Natasha Ngan Books In Order

Publication Order of Girls Of Paper and Fire Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Natasha Ngan is an English author of science fiction, young adult and fantasy books. Apart from writing, Ngan is also a yoga teacher who spent her childhood between Malaysia and the United Kingdom. Her multicultural upbringing has significantly influenced her writing career, and she’s passionate and happy about writing diverse story tales to teenagers. Natasha attended the University of Cambridge where she studied Geography and worked as a fashion blogger and media consultant after graduating from college.

The author relocated to Paris, France where she likes to dream drifting from brasserie to another, wineglass in one hand and a notepad in the other. In reality, Natasha spends most of her time confusing the locals with her funny French and getting lost on the Metro. Natasha Ngan became a published author in 2013 when her standalone novel, The Elites was released and in 2014 she published The Memory Keepers.

The Elites

In the fictional city of New-Babel, there are people with superior DNA who protect the people. These people are known as the Elites. The main character, Silver has been training with the Elites for a couple of years and is dying to get a chance to prove herself worthy to join the crew to those people who thought her Red blood made her inferior and to Ember who feels that she can never be being one of the Elite. On her first mission to offer protection to the president during a rally, Silver is one of the people who get the blame for the presidential assassination.

Things get even worse as people start to vanish and a rebellion on the horizon. Silver accompanied by her good friend Butterfly embark on a journey to save her family and bring to the surface the secrets that the Elites thrive on. Natasha Ngan’s debut novel has a lot going on. There are main plots and plenty of subplots featuring different organizations and characters each with their motives.

Natasha Ngan has done an excellent job in character creation both her central character Silver and the supporting cast, the likes of Butterfly. Silver is red blood and also an Elite which makes her one of the few select people to guard Neo-Babel. All that she wanted is live up to what she is and prove to everyone that she’s a worthy Elite and can offer protection to the city. However, things don’t go Silver’s way, and everything she thought she knew is about to change completely. The citizens of New Babel are separated according to races, and the Red blood are considered inferiors and the Elites who protect the city.

You’ll appreciate the fact that the Elites continuously seek to address the issue of racism and are always campaigning to prove that a person isn’t defined by their race but rather their skills and whom they are. This provides much diversification to the novel as there are different cultures rather than focusing on one predominant race. Like a Red, it’s harder for Silver being Elite. Some folks look down upon her, and they think that she’s unworthy because she’s of the inferior race.

When Silver comes to discover that the city of Neo-Babel isn’t what she thought, it’s almost impossible for her to accept since she’s been drilled into it for so long. How can she change her view about the city in such a short span? She can’t believe what she’s just unravelled, but at the same time, she can’t ignore the facts staring right in her face. However, it’s not only the main character that faced such conflicts; there are other characters in the novel faced with the same dilemma.

Silver isn’t all the perfect character. She is flawed and perfectly understands her weaknesses and struggles to overcome them.

The Memory Keepers

The city is split in North and South, and while some indulge in luxury, the others fight every day against hunger, poverty and oppression.
16-year-old Alba, daughter of one of the city’s most powerful men, is so sick of her golden cage in the north. Her estranged mother already plans her whole future life, she has no friends, except for her maid Dolly, and if she does not just go to school, then she has nothing to do.

When she catches Seven, a thief from the south, sneaking into the house at night to steal her father’s memory chips, Alba senses her chance for a great adventure. She forces Seven to show her his world, but they both are not aware of the dangerous situation they are dealing with
The main focus of this story is anything but new you’ll find in a YA fantasy. Rich, well-behaved girl meets a boy from the poor district. Together they fight against a system where they fall in love. Alba and Seven are all about memories.

Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, it is possible to save his memories on a chip and to play these chips using a thought machine. This is called “remembrance surfing”. However, one does not do this with his memories, but with those of others. The chips are traded like stocks or gold these days; they are precious, expensive and only the rich can afford them.

Seven is addicted to surfing because it tears him from his dreary everyday life and catapults into another world. For him, the chips are pure luck. That’s why he earns his living by stealing and selling chips, which he also surfs, all by himself. When he steals the chip from Alba’s father, he gets himself into a catastrophic situation, not only that he sees something that turns his entire life on its head, the theft of chips is also tracked and punishable by death. To make matters worse, he now also has Alba on the cheek, which he wants to protect from mischief and danger.

Natasha Ngan takes on the role of a personal narrator, always switching between Alba and Seven. She has created an exciting one-piece, which captivates the reader. We come across very lovable characters, varied scenery that keeps the reader engaged to the last page.