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Ginnie Dare #1
Crimson Sands
Ginnie Dare is the communications officer for her family’s space faring shipping company. They arrive at Eshu for a routine supply drop and discover that the entire settlement’s population has vanished. Their search of the site reveals nothing out of place, except the people, but ends in a tense confrontation with the natives. During the conflict, Ginnie discovers an alien artifact that may be the key to diffusing the conflict. Can she decode the artifact before it’s taken by the Sector Defense Force? Will it help them to discover the missing colony’s fate? Or, will the whole thing spark an interstellar war?
- GenresScience Fiction
138 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2011
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Scott Roche
53 books55 followersA military brat, fan of horror and occult fiction at an embarrassingly (for my parents anyway) young age, and a seeker of the true reality beyond that which we see every day, I try and include as much life experience in my writing as I can. Every story I write combines these elements into something that I hope you will not only enjoy, but tell all of your friends about. I am active in the podcast fiction sphere and am a contributing editor at Flying Island Press.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 30, 2011
I love smart young women as protagonists and Ginnie Dare delivers. A fun read with a good puzzle and well-crafted relationships.
December 13, 2011
Wow! I wish a had Ginnie Dare as my heroine when I was a 14-year-old space geek. Fun and inspiring story.
September 10, 2025
I really enjoyed Crimson Sands. The story pulls you in right from the start with the mystery of the missing colony, and I liked how the tension kept building as Ginnie and her family tried to piece things together. Ginnie is a strong and relatable character, and her role as the communications officer added a unique angle to the sci-fi adventure. The mix of mystery, alien encounters, and political tension made it feel fresh and exciting. I especially liked how the alien artifact tied everything together it kept me guessing what would happen next. If you enjoy fast-paced space adventures with a touch of intrigue, this book is definitely worth picking up.
September 14, 2011
A great read! The story is well written, and the action well timed. Knowing the author by no means influenced my opinion, as we both believe that honesty is the best policy when it comes to reviews.
I'd love to see more from Ginnie in another story. A great read for old and young alike.
I highly recommend it.
I'd love to see more from Ginnie in another story. A great read for old and young alike.
I highly recommend it.
June 17, 2012
Ginnie Dare is a good yarn, with many interesting possibilities, the doors to which Scott Roche leaves wide open for future exploration. It is an enjoyable read, and leaves the reader with questions unanswered, without leaving the reader dissatisfied. If I were to have a complaint about this book, it would be that it is too short - I wanted more of the story than the novella length would allow.
October 25, 2011
This was a great read with interesting characters, believable conflicts, and an interesting world. I look forward to more Ginnie in the future.
April 7, 2014
26th book read in 2014.
Number 83 out of 370 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jqlz...
Number 83 out of 370 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jqlz...
October 30, 2025
A Gripping Sci-Fi Mystery Among the Stars
When Ginnie Dare and her family’s spacefaring crew arrive at the colony on Eshu, they expect a routine mission, but the entire population has vanished without a trace. What begins as a simple supply drop quickly spirals into a race against time as Ginnie uncovers a mysterious alien artifact that could hold the key to peace… or ignite an interstellar war.
Blending sharp wit, suspense, and interplanetary intrigue, Ginnie Dare: Crimson Sands is a thrilling sci-fi adventure that will captivate fans of smart, character-driven space stories.
When Ginnie Dare and her family’s spacefaring crew arrive at the colony on Eshu, they expect a routine mission, but the entire population has vanished without a trace. What begins as a simple supply drop quickly spirals into a race against time as Ginnie uncovers a mysterious alien artifact that could hold the key to peace… or ignite an interstellar war.
Blending sharp wit, suspense, and interplanetary intrigue, Ginnie Dare: Crimson Sands is a thrilling sci-fi adventure that will captivate fans of smart, character-driven space stories.
August 27, 2017
Ginnie saw a message it was from a day ago. She heard footsteps and could feel him looming over her shoulder. She had hear no word from the colony of Eshu. All communication are cut.
August 30, 2012
I have known Scott Roche on Twitter and within the podcasting / writing community for quite a while now. This is why I am almost embarrassed to say that I haven't read any of his fiction until he submitted his short story "Fetch" and later "Ma Coleman's Faerie Giant" to our Every Photo Tells... podcast.
The story he is most well-known for though, is Ginnie Dare. It's available in print and eBook and I am happy I got hold of a copy. I loaded it on my iPad and read it on the tramway on my way to work.
As far as I know, Ginnie Dare is classified as a Young Adult, Sci-Fi novel. For me, in short, it was a quick and enjoyable read. So quick and so enjoyable, I wished it was part of a series. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Ginnie is a self-taught genius. She loves puzzles and figuring stuff out. Preferably with the help of her dad's ship's artificial intelligence. Sounds weird? Not to me. I was that girl. I love her and I feel for her. The need to understand things to an extent that might not be exactly what her parents (in this case, Ginnie's dad) had imagined, makes her loveable and easy to root for. For a teenager, or younger reader, she is a great role model. Boy or girl.
Her dad is a bit of a grump, trying to balance the captain, friend and dad role all at once and sometimes failing at multiple attempts at a time. The reader can't always understand his motives, but then again, neither does Ginnie. And we don't have to, to like him and to know he's coming from a good place. The rest of the crew on the Dare ship are sometimes exceedingly disobedient but just as able in their jobs and in protecting each other. Then the second ship comes in, the official state-run ship with all the same bureaucrats you don't even want to meet when you need a new passport - let alone in a crisis. There was a point where I started to mix the different members of the crew up; and even more so when the native planet population came in. I wonder if there aren't too many people for a story that size. In a bigger novel or over the course of the series you will encounter many characters, but it feels a bit much for the first book.
All in all, I really enjoyed Ginnie Dare and am really curious what Ginnie will be up to next. So that means for you - buy it! And for me... torture Scott into writing more.
http://www.maimer.net/2012/08/book-re...
The story he is most well-known for though, is Ginnie Dare. It's available in print and eBook and I am happy I got hold of a copy. I loaded it on my iPad and read it on the tramway on my way to work.
As far as I know, Ginnie Dare is classified as a Young Adult, Sci-Fi novel. For me, in short, it was a quick and enjoyable read. So quick and so enjoyable, I wished it was part of a series. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Ginnie is a self-taught genius. She loves puzzles and figuring stuff out. Preferably with the help of her dad's ship's artificial intelligence. Sounds weird? Not to me. I was that girl. I love her and I feel for her. The need to understand things to an extent that might not be exactly what her parents (in this case, Ginnie's dad) had imagined, makes her loveable and easy to root for. For a teenager, or younger reader, she is a great role model. Boy or girl.
Her dad is a bit of a grump, trying to balance the captain, friend and dad role all at once and sometimes failing at multiple attempts at a time. The reader can't always understand his motives, but then again, neither does Ginnie. And we don't have to, to like him and to know he's coming from a good place. The rest of the crew on the Dare ship are sometimes exceedingly disobedient but just as able in their jobs and in protecting each other. Then the second ship comes in, the official state-run ship with all the same bureaucrats you don't even want to meet when you need a new passport - let alone in a crisis. There was a point where I started to mix the different members of the crew up; and even more so when the native planet population came in. I wonder if there aren't too many people for a story that size. In a bigger novel or over the course of the series you will encounter many characters, but it feels a bit much for the first book.
All in all, I really enjoyed Ginnie Dare and am really curious what Ginnie will be up to next. So that means for you - buy it! And for me... torture Scott into writing more.
http://www.maimer.net/2012/08/book-re...
January 14, 2013
I received a review copy of Ginnie Dare: Crimson Sands last week, and being in need of a good middle grade read, jumped right in. Mr. Roche has written an engaging work of science fiction for the middle grade reader, and I will be reading the sequel.
Despite advance notice in the form of some comments in the book's information, it took me a while to figure out why the name "Ginnie (Virginia) Dare" seemed familiar. Mr. Roche has taken inspiration from the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, VA, and named his main character after a girl from that colony (I think "inspiration" is the best way to put it--this is far from a retelling of the story).
Ginnie is the 13-year-old (?) communications officer on her father's interplanetary merchant ship, and is definitely smart and able beyond her years. This may require a certain willing suspension of disbelief, but I consider that pretty normal for young heroes, and Roche carries it off convincingly. Ginnie is by turns over-confident and painfully aware of and/or annoyed by her own youth and inexperience.
When the Dare Company ship Helena arrives at the planet Eshu, they can't find the colonists. What they do about it and how Ginnie manages to negotiate between the natives, the military, and a crew of pirates drives the story.
The story caught me up pretty well by about the mid-point, but I did feel it was a little slow to start. In part, I was put off by a font that didn't work well on my Nook, resulting in text that was jammed together and a little hard to read. That is minor and Mr. Roche is working on it. But the story doesn't really take off in any case until the military shows up and there is some conflict to offset the original mystery. The mystery presenting itself without anything concrete to be done resulted in too much thinking and not enough action (though of course in life more thinking and less action is often a better choice, I find this is not really true in the first chapters of a book).
If I were just rating Ginnie Dare on the second half, I would give it the four stars I marked, free and clear. The slow beginning, however, leads me to knock it down to three and a half stars, really. An impatient 11-year-old might put it down before getting to the heart of the adventure, but continued reading will be rewarded.
Despite advance notice in the form of some comments in the book's information, it took me a while to figure out why the name "Ginnie (Virginia) Dare" seemed familiar. Mr. Roche has taken inspiration from the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, VA, and named his main character after a girl from that colony (I think "inspiration" is the best way to put it--this is far from a retelling of the story).
Ginnie is the 13-year-old (?) communications officer on her father's interplanetary merchant ship, and is definitely smart and able beyond her years. This may require a certain willing suspension of disbelief, but I consider that pretty normal for young heroes, and Roche carries it off convincingly. Ginnie is by turns over-confident and painfully aware of and/or annoyed by her own youth and inexperience.
When the Dare Company ship Helena arrives at the planet Eshu, they can't find the colonists. What they do about it and how Ginnie manages to negotiate between the natives, the military, and a crew of pirates drives the story.
The story caught me up pretty well by about the mid-point, but I did feel it was a little slow to start. In part, I was put off by a font that didn't work well on my Nook, resulting in text that was jammed together and a little hard to read. That is minor and Mr. Roche is working on it. But the story doesn't really take off in any case until the military shows up and there is some conflict to offset the original mystery. The mystery presenting itself without anything concrete to be done resulted in too much thinking and not enough action (though of course in life more thinking and less action is often a better choice, I find this is not really true in the first chapters of a book).
If I were just rating Ginnie Dare on the second half, I would give it the four stars I marked, free and clear. The slow beginning, however, leads me to knock it down to three and a half stars, really. An impatient 11-year-old might put it down before getting to the heart of the adventure, but continued reading will be rewarded.
May 11, 2012
I really enjoyed this book! Ginnie Dare is a great read for young readers. The protagonist of the story, Ginnie, is a bright young girl who wants a career in military intelligence. She's gifted at coding and decoding things, and solving puzzles and mysteries. And boy, does she get a mystery to solve, because when she arrives with her father and their merchant crew at a small colony to drop off supplies, she discovers the colonists are missing and the aliens on the planet are demanding the return of something that Ginnie and her father can't identify, much less find. It's a race to figure out what happened to the colonists before the military boots them off the planet. And Ginnie does quite well at being in the middle of the action.
It's a fun read with a great message about choosing the right things out of life. And Ginnie is a terrific character; she's engaging, smart, determined, yet still identifiable as a typical young teen trying to figure out her world. I think readers will love her, particularly girls who want a strong, relatable, likable heroine who can have adventures without needing to be rescued by the men around her. She's no Bella Swan, in need of an Edward to complete her. But she's not a hard, closed off girl who hates the world either. She's what you want your child to be, actually... curious, healthy, with a strong sense of self. What a great female role model! I hope Scott Roche writes more about her, because I think a Ginnie Dare is much-needed in YA sci-fi today.
It's a fun read with a great message about choosing the right things out of life. And Ginnie is a terrific character; she's engaging, smart, determined, yet still identifiable as a typical young teen trying to figure out her world. I think readers will love her, particularly girls who want a strong, relatable, likable heroine who can have adventures without needing to be rescued by the men around her. She's no Bella Swan, in need of an Edward to complete her. But she's not a hard, closed off girl who hates the world either. She's what you want your child to be, actually... curious, healthy, with a strong sense of self. What a great female role model! I hope Scott Roche writes more about her, because I think a Ginnie Dare is much-needed in YA sci-fi today.
July 16, 2012
Ginnie Dare: the Crimson Sands by Scott Roche is a delightful YA sci-fi mystery for the whole family. The story opens with Ginnie, the daughter of a merchant, anticipating the Dare Company's next delivery. This gives an immediate look into the titular character and hooked me into the story.
Things start happening right away when Ginnie, who serves as the communications officer for her dad's ship, notices something's not quite right. As they approach their destination, they're met with silence. The mystery begins.
On the desert plant's surface, they find the colonists missing with everything set as if they were suddenly taken. A very eery atmosphere as the away team looks for clues as to where they might've gone. The story progresses at a quick pace with aliens, a mystery object, and confrontation with the military. Where have the colonists gone? What does the military want so badly? What are the alien's motives? Is the object the key to the mystery or just a pretty piece of art?
Scott does an excellent job of creating a colorful world with interesting characters. I read this while on my exercise machine, which made that chore go by very quickly. In fact, I'd often go a few more minutes to finish a chapter. While there are a few tiny things that may bother some readers, I understood the target audience for this story and easily overlooked them.
Conclusion: this is a fun, quick read that kids are sure to like as well as adults who enjoy a trip back to their youth. I hope there will be more adventures with this interesting young lady.
Things start happening right away when Ginnie, who serves as the communications officer for her dad's ship, notices something's not quite right. As they approach their destination, they're met with silence. The mystery begins.
On the desert plant's surface, they find the colonists missing with everything set as if they were suddenly taken. A very eery atmosphere as the away team looks for clues as to where they might've gone. The story progresses at a quick pace with aliens, a mystery object, and confrontation with the military. Where have the colonists gone? What does the military want so badly? What are the alien's motives? Is the object the key to the mystery or just a pretty piece of art?
Scott does an excellent job of creating a colorful world with interesting characters. I read this while on my exercise machine, which made that chore go by very quickly. In fact, I'd often go a few more minutes to finish a chapter. While there are a few tiny things that may bother some readers, I understood the target audience for this story and easily overlooked them.
Conclusion: this is a fun, quick read that kids are sure to like as well as adults who enjoy a trip back to their youth. I hope there will be more adventures with this interesting young lady.
June 8, 2012
Ginnie Dare is a YA Space Adventure that gives us a fun experience in the future. Rather than following a military crew and their ship ala The Enterprise in Star Trek you follow Ginnie a young girl working on her father's merchant vessel, privately owned by the Dare company. When trouble at a colony pops up it's up to the crew to figure out what happened, and figure it out fast before hope of their friend's recovery is lost.
Ginnie's cleverness and curiosity is an asset to solving the mystery along with her innocent, heart and good intentions. This book has made the list of books I recommend anyone to read but more importantly the young women in my life in needs of strong female role models. The story fills me with hope and I love that the main character doesn't rely on physical strength or weapons to win, she relies on her brain.
The pacing is slower in the beginning of the book but it really picks up towards the end. All I could think when finishing the tale was that I wanted more Ginnie Dare stories, and I had better get them.
Ginnie's cleverness and curiosity is an asset to solving the mystery along with her innocent, heart and good intentions. This book has made the list of books I recommend anyone to read but more importantly the young women in my life in needs of strong female role models. The story fills me with hope and I love that the main character doesn't rely on physical strength or weapons to win, she relies on her brain.
The pacing is slower in the beginning of the book but it really picks up towards the end. All I could think when finishing the tale was that I wanted more Ginnie Dare stories, and I had better get them.
February 26, 2012
This is a likable book for any pre-teen to young adult. The entire story reminds me of an old Star Trek: Next Generation episode with a young Mr. Crusher. In this case, it's a young Ms. Dare. I liked the concept then, I like it now. She saves the day while all the brave and all knowing adults run around chasing their tail.
I really liked what the artifact did. It was very cool idea. Mr. Roche brings these kind of nuggets to the table for readers to explore and appreciate. He's done this in past stories and I expect more of the same in the future. My only argument with Mr. Roche that he tends to take his time to get the party started. Once the party does start, Mr. Roche fires on all cylinders. I have read previous stories by Mr. Roche an I have gotten use to his style and I've come to accept it. New readers may rightfully be turned off by this style. They will be missing out if they do.
Young readers will definitely like the book.
I really liked what the artifact did. It was very cool idea. Mr. Roche brings these kind of nuggets to the table for readers to explore and appreciate. He's done this in past stories and I expect more of the same in the future. My only argument with Mr. Roche that he tends to take his time to get the party started. Once the party does start, Mr. Roche fires on all cylinders. I have read previous stories by Mr. Roche an I have gotten use to his style and I've come to accept it. New readers may rightfully be turned off by this style. They will be missing out if they do.
Young readers will definitely like the book.
September 21, 2011
Want to share the joy of reading with your family? Buy this.
Love space fiction, in the classic gung-ho style? Buy this.
Buy this? Buy this.
Love space fiction, in the classic gung-ho style? Buy this.
Buy this? Buy this.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews