Shatter

by Aprilynne Pike

Overview

Au 22e siècle, on vit au château de Versailles presque comme à l’époque du Roi-Soleil. Mais le luxe et le confort ne font pas oublier à la jeune Danica qu’elle est surveillée en permanence par des robots et qu’elle doit se plier à la volonté d’un roi terrifiant et sanguinaire.

La jeune fille n’a pas réussi à éviter son mariage arrangé avec le souverain, elle est désormais unie à lui pour le meilleur… et surtout pour le pire. Piégée dans une prison dorée, elle est l’objet de toutes les attentions, de toutes les rumeurs et aussi de toutes les trahisons

Mais son nouveau rôle de reine se révèle également dangereusement addictif. Petit à petit, Danica prend goût au pouvoir, à ses manigances, ses intrigues et ses excès. Elle se laisse griser, au risque d’oublier l’homme qu’elle aime en secret et à qui elle avait pourtant promis de s’enfuir…  




Entre le pouvoir, l’amour et la liberté, elle va devoir choisir.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782824630588
Publisher:	Dreamland
Publication date:	08/22/2018
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years
Language:	French

About the Author

Aprilynne Pike is the critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Wings series. She has been spinning stories since she was a child with a hyperactive imagination. She received her BA in creative writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. She lives in Arizona with her family. Visit her online at aprilynnepike.com and follow her on Twitter at @AprilynnePike.

Read an Excerpt

One

 

 

Two Days Later

 

 

“You summoned me, my lord?”

 

Summoned was the actual word used. Summoned to his private office. Hardly the typical language of newlyweds. My shiny-new husband waves a hand dismissively. “Yes, yes. The meeting will be called in ten minutes,” Justin Wyndham says, not looking at me. He’s shuffling papers, shoving some in folders and others in drawers.

 

The bastard is nervous; this is his twitch. I store that tidbit away reflexively.

 

“All nobles with any voting power whatsoever will be given one hour to find their way to the grand theater so no one can claim they were denied entry due to seating capacity.”

 

I stand silently.

 

The King notices nothing. “Your father is being cleaned and dressed at the clinic as we speak. You should head over; I imagine you’ll want some time to prepare him.”

 

“For what, Your Highness?” My voice is flat, but I can’t seem to manage anything else since my marriage.

 

His eyes sparkle with fury, and he lets a stack of paper fall to the desk with an audible smack. “For the vote, Danica. The godforsaken vote that saves us both.”

 

Oh yes. We’re on the cusp of the entire reason my mother was able to blackmail Justin into marrying me. Dead Mother. Ironic, that. “Hmm,” I say softly, stepping up and running one finger lightly over a paperweight. “Odd. I don’t feel very saved.”

 

Justin’s fingers rise to crumple his cravat, and he barely catches himself in time to keep from ruining the fabric. His fingers flex, and a sheen of sweat glistens on his forehead. I’ve never seen him so disconcerted. Even that can’t evoke a spark of pleasure. “Don’t make me threaten you again, Danica. I’m so weary of it.”

 

“That makes two of us,” I say dryly. “I don’t need your threats—I want your promise instead.”

 

“What?” he growls between clenched teeth.

 

“Saber. I want him back.” Saying it shows him my weakness, but I don’t care. Not about the vote or these games or who’s more powerful. I just want Saber back.

 

Justin rolls his eyes and turns away, peering into the mirror behind his desk and adjusting a bit of hair. “No.”

 

“You’re not really in a position to bargain, my lord.” And although it’s true, I don’t feel any satisfaction in the words.

 

He spins and slams his hands down on his desk. “You will not traipse around with that commoner in front of the court. It’s sheer mockery.”

 

“It won’t matter if you’re not the King.”

 

The words are smoke in the air between us. His fingers tremble, but he doesn’t speak.

 

I shrug. I should be pressing my advantage, but I’m a breath away from utter surrender. “I’ve sold my soul—feel free to threaten my life, my body, I don’t care. I don’t even resent that you’ll win. You give me the one thing I want, and I’ll give you the one thing you want.”

 

He stares at me, his breath short, and I watch one bead of perspiration trail down the side of his face before he snorts in disgust and turns from me to dab it away with a handkerchief. He knows I’m different now. I’m broken. Utterly. I wonder if he thinks he did that.

 

“I have nothing left to lose,” I say, monotone. “Nothing in the world except for him. Not truly. Perhaps you think that makes me vulnerable. But in truth it makes me desperate and reckless. I’ll do whatever is necessary for Saber, and I won’t hesitate to hurt anyone who gets in my way.” I wave a hand languidly in the air. “You, the entire kingdom, I don’t care. Give him back to me, or this evening Sonoman-Versailles will crown a new King.”

 

He stares into my eyes—looking, perhaps, for the downside. But I’m not bargaining for good value anymore. I want Saber, and to hell with the rest. After a long moment, Justin nods. “The moment the votes are cast, I’ll authorize his release.”

 

“Charges dropped?” I have to pin this spouse of mine down on every detail. Every loophole.

 

“Consider them expunged.”

 

Even better. “I expect him to be waiting in my rooms.”

 

“Did you want a bow tied around his neck?”

 

“Don’t be disgusting; he’s not a thing,” I snap, a lightning bolt of anger searing through my emotional fog. Because to one man, that’s exactly what Saber is: a possession to be bought and sold. “I do think a visit to my father is in order,” I say, pulling a pair of gloves from my pannier pockets and wiggling my fingers into them. “Now that you and I have come to an agreement. Oh,” I add, turning to look at him over my shoulder, “you’ll want to release Lord Aaron from his rooms as well.”

 

“You think you can convince him to vote in my favor?” the King says with a sneer.

 

I laugh, a breathy, pathetic sound, even to my own ears. “Hardly. But consider this a favor from your new Queen—you won’t want anyone to suspect that you specifically prevented Lord Aaron from attending the vote.”

 

His Majesty regards me silently, brow furrowed.

 

“Trust me,” I say wryly. Then much more loudly, “Mateus! Open the damned door.”

 

I sweep out as soon as the gap is wide enough to accommodate my panniers, forcing the reedy man to stumble backward. With my chin high and my corset far too tight, I walk down the hallways without looking left or right, even as courtiers try to catch my attention. A red dot flashes in the corner of my eye as a verbal ripple travels through the crowd. I know what the message is without reading it.

 

The meeting announcement. The not-so-secret meeting at which the shareholders of Sonoma Inc. will elect—or, perhaps, reelect—a chief executive officer of the company and King of the pseudo-state of Sonoman-Versailles. A rebellion six months in the making to unseat the man I married two days ago. The very threat Justin married me to fend off, by activating voting shares assigned only to a sitting Queen.

 

Me.

 

It’s time. I feel ill.

 

The cries for my attention grow loud—building like rumbling thunder—but I ignore everyone, and none dare to bodily interfere. I am the Queen. 

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Another intriguing and fast-paced novel set in the corporate Kingdom of Sonoman-Versailles. Danica is married to the King of Versailles after being betrayed and hand-delivered by the drug lord Reginald. While her status in society has been elevated to the highest level, and many are envious of her position as queen, Danica is in the same gilded prison that she was in Glitter. However, in this installment, the stakes have been raised. Danica now finds herself facing three enemies instead of one. There is the king's jealous lover Lady Cyn who wishes to discredit her and rob her of power. Justin Wyndham, the king himself, seeks to dominate and control Danica. Then, of course, there is the duplicitous Reginald who is blackmailing Danica so she will sell more drugs and who holds the life of her enslaved lover Saber in his hands. To rescue herself and everyone she cares about, she must assume her role of queen and drug dealer and harness the power of both while venturing further down the path of perdition. Fans who have waited for this sequel to will not be disappointed. The complex plot and Pike's highly adept writing will leave readers breathless to find out what happens next. VERDICT Give this to those who enjoy "The Selection" series by Keira Cass, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, or Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.—Ellen Fitzgerald, Naperville Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2017-11-13
In this sci-fi duology closer, Queen Danica must embrace her role to find a way to break out of her gilded, 22nd-century cage.Dani's been back-stabbed by her crime-lord contact and returned to the palace, where she's forced to wed the king and to continue dealing Glitter. The young white woman resolves to take down the men controlling her and to rescue her enslaved love, Saber (a green-eyed man of Mongolian descent). Playing along until she has the resources to make a true move, Dani must take down social rivals (such as King Justin's bully of a mistress, Lady Cyn) and scheme against dissident factions within Sonoman-Versailles. The strategies required demand that she think of the consequences (and said consequences' consequences) of her actions, which reinforces the guilt she feels about the casualties of her decisions—but they also reveal something she finds unpleasant about herself: she enjoys the power games, especially winning them. While pulling at threads to find weaknesses in her enemies, Dani and her friends uncover company secrets that trigger heavy themes about automation's impact on economies and the concentration of wealth. Dani and Saber's relationship is much better realized than in Glitter (2016), especially when they disagree or he's criticizing her decisions (and helping her grow stronger—literally). The hard-fought ending tonally matches the story.A delicious drama of morally imperfect characters in a fantastical future world with timely, relevant politics. (Romantic thriller/science fiction. 12-adult)

Kirkus Reviews