurred moral lines and romances that transcend boundaries. I wanted to put all of these things together with that sense of claustrophobic horror you get from the very best creepy movies and video games, and that was why I decided to write about an alien attack on a prison – and one on a space station. You can’t get more trapped than that.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 2018, Cindy Welch, review of Sanctuary, p. 52.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2018, review of Sanctuary.
Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2018, review of Sanctuary, p. 102.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2018, Tom Malinowski, review of Sanctuary, p. 73.
ONLINE
Carolyn M. Walker, https://misswritewise.com/ (July 21, 2018), “Author Interview with Caryn Lix.”
Caryn Lix website, http://carynlix.com (October 24, 2018), author profile.
Chikaru, https://chrikarublog.wordpress.com/ (July 21, 2018), “Author Interview: Caryn Lix.”
Patricia Bailey, https://patriciabaileyauthor.com/ (July 9, 2018), “Author Spotlight: Caryn Lix Talks about Sanctuary.“
Young Folks, https://www.theyoungfolks.com/ (July 24, 2018), Gisselle Lopez, review of Sanctuary.
Caryn Lix has been writing since she was a teenager and delved deep into science fiction, fantasy, and the uncanny while working on her Masters in English literature. Caryn writes novels for teens and anyone else who likes a bit of the bizarre to mess up their day. When not writing, Caryn spends her time obsessively consuming other people’s stories, plotting travel adventures, and exploring artistic endeavors. She lives with her husband and a horde of surly and entitled animals in southern Alberta.
Author Interview with Caryn Lix
July 21, 2018
Hey Booksters!
Today, I’m interviewing the amazing Caryn Lix and discussing her debut young adult novel Sanctuary, coming out this July with Simon Pulse! Read on to learn more about this exciting sci-fi thriller and the author behind the words!
ABOUT THE NOVEL:
thumbnail_Sanctuary
Alien meets Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds in this thrilling debut novel about prison-guard-in-training, Kenzie, who is taken hostage by the superpowered criminal teens of the Sanctuary space station—only to have to band together with them when the station is attacked by mysterious creatures.
Kenzie holds one truth above all: the company is everything.
As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system, Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward.
But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners.
At first, she’s confident her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.
As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn’t realize there’s a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive—all while beginning to suspect there’s a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
Q. What inspires you to write?
So many things! Stories I love, a shadow glimpsed out of the corner of my eye while crossing the street, something my husband says while we’re eating, my dog growling at an apparent gust of wind… sometimes it seems like just about everything makes me want to sit down at my computer!
Q. Why did you decide to write Sanctuary?
Sanctuary started as a way to get back into writing after a bit of a break. I wanted to write something exciting and full of adventure and memorable characters. So I started with the prisoners: who would be living on this station? What kind of people would they be, and what kind of people would prison turn them into? And from there I added Kenzie and the aliens, and things fell into place.
Q. What makes your main character(s) unique or worth caring about?
I really love all of my characters. I think the most important thing about Kenzie is that she represents all of us: she’s just a normal kid full of normal cares, but she’s grown up in a very distinct system, almost brainwashed into a single point of view. A lot of Sanctuary is about her learning that there’s a world beyond the one her parents gave her.
Q. Can you share a little bit about your writing process?
Do I have a writing process? Haha, I usually write when I’m inspired or when I’m on deadline. One thing I have found really helpful, though, is that I always write a chapter at a time, and when I finish one chapter, I write the first paragraph to page of the next chapter before stopping. That way when I come back, I’m in media res instead of starting from scratch.
Q. Who are your favorite author(s)?
I’m honestly scared to answer this question because I’ll definitely forget someone. I have dozens of favorite authors. Every time I read a new book I love, the author becomes my favorite author!
Q. What are you currently reading right now?
I just finished Jennifer Nielsen’s The Traitor’s Game. It’s a fantastic story of torn loyalties and gray moral areas.
Q. What’s harder, writing that first sentence or the last sentence of your book?
Unquestionably the last sentence. I can always come back to change the first sentence, but even though I KNOW I have that same freedom for the last sentence, it has a feeling of finality.
Q. What good advice would you give to aspiring authors out there?
It’s been said before, but read and write. Those really are the best pieces of advice I can give. Read everything, not just in your genre but everything you can get your hands on. And don’t give up on writing, even when things seem tough.
Q: What do you need at your side before you can write?
Something caffeinated, unfortunately – even if it’s eleven PM. Usually diet coke in the summer and tea in the winter. And while it’s not by choice, there’s typically at least one dog nudging my ankles.
Q: Is sci-fi the only genre you write?
It’s my first love and my primary writing area, but I also dabble in fantasy and other related fields. I find high fantasy is a hard sell right now, but there’s more of a market for urban fantasy every day, and that’s really cool. I’m loving some of the cyberpunk coming out too!
ABOUT CARYN:
Caryn Lix Author
Caryn Lix has been writing since she was a teenager and delved deep into science fiction, fantasy, and the uncanny while working on her Masters in English literature. Caryn writes novels for teens and anyone else who likes a bit of the bizarre to mess up their day.
When not writing, Caryn spends her time obsessively consuming other people’s stories, plotting travel adventures, and exploring artistic endeavors. She lives with her husband and a horde of surly and entitled animals in southern Alberta.
WHERE TO FIND CARYN ON THE WEB:
Website: www.carynlix.com
Instagram: @missrithenay
Twitter: @missrithenay
WHERE TO BUY SANCTUARY:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sanctuary-Novel-Caryn-Lix/dp/153440533X
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sanctuary-caryn-lix/1127208727#/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32855090-sanctuary
Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781534405332
Thank you so much for the interview Caryn!
Author Spotlight: Caryn Lix Talks About Sanctuary
JULY 9, 2018 ~ TRISHALICIOUS
sanctuary | Author Spotlight | www.patriciabaileyauthor.com
Today I’m shining the Author Spotlight on Caryn Lix and her debut novel SANCTUARY.
Title: SANCTUARY
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Age Range: 14-99 (YA)
Launch Date: July 24 2018
Please tell us a little bit about your book.
Alien meets Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds in this novel about prison-guard-in-training, Kenzie, who is taken hostage by the superpowered criminal teens of the Sanctuary space station—only to have to band together with them when the station is attacked by mysterious creatures.
Kenzie holds one truth above all: the company is everything.
As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system, Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward.
But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners.
At first, she’s confident her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.
As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn’t realize there’s a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive—all while beginning to suspect there’s a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.
What inspired you to write this story and/or these characters?
I love space. I love aliens. I love messy decisions and blurred moral lines and romances that transcend boundaries. I wanted to put all of these things together with that sense of claustrophobic horror you get from the very best creepy movies and video games, and that was why I decided to write about an alien attack on a prison – and one on a space station. You can’t get more trapped than that.
As for my characters, I love them all. I really do. They start as these vivid dreams and become my best friends and worst enemies, taking on a life of their own until I really don’t have much choice about getting them down on paper. They sneak out of my brain onto the page.
Everyone says writing is a process. Could you share a little about your writing and/or research process?
Everyone has such a unique perspective on this, and I love hearing how other people write. For me, I often start with a rough outline, but before long that goes out the window, which means there’s usually a point halfway through where I’ve written myself into a corner and am curled up on the couch under a blanket yelling plot ideas at my dogs. Eventually my husband convinces me to go write some more, at which point I write a truly terrible chapter that has to be deleted later, but that’s enough to propel me back into the story and get things moving again. In this way, bit by bit, an idea becomes a plot.
We know no writer is created in a vacuum. Could you tell the readers about a teacher or a librarian who had an effect on your writing life?
I had so many amazing teachers. I mention three in my acknowledgements. The first teacher who ever told me I could write was Ms Rochester, my grade 8 creative writing teacher. It had never occurred to me before that. In high school, my English teacher Mr Feschuk and my drama teacher Mr Montalbetti both had huge roles in encouraging me to write. I really don’t think I’d be where I am without them.
What makes your book a good pick for use in a classroom? Is there any particular way you’d like to see teachers use it with young readers/teens?
As a teacher myself, I think I have a pretty strong connection with what kids like to read. This is a great classroom pick for reluctant readers who want page-turning action, but will still appeal to a wide audience, making it a good whole class read. I’d love to see teachers use it to explore themes of isolation, of corporate entities and their control over the world, of what we can trust in terms of what we see and hear in the world around us.
I’m a little dog obsessed here at www.patriciabaileyauthor.com. Would you tell the readers about your favorite dog (real or imaginary)?
Um, YES. I have two dogs. Aleiah is a nine year old rescue. She’s a black lab with three legs. We think someone kicked her as a pup and her leg grew in crooked. The rescue organization had to amputate it before I adopted her. She is my very best friend and is always at my side. Archer is a three year old Boston Terrier. He is 50% adorableness and 50% nightmare. When he’s not curled up being the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, he’s attacking a wall because it looked at him funny. They are my constant writing companions.
Caryn Lix Aleigh | Author Spotlight | www.patriciabaileyauthor.com
Caryn Lix and Archer and Ali | Author Spotlight | www.patriciabaileyauthor.comarcher-anbd-ali
Caryn Lix and Archer | Author Spotlight | www.patriciabaileyauthor.com
Caryn Lix | Author Spotlight | www.patriciabaileyauthor.comCaryn Lix has been writing since she was a teenager and delved deep into science fiction, fantasy, and the uncanny while working on her Masters in English literature. Caryn writes novels for teens and anyone else who likes a bit of the bizarre to mess up their day. When not writing, Caryn spends her time obsessively consuming other people’s stories, plotting travel adventures, and exploring artistic endeavors. She lives with her husband and a horde of surly and entitled animals in southern Alberta. Visit her online at www.carynlix.com or find her on Twitter and Instagram: @missrithenay
You can pick up SANCTUARY at your local indie bookstore or online July 24, 2018.
Thanks, Caryn!
Author Interview: Caryn Lix
sanctuary banner
Today I am lucky enough to be joined by Caryn Lix, the author of Sanctuary, a sci-fi adventure set in a prison in space.
Published by Simon Pulse on 10th July 2018.
Don’t miss my review (coming up on Tuesday) and the other stops on this blog tour!
Summary:
Alien meets Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds in this thrilling debut novel about prison-guard-in-training, Kenzie, who is taken hostage by the superpowered criminal teens of the Sanctuary space station—only to have to band together with them when the station is attacked by mysterious creatures.
Kenzie holds one truth above all: the company is everything.
As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system, Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward.
But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners.
At first, she’s confident her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.
As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn’t realize there’s a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive—all while beginning to suspect there’s a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.
Find out more or buy a copy on Goodreads * Amazon * B&N * Book Depository * Kobo * Indiebound * ibooks *
carynlix
About the Author:
Caryn Lix has been writing since she was a teenager and delved deep into science fiction, fantasy, and the uncanny while working on her Masters in English literature. Caryn writes novels for teens and anyone else who likes a bit of the bizarre to mess up their day. When not writing, Caryn spends her time obsessively consuming other people’s stories, plotting travel adventures, and exploring artistic endeavors. She lives with her husband and a horde of surly and entitled animals in southern Alberta.
Find out more about the author on her website, Goodreads, Twitter or Facebook
1) Can you tell me about your journey to becoming an author?
I started writing when I was fourteen. We had just moved, I was going through a lot, I was dealing with undiagnosed anxiety and depression, and I felt alone a lot of the time. Writing gave me a way to hang out with “people” in my mind, to create my own worlds. And fortunately for me, it turned out that I loved it. That was when I first realized that my goal in life was to become an author. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that miracle overnight success story… it took me another quarter century of writing, hard work, and alternating enjoyment and frustration to get there.
2) What was the initial inspiration for Sanctuary?
I started with an image: Kenzie on Sanctuary, staring out the window at Earth, with the prison spiraling below her. Actually, the initial story was just going to be about the prisoners, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t just want to write another dystopian YA. But then I thought, what if the real threat didn’t come from inside the station?
3) How did the story change from first draft to published book?
Oh, so much! I was blessed with an amazing agent in Caitie Flum and a fantastic editor in Sarah McCabe and Simon & Schuster, and they helped me find all the weak spots in the book and iron them out. The biggest change was probably Kenzie’s mother. She was a much flatter, less interesting character. We really put a lot of work into her and considering how and why she does the things she does throughout the story.
4) What does your writing process look like? (e.g. storyboards, post-it notes, place you like to write, etc)
I always make a plan, and then I usually throw it in the garbage and wing it until I get stuck, and then I go back to the plan and think well, what can I salvage from this? I think it comes from being a teacher. There’s always a plan for teaching but it does go out the window at a moment’s notice! I can write anywhere, but I usually write in my office at home with a couple of dogs irritating me in the background. I do seem to need a caffeinated beverage. I’m not sure why.
5) What’s next for you?
I am currently working on the sequel to Sanctuary, which should be out some time next summer, and on moving to Tokyo! Between that I’m pretty busy for a while, but hopefully there are more books in my future.
Quick-fire favourites:
Colour: Blue
Food: Okonomiyaki
Drink: Chai latte
Book: Changes on a daily basis, but right now probably the Kingkiller Chronicles
Film: See above, but right now probably Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1
Thank you so much for answering my questions Caryn! I will be looking out for the next book!
(Thank you to Fantastic Flying Blog Tours and Simon Teen for setting up the interview)
Giveaway
If you are based in the U.S. you can click on the following link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway to win a copy of the book.
Open 18th July – 1st August.
Find me on Twitter , Goodreads or Instagram
Thanks for reading!
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Print Marked Items
Lix, Caryn. Sanctuary, Book 1
Tom Malinowski
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.3 (Aug. 2018): p73.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Lix, Caryn. Sanctuary, Book 1. Simon Pulse, July 2018. $19.99. 480p. 978-1-5344-0533-2.
4Q * 4P * M * J * S
Sanctuary is a space-station prison that houses super-powered teenagers. Kenzie, a teen, serves as prison
guard along with her mother who is the commander in charge. A routine drill goes awry when the prisoners
break out and take Kenzie hostage. She spends time among the hostages and begins to question the reasons
for their incarceration. Kenzie learns how her mother truly upholds the law as she will not let the prisoners
escape, even if the cost is Kenzie's life. What raises the stakes even higher is something evil that is lurking
the corridors of Sanctuary during the breakout.
This is a story about powered-up teenagers ... in prison ... in space guarded by ... a teenager. It is unique and
interesting. The action begins going early and does not let up. Kenzie is aware that she could be developing
Stockholm syndrome as she begins to see her captors in a different light when they begin to trust one
another. The struggle of guarding these prisoners conflicts with helping them to get out. Kenzie begins to
believe they are being persecuted by the system. The conflict plays out well over the course of the book,
while the addition of a sinister evil aboard Sanctuary is intriguing, although not necessary.--Tom
Malinowski.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Malinowski, Tom. "Lix, Caryn. Sanctuary, Book 1." Voice of Youth Advocates, Aug. 2018, p. 73. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A551167885/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b087c149. Accessed 29 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A551167885
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Lix, Caryn: SANCTUARY
Kirkus Reviews.
(May 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Lix, Caryn SANCTUARY Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (Young Adult Fiction) $19.99 7, 24 ISBN: 978-
1-5344-0533-2
A loyal corporate citizen teams up with the prisoners she guards at a space station jail for superpowered
criminal teens.
Corporate citizenship carries greater entitlements and privilege than government citizenship, and the top
corporation is Omnistellar Concepts. Raised by her intensely loyal Omnistellar family, teen junior guard
Kenzie is eager to earn her own future in the company. She works with her parents on Sanctuary, a space
station prison for juvenile anomalies--superpowered people who started appearing after mysterious alien
probes arrived on Earth. When the skeleton crew is further reduced, Kenzie is taken hostage in a prison
break attempt. The leader of her captors is an incredibly attractive, charismatic, and good-hearted Chinese
teen nicknamed "Cage." Through talking with him--and while grappling with whether or not her mother
will follow protocol and sacrifice her own daughter--Kenzie comes to question everything about the system
she's been benefitting from. Luckily, that somewhat overplayed storyline is freshened with the arrival of a
monstrous alien threat, which motivates Kenzie to work with the prisoners in order to survive a cat-andmouse
sequence of action and escapes. The high body count includes some unexpected fatalities, and the
ending points to a sequel. Main characters are white, and aside from Cage and his sister, other people of
color are represented among secondary characters.
Standard-issue corporate dystopia gives way to more compelling xenomorphic action and horror. (Science
fiction. 12-adult)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Lix, Caryn: SANCTUARY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A538293909/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=896d6d48.
Accessed 29 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A538293909
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Sanctuary
Cindy Welch
Booklist.
114.18 (May 15, 2018): p52.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Sanctuary.
By Caryn Lix.
July 2018.480p. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, $19.99 (9781534405332). Gr. 7-10.
As the story opens on the prison facility-spaceship known as Sanctuary, 17-year-old Kenzie is all that stands
between a gang of suddenly free, superpowered teen inmates and the universe. Her mother, the ship's
commander, is wounded or dead, and it appears that Sanctuary is also under attack from an alien presence.
Amid this chaos, Kenzie discovers she has been a different sort of prisoner aboard Sanctuary and that the
"bad guys" might not be so bad after all. First-time author Lix creates an energetic novel that dispatches the
adults early so the superpowered teens can come into their own. Kenzie is slowly won over to the side of
the teen prisoners, whose backstories reveal Sanctuary's corporate owners as the true criminals. Though
Kenzie's own ability becomes too convenient a plot device, the teen characters are engaging, and readers
will find themselves rooting for the budding romances and holding their breath as the heroes tiptoe down
dark hallways to find a way to defeat their foes. --Cindy Welch
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Welch, Cindy. "Sanctuary." Booklist, 15 May 2018, p. 52. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541400929/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=76fee97a.
Accessed 29 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541400929
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Sanctuary
Publishers Weekly.
265.22 (May 28, 2018): p102.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Sanctuary
Caryn Lix. Simon Pulse, $19.99 (480p) ISBN 978-1-5344-0533-2
In space, no one can hear you scream--except for the aliens stalking you. Kenzie, 17, is a junior guard on
Sanctuary, an orbital prison for superpowered teenage criminals. When she's captured as part of a mass
breakout attempt, she discovers an unexpected affinity with her captors, which comes in handy when they
need to work together to survive an extraterrestrial invasion. With terrifying monsters stalking the space
station and no hope of rescue, Kenzie and her new allies must use every ability at their disposal to escape.
In this debut, Lix pays obvious homage to comics and movies such as the X-Men and Alien, creating a
tense, claustrophobic thriller that finds room for romance along the way. While the premise is engaging, the
world-building feels lacking in places, leading to unanswered questions. The juxtaposition of superpowered
teenagers, marauding aliens, corrupt corporations, and dark secrets makes this an exciting, if overstuffed
and sometimes disjointed, story. However, the diverse cast and fast pace make up for these flaws. Ages 14-
up. Agent'. Caitie Flum, Liza Damon Assoc. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sanctuary." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 102. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638905/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8a8a7f51.
Accessed 29 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638905
BOOK REVIEWS
Book Review: Sanctuary by Caryn Lix
GISSELLE LOPEZJULY 24, 20180 0
Simon & Schuster
0
SHARES
0
0
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Aboard Sanctuary – the maximum-security prison owned by the corporation Omnistellar Concepts, which hosts some of the most enhanced and dangerous teenagers as prisoners – Kenzie Cord is extremely proud of her corporate citizenship to Omnistellar, her loyalty to its cause, and her position as a junior guard. She has trained her whole life to prove herself to be not only a stellar example of a corporate citizen, but also to achieve her goal of becoming an elite guard aboard Sanctuary. Excelling at her training, working hard at both her homework and her shifts as a junior guard, and proving herself capable at handling random drills that Omnistellar launches to keep the guards permanently aware, Kenzie’s future appears as bright as the stars Sanctuary floats among.
That all abruptly changes one night after Kenzie is taken hostage by the rioting prisoners, who have somehow managed to infiltrate and manipulate the allegedly rigid structure of Sanctuary in their favor. Despite the demanding protocol that would prefer Kenzie’s sacrifice at the prisoners’ hands than an attempt at securing her freedom, Kenzie is sure that her commanding officer – her mother – would stop at nothing to get her back. Eventually, it’s proven that Commander Cord’s loyalty is first and foremost to Omnistellar before her own daughter, and Kenzie must find her own way out.
However, it soon becomes apparent that the prisoners holding her hostage are the least of Kenzie’s worries. An evil entity has emerged from the void of space and boarded the ship, and now it’s on the hunt for them. Guard and prisoner must now combine their efforts to survive and escape Sanctuary, which now, contrary to its name, has become the most dangerous place they could possibly be. All the while, Kenzie learns that there is something much more sinister and horrifying underlying everything she thought she knew about Omnistellar.
A thrilling blend of sci-fi fantasy and horror, Caryn Lix’s Sanctuary left me with only one word resonating in my mind: Whoa.
Now that my post-read thought-process is more or less cohesive, this novel was not messing around, and it made that abundantly clear right from the first page. I was captivated almost immediately from the first word, and would have devoured the entire book in one sitting had I not had to tend to my weekend responsibilities. On top of how quickly I was consuming the contents of this story, every time I thought ‘this was the climax’ of the novel, Lix would consistently prove me wrong with a brand new twist more surprising than the last, forcing my mind to come to a grinding halt to ask myself … ‘What on Earth just happened?’
Imagine my surprise when I rediscovered Sanctuary is actually the first in a series. The novel may be finished, but the story is far from over! Caryn Lix is likely going to have my undivided attention once her sequels start hitting the shelves.
As I read, I found it incredible how much I grew to care for the characters Lix introduced in such a short period of time, especially the superpowered teenagers residing in Sanctuary: Cage and Rune, a brother-sister duo with powers of speed and manipulating and/or bonding with electricity, respectively, Alexei, a burly Russian teen with pyrokinetic abilities, Mia, a temperamental girl who can turn invisible at will, Matt, who can sense human life, and more. There was such a wide cast of characters at play here, and each of them managed to prod at my emotions at some point, some hitting a lot harder than others.
Personally, I felt that reading Sanctuary was reminiscent of how I felt watching both Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and Phillip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), if that’s any indication of what to expect when reading this novel (as well as introducing some possible spoilers). A young adult science-fiction novel, set in the mysterious environment of space, Sanctuary enthralls you and does not relinquish its grip until you reach the last page. I highly recommend this book to any hardcore sci-fi fan.
Caryn Lix’s Sanctuary is now available for purchase.
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