Book Series
A milestone update on Food: Generation Mars, Book Four
1) The entire book is plotted (or, at least, as plotted as I am willing to go while also leaving room for surprise). All I’ll say is that this one is monumental in scope and will take your breath in the first chapter and keep it until the last.
2) As of today, I passed 5000 words in the initial manuscript. A pittance in the face of this monster, but a milestone to be celebrated nonetheless.
image: generated by ImageFX
Check out this Five Star review from Readers’ Favorite for Water: Generation Mars, Book Three!
Water is a work of fiction in the adventure, science fiction, and action genres. It is the third novel of the Generation Mars series and is suitable for middle-grade and young adult readers alike. Penned by author Douglas D. Meredith with illustrations by artist Luis Peres, the story explores the vital role of water on Mars, where it serves as the key to survival and economic prosperity for settlers. For two sisters and their classmates, a routine exploration of an abandoned ice mine turns into a harrowing fight for survival when a seismic event traps them in a treacherous labyrinth of ice, testing their resilience and courage.
Author Douglas D. Meredith has crafted a thrilling and immersive read that will totally transport its young readers to the Red Planet with a fantastic sense of atmosphere and multi-sensory description. Meredith has a great balance of science fiction with elements of survival and adventure, creating a gripping narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats and rooting for the characters because they’re realistic and authentic. As Cas, Ori, and their classmates navigate the dangers of the icy labyrinth, I found myself highly impressed by their ingenuity, bravery, and personal growth in the face of adversity. The vivid descriptions of Martian landscapes and the challenges posed by the hostile environment added new excitement and dangers to keep the plot fresh, and I loved some of the bigger emotional twists toward the end of the tale. I was also absolutely in love with the illustrations by artist Luis Peres, which looked as though they had fallen straight out of the author’s mind onto the page. Overall, Water is a captivating addition to the series, and I would not hesitate to recommend it and the series as a whole to young readers everywhere looking for exciting, compelling adventures.
-Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
The next book is turning into an epic. Decided I needed more delta-v to pull it off. This oughta do it.
Sweet Maria’s, fueling writers and rocket scientists since 1997.
Is cannibalism appropriate for middle grade? Asking for a friend…
But seriously, this next book is shaping up to push the envelope. Several envelopes. All the envelopes, maybe.
image: Twemoji (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twemoji12_1f914.svg), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en, unaltered
“Hunger, or the fear of it, has always played a major role in determining the actions and attitudes of man. In every age and every land people have starved…”
More light reading in preparation for the next book in the Generation Mars series: Food.
Some light reading for the next book. In 1945, thirty-six men volunteered for the first scientific study of the effects of starvation. It wasn’t pretty.
Really feeling sorry for my main characters right now. I had a cookie about an hour ago, and my stomach is already grumbling.
(Astute followers will notice this wasn’t in the to-read stack image I posted recently. Research requires flexibility.)
“What brought you to Mars?” said Ori. The adults in the colony had grown up on one planet then decided to move to another. Why they did this was a topic that interested all the kids.
“It was the culture,” said Katy. “I realized Dawn was the greatest experiment in human culture ever conducted, so I came to see it myself. I only planned to be here one year, but then the Schism occurred.” Ori knew that term meant the time when the Martian colonists refused to return to Earth. “I knew the changes that would cause would be profound,” said Katy, “and I had to be here to record them.” She paused, remembering. “That’s partly true, at least. But, also, I loved what I saw happening on Mars and wanted to be part of it. So, when the last transport left for Earth, I stayed.”
—
From Water: Generation Mars, Book Three. Available now at https://www.amazon.com/Water-Generation-Mars-Book-Three/dp/1733731067
Image: Dawn Colony mission patch
The opening was a ramp leading down into darkness. Tomás went into a small booth next to the hole and flipped some switches. The darkness below suddenly blinded them with brightness as the lights came on and reflected up at them from the blue-whiteness of the ice. Their visors quickly attenuated the difference in lighting, and they were able to see again.
“That should keep zombies away, no?” said Tomás.
The kids looked at him questioningly. Katy cleared her throat. “Tomás is referring to an old computer game from Earth. We don’t need to worry about zombies.”
“Si, not now,” he said.
She slugged him in the arm. The kids smiled.
—
From Water: Generation Mars, Book Three. Available now at https://www.amazon.com/Water-Generation-Mars-Book-Three/dp/1733731067
Image: my own
“What happened to all that hydrogen?” someone asked.
“Until trade stopped, most of it went to Earth via the cycler,” said Katy.
A hand went up. “What’s the cycler?”
Tomás looked at Katy to see if he could answer. Katy nodded. “Is spaceship,” he said, “in a special orbit around the Sun that brings it near Mars every sixteen months. We load it with hydrogen and, 146 days later, it pass near Earth. They unload. Then off it goes for sixteen months until it comes back by. There are actually two of these in different orbits. Other is used to send supplies and people from Earth to Mars.”
A hand went up. “Are they still there?”
“Oh yeah,” said Tomás. “Some of you might remember the last time we have delivery from Earth several years back. Now they just circling around, waiting.”
A hand went up. “Waiting for what?”
“Until Earth need our hydrogen again.”
From Water: Generation Mars, Book Three. Available now at https://www.amazon.com/Water-Generation-Mars-Book-Three/dp/1733731067
Image: Aldrin cycler orbital diagram from Hawkeye7, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
After a few minutes of questions and answers, Nour started the rover and resumed the descent. Several minutes later the big rover drove out onto the ice sheet. Here, perhaps owing to the protection of the crater rim, the road was more distinct. The ice, which did not look like ice, was not flat. There were ridges and contours that mimicked the shape of the crater. These were called concentric crater fill and were caused by the slow movement of the ice as it had receded and grown, receded and grown through the millions of years it had existed in this crater. The road wound its way through these ridges until it reached the cluster of buildings and tanks and that gaping hole.
From Water: Generation Mars, Book Three. Available now at https://www.amazon.com/Water-Generation-Mars-Book-Three/dp/1733731067
Image: NASA