If you could spend a day inside Dominion—without being dragged to an Illegis testing center or assigned a caste band—what would you do first? July felt like the perfect month to play with that question and invite early readers, ARC teammates, and book clubs to imagine the world in a more lighthearted way.
In Dominion: Ascension, the world can come across as intense: post-war reconstruction, woman-led cabinets, Breeder colonies, resistance networks, and AI-driven systems of control. But tucked inside all that tension are sensory details and experiences that readers have told me they love—like the immersive Ascension ceremony, the harbor terrace views, signature cocktails, and the small, stolen moments of joy Dani and others find in between the chaos.
So, for fun, here’s a “Summer in Dominion” mini-guide:
Ascension Night, but make it casual.
Imagine attending a scaled-down version of the Ascension gala with your book club or ARC team—minus the political speeches and public surveillance. What would be on your playlist? Which cabinet color would you wear? Would you peek at everyone’s hypothetical Singletary bands or ignore them on purpose?
Harbor terrace reading date.
The terrace scenes overlooking shimmering water are some of my favorites. Picture your real-life reading spot as Dominion’s harbor—what snacks, drink, and Dominion character would you invite to sit and talk? (Dani for hard questions, Robbie for comfort, Colin for strategy, Linda for pure chaos?)
Dominion-themed book club night.
If you’re a book club leader, July is a great time to design a themed meeting: signature “Shadow & Smoke” cocktail or mocktail from the launch event, a quick Illegis-style icebreaker quiz, and discussion questions from the free Book Club Kit. You get the fun of immersion without the actual dystopian consequences.
For ARC team members and early subscribers, I’d love to hear: If you could drop into Dominion for 24 hours with plot armor, what would you do, and who would you trust to show you around? Your answers might just inspire a future bonus scene or newsletter extra.