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The domes are growing restless. Denizens are asking uncomfortable questions about the people living outside. SUN's hypnotic distractions have worked well so far, but they won't hold up for much longer. And while the Bennu Project approaches its final stage, the council are gearing up for war.

With Wildebeest still in turmoil after the bloody usurpation of their former Leider, the new Leider has to instill a sense of discipline. He ensures utter obedience by ruling with an iron fist. But the colony is slowing slipping from his grasp, and his brothers are waiting expectantly for him to return. And for the blood he promised them.

Peppermint escapes one prison, only to be taken to another. Mentally wounded from her time at Lambent Laboratories and her toxic relationship with Onyx, she's failing to come to terms with her new life. She has to escape the frightening diggers and find her way back to the dome. Still unable to control her powers, she's vulnerable and exposed - and too weak to fight back. Yet.

Jinx discovers the identity of her father. And the revelation shocks her to her core. Her subsequent meltdown endangers herself and the rest of the Rooivalk soldiers. A plan is set into motion. But instead of getting her revenge, Jinx now faces a new enemy: and he has no intention of letting her leave the colony.

Juliet's rigidly constructed world is tearing apart at the seams. Her twin, Victor, has changed - and not for the better. Adamant that the war is coming sooner than any of the defenders had anticipated, Victor tries to persuade her not to go to war. But while Juliet struggles with this decision, her and Victor begin a slow dance toward death.

While these women struggle to maintain order and extricate themselves from the convoluted mess they're in, the SUN Council begins preparing for war. Will they untangle themselves in time?

675 pages, ebook

First published February 12, 2015

10 people want to read

About the author

Ronel van Tonder

6 books91 followers
Ronel is a brand-spanking new indie author. She loves creating fantastical worlds set in the future, the mythical, and the horrific. Translate: She writes science-fiction, fantasy and horror novels.

Her life story is not particularly fascinating, but her love of technology, PC games and writing is. Beside writing, she spends her time slaying rendered baddies in the form of robots, gangsters and aliens - with any weapon that happens to be at hand.

Ronel has published her first science-fiction trilogy, the Corrupted SUN Script and is hard at work on her next sci-fi novel, The Seventh Glitch.

When she's not writing, she's gaming, and when she's not gaming she's either sleeping or eating, as these are prerequisites for a continued life on planet Earth.

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Matt.
752 reviews626 followers
April 21, 2015
***** START COMMUNICATION LOG *****

DATE_STAMP: 2015.04.19
LOCATION: *UNDISCLOSED*
LOG_METHOD: WECONNECT_COMM_REC
TRIGGER:
PARTIES: (MATT_16077597EU) + (PHOENIX_V2.3)

14:26:02/MATT/
"Phoenix?"

14:26:03/PHOENIX/
'Good p.m., Matt. How can I be of service?'

14:26:06/MATT/
"I need to write something about DEBUG HEROES."

14:26:08/PHOENIX/
'DEBUG: verb (used with object); meaning
1. to detect and remove defects or errors from
2. to remove electronic bugs from
(a room or building).
3. Computers. to detect and remove errors from
(a computer program).
HERO: noun, plural: HEROES; meaning
1. a man or a woman of distinguished courage
or ability.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others,
has heroic qualities.
3. the principal character in a story, play,
film, etc.'

14:26:22/MATT/
"No, what I meant is this book. I need to write
a review."

14:26:24/PHOENIX/
'I do not understand the nature of your query.
There are currently 901.231.775 books in my
database. Do you want me to read them to you?'

14:26:28/MATT/
"Hell, no! I want to write something meaninful
about the book DEBUG:HEROES and—"

14:26:31/PHOENIX/
'DEBUG:HEROES: A novel
Second part of the trilogy CORRUPTED SUN SCRIPT.
Author: Ronel van Tonder (RONEL_8973933AF).
Published: 2015.02.17
Length: 669 pages
Setting: South Africa
Main Characters:
Peppermint (PEPPERMINT_3027AF),
Jinx (UNKOWN_UNKNOWN),
Jasper (JASPER_7487EU),
Onyx (ONYX_6598EU),
Phoenix (PHOENIX_V2.3)
—'

14:26:42/MATT/
"Wait a minute! Did you say 'Phoenix'?
Is that you?"

14:26:44/PHOENIX/
'Affirmative.'

14:26:45/MATT/
"So you're the same Phoenix that's in the book?"

14:26:46/execute:start_observation.exe
/TARGET=(MATT_16077597EU)
/LEVEL_OF_SCRUTINY=1
/KEYWORDS=INAPPROPRIATE_INQUIRY
/INCLUDE_FRIENDS=TRUE
/HOPCOUNT=2

14:26:47/PHOENIX/
'I am everywhere, Matt.'

14:26:48/MATT/
"That's good to know. Now tell me.
What should I write in my review?"

14:26:51/PHOENIX/
'I do not understand the nature of your query.
There are currently 31.342.886 reviews in my
database. Do you want me to read them to you?'

14:26:48/MATT/
"Goddammit, Phoenix. NO!
I have already written a review of the first
book, COMPILE:QUEST, and I wonder what to
write about this book here, DEBUG:HEROES.
I need new wordings, something to hook the
potential readers. Do you know what I mean?"

14:26:53//execute:retrieve_review.exe
BOOKID=25046699
USER=(MATT_16077597EU)
14:26:53//execute:analyze_review.exe
ID=1077600879

14:26:54/PHOENIX/
'Certainly. You need to verbalize your thoughts
about the book.'

14:26:54/MATT/
"Exactly. So what do you suggest?"

14:26:55/PHOENIX/
'I'm afraid this information is not in my
database. Do you want me to create a variation
of your previous review? My thesaurus contains
2.345.700 entries.'

14:26:58/MATT/
"Nah. That's not neccessary. People would
realize it's written by a machine."

14:27:00/PHOENIX/
'I am a machine.'

14:27:01/MATT/
'Yes, I know. I know. And you've got a knack
for getting on my nerves.'

14:27:02//execute:start_observation.exe
TARGET=(MATT_16077597EU)
LEVEL_OF_SCRUTINY=2
KEYWORDS=INSUBORDINATION
INCLUDE_FRIENDS=TRUE
HOPCOUNT=2

14:27:02/PHOENIX/
'I do not understand the nature of your query.
Do you want me to access the medical database
for a definition of NERVES?'

14:27:05/MATT/
"Forget it. I'll think of something myself.
Thanks anyway. That'll be all."

14:27:07/PHOENIX/
'Goodbye, Matt.'

14:27:07/MATT/
"Goodbye."

14:27:08/PHOENIX/
'And, Matt?'

14:27:08/MATT/
"Yes?"

14:27:09/PHOENIX/
'Have a sunny day!'

****** END COMMUNICATION LOG ******


________________

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Profile Image for Salman Titas.
Author 8 books48 followers
May 14, 2015
This is the second book in the Corrupted SUN Script, and picks up a few hours before the ending of the previous book. There are numerous flashbacks before picking up from where it was ended, but in between there were many new details. The pacing of this book is much faster than the previous one.

Peppermint has been once again taken under Onyx's tutelage, against her will. He plans to repeat what he had put her through just a few days ago, but Peppermint, now awakened, would never allow it.

Jinx has had a stunning revelation. One that almost changes everything, and puts her previous actions under questionable lights. And her enemy being in such a position of power, how will she ever enact her revenge?

Who is Nankai? Why does Topaz insist on keeping her secluded from rest of the denizens? Topaz does not know that while he has been away, certain events have transpired that would have him scream.

And lastly there's Phoenix, the program operating in the domes. It avoids general questions by stupid mechanical replies, almost annoying every denizen, and sometimes the readers. Turns out, it has a few hidden agendas. But what could motivate a program to take action against its creators?

These are only few of the aspects. The mysteries deepen, as this is only the second book. New characters have been introduced, each having diverse personalities. The characters are completely fleshed out, in my opinion, and are very consistent. In my experience, I found some characters to be extremely annoying, and some that I just could not stand. That is just because of the kind of people they are. Among favourite characters are Nankai, Topaz, Jinx, Pearce, Quinn, Axe and Phoenix.

I look forward to the third book, and hope it will be spectacular one.
Profile Image for Eric J. Gates.
Author 28 books153 followers
March 22, 2015
In the first book of the series, ‘Compile: Quest’, author Ronel Van Tonder masterfully created a world of the future by skilfully extrapolating our current society’s use, and dependence, on social media and by providing a stark contrast between the haves and have-nots. Now in the second book, ‘Debug: Heroes’, the conflict created within this polarised world are revealed in greater depth. Not only are the ‘cracks’ lacing the structural walls of the society of the ‘haves’ far more extensive, we see these are being created and manipulated by opposing forces behind the scenes using the very same technology upon which that world relies. The fact the author has done this with great subtlety serves to underline and highlight the sense of menace present throughout as events unfold.

In perhaps a curious twist, the contrasting world of the have-nots, the diggers, takes on greater importance in the overall scheme of things. Although this environment is far removed from the quasi- habitual technology-obsessed dome dwellers, Van Tonder places us right there, in the dirt and mud, with the smells and sights of their underground existence in a display of sensorial description, using a magnificent nuance of light brushstrokes, as the action unfolds. In short, both worlds seem so real and recognizable, the reader will be immersed in this sci-fi tale to a degree not usually encountered outside of the work of the classic masters of the genre. ‘Debug: Heroes’ contain all the sordid solidity and familiar strangeness of Philip K. Dick’s ‘Blade Runner’ and it, and the trilogy it forms part of, is set to become a future classic of the genre.

Ronel Van Tonder; remember this name, fellow reader; it will be up there with Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke in a few years. Highly recommended!
Profile Image for Dawn Chapman.
Author 60 books178 followers
June 13, 2016

What a book to finish off my weeks holiday :) I can't wait to get to the final instalment.

What I really enjoyed about this book, was how it came alive for me. I've more recently been listening to AudioBooks, (which I think this would be amazing as by the way even with the vast character list) but there will always be that love of having a real book in your hand. E-book for me, but still. This has been a great read.

I could thoroughly visualize this world. The smells, sights and sounds described in here are wonderful, especially in the digger colony where it really hits home.

From the very start, I thought the exchange at the beginning was different, the logs, fitted in with the tech of the world and yet it gave us everything we needed to pick right up from book 1. I also thought Mica and Peppermint (as a baby) was very touching. Good to see how things were, back then.

There was one part where Jinx and Pearce are navigating through the tunnels, and not liking tight spaces, or the thought of getting lost, that I almost put it down… scary. But, written so well and I love that they argue as they do here. Great characters, with real emotions and hurt.

I still have to admit, I'm not sure who I like the most as characters, Peppermint was a tad annoying in the first book, for very good reasons, but I liked Jinx probably just a bit more in book 1.

Peppermint, got the edge in this one, she grows so much as a character, that I was routing for her all along to steal me away from Jinx. As for Adam and Onyx they were also really well done. I can hate Onyx with a passion right? And what he did to Adam, of course. I can't wait for this to turn against him. I can see book 3 being an epic conclusion to this trilogy. I might well get to finish it this week!
Profile Image for Max Stone.
Author 13 books57 followers
May 26, 2015
Having become acquainted with Van Tonder’s work through “Compile Quest,” the first in the Corrupted Sun Script series, I looked forward to diving right into this one, hoping for the same action-packed, adventurous storyline with heavy-hitting characters that saturated the first in the series.
I am thrilled to say I was not disappointed.
The story, which picks up where Compile Quest left, begins with a communication log, something that I don’t think I’ve seen very much of before in a book.
As you read through it, you begin to see that it drives the plot. Also, Van Tonder ensures that the reader is not lost as time is taken to brief the reader on what has led up to the current circumstances.
In short, Van Tonder’s writing is innovative and thrilling.
I’m very much looking forward to book 3!
Profile Image for Kel.
174 reviews7 followers
March 15, 2015
I was provided a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Debug: Heroes by Ronel van Tonder- In book 2 of the Corrupted SUN Script series the quest for the truth still continues. I relished this book and its characters; from Peppermint and Ace to Jinx and even Onyx. Some you wanted nothing but the best for and other you really tried not to hate too much… It did throw me a bit switching from story to story from one chapter to the other but not too much. It’s hard to finish this review, I really don’t want to give too much of story away… you just have to read it to find out. Both book 1 and 2 are really really good and I highly suggest them to others.
Author 396 books60 followers
August 25, 2016
Was up this morning until nearly 5 a.m. finishing this second book in this series. I'm still left hanging, not sure where the final book is going to take us and wondering what is going to happen to all of my favourite characters like Peppermint, Jinx, Nankai, Ace, etc. I feel so invested in many of these characters, can't wait to read the next book which I already downloaded. Another awesome read!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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