Today's read is made me smile the second I saw the genre—scifi horror. Science fiction is already more of a rarity in the young adult arena. Mix it with horror, and well, it sounds very interesting. I have no idea what this will be about outside of a colony of humans on Mars running into some monsters. Insects as monsters, maybe?
I ready to see what this one holds and hope it's as good as it sounds it could be.
COLONY
by Ron Wolff
YA Science Fiction / Horror
378 pages
COMING...
APRIL 27th!!!
THERE'S LIFE ON MARS
Adam Flynn is the only human ever born on Mars. After seventeen years of isolation with only a handful of scientists for company, the arrival of new colonists is a dream come true—until that dream becomes a nightmare.
Beneath the planet’s barren surface, something ancient stirs. Something hungry.
When an alien swarm ravages the colony, Adam finds himself leading a band of teenage survivors in a desperate battle against an enemy that doesn’t just kill—it can think, plan, and burrow its way into human minds.
This adrenaline-fueled sci-fi thriller weaves heart-stopping horror into a story of survival, found family, first love, and the true meaning of home—even when home wants to kill you.
Beneath the planet’s barren surface, something ancient stirs. Something hungry.
When an alien swarm ravages the colony, Adam finds himself leading a band of teenage survivors in a desperate battle against an enemy that doesn’t just kill—it can think, plan, and burrow its way into human minds.
This adrenaline-fueled sci-fi thriller weaves heart-stopping horror into a story of survival, found family, first love, and the true meaning of home—even when home wants to kill you.
MY TIDBITS
Tension soars as life as a colonist on Mars becomes a gruesome fight for survival.
Adam is the first person to be born on Mars. Being the only child and raised by scientists has made him socially unique in many ways, too. So when new colonists arrive to expand the project, he's excited and nervous that he'll finally meet kids his own age. The group is specially chosen, since the colony is still an experiment, and there's no way back to Earth. But considering the circumstances, the teens are much less mature than he expected. Their constant drama leads to dangerous problems, and the new head of the colony, a general and father of two of them, isn't making things easier with his arrogant, mean, and all-commanding-know-everything attitude. When colonists begin to mysteriously die, it becomes clear that a new danger exists...and this one only wants to kill.
The first chapters grab the reader into Adam's world and build a wholesome atmosphere (despite the difficulties of being on a Mars colony). Adam is very kind, intelligent, hardworking, and easy to be around. The calm atmosphere then offers a clashing juxtaposition with the arrival of the new colonists. Tension hits immediately and sets the motion toward tension and mayhem. Adam's struggles to find his own spot amongst his peers makes him very relatable, while his level-headed attitude and kindness makes him easy to root for until the end...whatever that might hold. (Yep, tons of suspense, since I don't want to ruin anything).
The characters hit with varying flair. While Adam is fleshed out, most of the sub-characters don't gain as much depth, which makes them more difficult to root for. While there are a couple which I hoped would make it through, others were so nasty that death seemed to make Adam's life easier. Especially the attitude of some of the new colonists had me laying the book to the side for a bit due to frustration. For 'specially chosen from thousands with ideal training', they didn't make complete sense. Nor did the general's sudden presence of attitude and power in a fragile experiment. Along with other logic holes later on, this knocked what might have been a 5-star read for me down a notch or so. But it still was an entertaining read...enough so that I can recommend it to thrill and horror fans.
This is a fast-paced tale, and even the first chapters of world-building weave interesting moments and details into the mix as crumbs of what is to come. The second part of the read, where the monsters come in, shifts everything into high-tension gear. High stakes and gruesome moments take control. Horror and action fans are in for an exciting ride as things take unexpected and horrific twists and turns. It creates tension pure and grabs in all the right ways. So, this one isn't only for sci-fi fans, by any means.
And here he is...
Ron Wolff loves outer space, monsters, high-stakes survival, and epic fight scenes. Ron is the pseudonym for a bestselling author of more earthbound fiction.