Author’s name:

Laura Frances

This is book one. The series and book two are yet to be titled!

There is no sun. There is no moon. There is only gray—the smog belched from coal-fueled factories. The Workers silently shuffle to their assigned posts. The Outcasts watch from the alley walls. On every corner, a Watcher stands stone-faced, a rifle in hand. This is the only life that exists. Beyond the mountains is a dream. But dreams are foolish in a place like this.

Hannah has spent nineteen years dodging Watchers and doing as she is told.

Do not look Watchers in the eye. Don't give them a reason to notice you.

But when she wakes to the valley exploding in revolution, Hannah is forced onto a dangerous path, where nothing is what she believed. Suddenly freedom is in her grasp, and the way there requires working with the men she once feared.

Slave is set in a deep valley filled with factories and blanketed in smog. The residents of the valley have never seen the sky. It is a maze of dank alleys and bordered by high mountains.

I would recommend never visiting the valley as a tourist. In fact, it would never happen. The residents of the valley are a hidden people. No one enters or exits unless they are a Watcher or an expert needed for a factory.

Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. Better to keep your head down, mouth shut, and eyes on your next step. Watchers are everywhere, and they don’t need a reason to kill you.

I hope you like plain oats. Workers are fed oats and dehydrated apples every day for lunch. Dinner will come from your cabinet of rations—probably a can of beans.

Only the Watchers have weapons. An assault rifle and a pistol strapped to their leg. Both require a fingerprint to use, so good luck trying to take one.

Workers walk. Technology is mediocre at best. There are some advances, like print scanners and whatever is needed for the manufacturing of goods. But the Workers rarely utilize it themselves. As far as animals go, the mountains are rumored to be filled with beasts. I don’t recommend trying to escape.

Sleep is nice. Staring at walls in the silence of your unit might be soothing. Really anything to try to mentally disconnect from the events of the day and the reality of life in the valley.

The valley is governed by a panel of five leaders. They are called the Council. No one sees them, but occasionally they address the Workers from the speakers. The residents are policed by Watchers. They are the ones enforcing curfew, performing executions, and overseeing the daily labor.

I live in Japan, just a stone's throw from China. I am occasionally told I ought to wear a mask, because the pollution is high, blowing in across The Sea of Japan and The East China Sea. I watched a documentary some time ago about the high levels of smog in certain areas of China. One little girl was asked if she had ever seen stars. She said no. This stuck with me. The story is also in some ways inspired by my lifelong struggle with social anxiety. Fear, and becoming free from it, is a major theme in Slave.

Laura Frances was born in Heidelberg, Germany as a military brat. She grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and now lives in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, with her husband and two children. Slave is Laura’s debut novel.