Guest Post – Top Five Things about Cyrus by Stewart Ross
Today I have a fab guest post from the author of The Salvation Project by Stewart Ross the third book in The Soterion Mission!
The Salvation Project is a fab new dystopian YA that is not to be missed!
I previously spotlighted this fab book here
So today we are getting to know one of the fab characters a little better….meet Cyrus…..
Humanity’s hope of salvation lies within a single laptop…
A mutation in human DNA means no one lives beyond nineteen. Scientists working to reverse this pandemic died before their Salvation Project was complete, leaving behind the results of their research in a sealed vault – the Soterion.
122 years have passed. The civilisation of the ‘Long Dead’ is almost forgotten, the Soterion has been burned to ashes, and communities of Constants are tormented by brutal tribes of Zeds. Cyrus, Miouda and Sammy flee their burning city with a laptop rescued from the inferno. They believe it contains the key to the Salvation Project. But its batteries are dead, there is no electricity to power it, and murderous Zeds will stop at nothing to get it back…
Top Five Things about Cyrus
Warning! This piece contains plot spoilers.
- I always find hero figures the most difficult to create. They must be impressive, but not too much so; I’m not keen on super heroes. At the same time, to be rounded personalities they need weaknesses. But these should be understandable, even attractive. Throughout the series, I continually found myself asking whether I had got the balance right: is Cyrus too much the action man, too much the scholar, too much the Mr KIindly? In the end, I hope he is all of these, and more.
2. Cyrus growing up. For the leading male figure, the Soterion Mission trilogy is a sort of coming-of-age story. We start with a straightforward warrior hero, a kind of heroic Anglo-Saxon figure who does everything expected of a vigorous young man. Then, under the wise influence of Roxanne, he begins to realise that life is not the straightforward bash-the-Zeds-and-do-your-duty business he had thought it to be.
The change starts when he is asked to decide between staying loyal to his local community or joining Roxanne in trying to open the Soterion for the benefit all Constants. In Revenge of the Zeds he becomes a sort of Hamlet figure, knowing things are not right but failing to do anything about it until too late. By the time of The Salvation Project, he has grown into the genuine leader, driving the Mission forward. Finally, at the very end, he has the courage to accept that that he may have been devoting his life to a mirage. Only by accepting that truth does he finally fulfil his mission.
3. Cyrus and love. There are three important women in Cyrus’ life. The first is Pari, his ‘wedun’ who died in childbirth before the opening of The Soterion Mission. The second is Roxanne, the woman he falls in love with at the start of the trilogy and whom he probably never stops loving through to the end.
The third is Miouda, with whom he has a different, more mature relationship. It is interesting how his bond with her changes. At first she is slightly in awe of him, and when she becomes pregnant she needs his physical support. Gradually, though, her quiet strength grows until, at the end of the book, it is she who is nursing him.
Does the fact that Cyrus has serious and meaningful relationships with three different women in a relatively short space of time mean he is emotionally shallow? I think not. When life ends at eighteen, the experiences that occupy years of our lives are concertinaed into months.
4. Cyrus the man of action. No problems here – whether in the first fight with the Grozny or the final battle with Kamal on the beach, Cyrus proves himself second to none in hand-to-hand conflict.
5. Cyrus the leader. It is easy to underestimate his intelligence. Not only does he learn to read with remarkable speed, but once the Soterion is opened he very quickly grasps the significance of the power of knowledge. Perhaps one of his more attractive qualities is his refusal – in stark contrast to Yash – to let power and popularity go to his head. Indeed, his unwillingness to use his status to stand up to Yash and Sakamir could be seen as a failing and the cause of much suffering.
You can buy a copy of The Salvation Project here
Or why not add the book to your Goodreads list here
About Stewart Ross
Stewart was born in Buckinghamshire and educated in Oxford, Berkhamsted, Exeter, Bristol, and Orlando, Florida. He taught at a variety of institutions in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, the USA, and Britain before becoming a full-time writer in 1989.
With over 300 published titles to his credit, he is now one of Britain’s most popular and versatile authors. His output includes prize-winning books for younger readers, novels, plays, three librettos, a musical, and many widely acclaimed works on history and sport. Several of his books are illustrated with his own photographs.
Stewart also lectures in France and the UK, gives talks, runs workshops, and visits schools. He is an occasional journalist and broadcaster. His brother, Charlie Ross, is the celebrated auctioneer.
In his spare time Stewart enjoys travel, restaurants, sport, theatre, photography, art and music. He lives near Canterbury with his wife Lucy, and – occasionally – his four children and two grandchildren. Each morning he commutes 10 metres to work in a large hut in the garden.
You can find out more about Stewart on his website – www.stewartross.com
Or why not follow Stewart on twitter – @Booksmyth
Or Facebook here
And also You Tube here
Goodreads Giveaway
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Salvation Project
by Stewart Ross
Giveaway ends June 30, 2017.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Blog Tour
You can follow the rest of this fab blog tour for this book at the following stops!
A huge thank you to Stewart for such a fab guest post and to Faye Rogers for asking me to host and having me as part of the fab blog tour!
Have you read The Salvation Project? What did you think? Are you intrigued to go and grab a copy? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button above or tweet my on twitter using @chelleytoy!
Happy Reading!
