The Earthborn

by Paul Collins

Welkin Quinn has always dreamed of setting foot on Earth. As an elite Skyborn teenager aboard a transport ship destined for Tau Ceti, all he knows of his home planet is what he has learned from the Elders as well as from a wealth of records and artifacts archived in the ship's memory. The creatures known as the Earthborn-brutish survivors of the devastation that laid waste to Earth-are an uncivilized and technologically primitive race in many ways indistinguishable from savages.

Yet even though Welkin was born on The Colony, Earth is still. . . home.

When The Colony is forced to abort its mission to colonize and Tau Ceti and crash lands on Earth, he will finally have a chance to experience Earth-and the Earthborn-firsthand.

Assigned to a reconnaissance team to explore The Colony's perimeter, however, Welkin is ambushed by a murderous gang of feral Earthborn known as Jabbers. Welkin is rescued by Sarah, an Earthborn hardly older than himself and a leader of group of young survivors who are trying to unite other displaced families in a war against the Jabbers.

No question Skyborn Welkin needs the help of these Earthborn to survive. The real question is, Why on earth would they need him?

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Paul Collins has written many books, mostly for younger readers. He is best known for his fantasy and science fiction titles: The Jelindel Chronicles (Dragonlinks, Dragonfang, Dragonsight and Wardragon), and The Quentaris Chronicles ─ co-edited with Michael Pryor ─ (Swords of Quentaris, Slaves of Quentaris, Dragonlords of Quentaris, Princess of Shadows, The Forgotten Prince, Vampires of Quentaris and The Spell of Undoing). His trade books published in America are The Earthborn, The Skyborn and The Hiveborn.

Paul has edited many anthologies which include Trust Me!, Metaworlds and Australia’s first fantasy anthology, Dream Weavers. He also edited The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian SF&F.

Paul has been short-listed for many awards and has won the Inaugural Peter McNamara and the A Bertram Chandler awards, both of which were for lifetime achievement in science fiction, and the Aurealis and William Atheling awards.

His recent fantasy series is The World of Grrym (Allira’s Gift, Lords of Quibbitt and Morgassa’s Folly), in collaboration with Danny Willis. His latest YA book is The Only Game in the Galaxy, Book #3 in The Maximus Black Files.

His book, Slaves of Quentaris, features in 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die (UK, 2009).

Paul’s adult books are the anthology The Government in Exile and Cyberskin. His current adult horror novel, The Beckoning, Damnation Books (US) is available from http://tinyurl.com/ny6urwy.

Other than his writing, Paul is the publisher at Ford Street Publishing, publishing everything from picture books through to young adult literature, and he manages Creative Net, a speakers’ agency.

Paul’s websites are: www.paulcollins.com.au; www.fordstreetpublishing.com and www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet

Awards

1980s — 2000s a handful of nominations for Best Editor and Best Short Fiction in the Australian SF Achievement Awards

1999— Winner William Atheling Award for work on The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy; Shortlisted for the Aurealis Convenors’ Award.

2000— The Dog King, Notable Book Children’s Book Council; Shortlisted for the Clayton’s Award.

2001— Winner of the Aurealis Convenors’ Award (With Co-editor Meredith Costain) for Spinouts Bronze published by Pearson Education. Joint winner was Shaun Tan for The Lost Thing.

2002 — Winner of the inaugural Peter McNamara Award for lifetime achievement in SF.

2004 — Home Run (Illustrated by Connah Brecon), Notable Book, Children’s Book Council.

2009 -- Morgassa's Folly (in collaboration with Danny Willis), short-listed for the Chronos Award.

2010 -- The Slightly Skewed Life of Toby Chrysler, short-listed for The Speech Pathology Award.

2011 -- The Glasshouse (illustrated by Jo Thompson) chosen by international IBBY as an Outstanding Book; short-listed for the CBC's Crichton Award.

2011 --Awarded the A Bertram Chandler Award for Lifetime Achievement in Australian Science Fiction.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up in a bargain bin cause I liked the cover art.
But - I was surprised TOR published this. This was really not a good book.
After an unsuccessful mission to colonize a far planet, a generational spaceship has aborted that mission and decided to return to earth - and conquer it.
The elite of the ship have viciously put down a mutiny against this, imprisoning a great many 'mutineers' to the lower levels, and considering them subhuman. They also believe that the inhabitants of earth have, post-apocalypse, degenerated to a subhuman level. (Neither are actually subhuman.)
Both ship and earth have mysteriously and unexplained-ly suffered diseases which cause most people past puberty to die.
Not only is this really major coincidence never dealt with, characters just don't behave as if they are in the situations that the author puts them in, or have had the life experiences referred to. There's no character believability. There are references to our era that generations of teenagers would have long forgotten - the people in the book don't really seem to be people of their world. For example, they keep referring to each other as 'kids,' expecting a certain level of immaturity - but if people consistently die in their 20s or younger, they would fully be considered to be adults, and to behave as such. It was just stupid.
And the story didn't really go anywhere.
Not recommended.

[SKSATX · Rating 3 out of 5]

One in a series of Books detailing Mans Expedition from Earth to the Stars and Back, however reads well as a standalone book. This book details the return of those who'd gone into Space to colonize another planet light-years away , only to realize that colonization was unfeasible.

They return home (Earth) to a desolate wasteland, the product of a nuclear war and the consequent Nuclear winter having regressed the human race. The former-colonists (Now space-farers) - the result of a eugenics program view themselves as a superior race, and plan to exterminate the current residents of earth and re-establish their take on human society. However, the current inhabitants of earth have other ideas.

The book pits the ideas of totalitarianism against freedom of thought / expression , and of natural selection vs. Selective breeding against the backdrop of human resilience, and will to survive. Unfortunately lacking in much depth, it hints at being a great book, but never quite achieves it, better than an average read.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Interesting book that should appeal to fans of the Hunger Games Trilogy.

Welkin is a Starborn. A member of an elite group sent out to colonize space. But the Starborn have abandoned their mission and now they're back. The Earthborn are warring factions trying to survive on what is left of the Nuclear ravaged planet. The returning Colony could have been a God Send, a ray of hope. But as Welkin soon discovers the Colony Elders have one plan in mind for the Earthborn. Extermination.

Welkin once had ideals in keeping with the Elders plans but once his best Friend is marked as an Earthborn sympathizer Welkin gets caught in the witch hunt. The elders are making their own enemies because now Welkin finds himself in the position of either joining the Earthborn or dying.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot and there was plenty of action in this book. I have to agree with some of the other reviews here and say that the storyline was a bit choppy. I kept flipping back to see if I had missed pages. The author does a good job with some main scenes but seems to have a hard time with joining those scenes together. Like Sarah is sick on one page and two pages later she is passing on her book and going off to die, there is no build up or proper progression between the two events. I liked the characters he created and found the world he presents interesting. Still, this book could have benefited from more story building.

[Angelina Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had great characters and an interesting plot line but did not spend enough time developing them. I kept feeling as if I'd missed something. I kept flipping back to make sure I hadn't skipped a chapter. In the end, I felt as if too much was unresolved or unexplained.

[Spottedredsdad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. It's written for a younger audience but it holds up well and is a fast read.

[Jeremy Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't too bad for a kid's book. I would have loved to read this when I was in middle school. However, my district would have never allowed it because of the amount of violence in the story.

[Haigney S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book; there should be a second. So much left for the reader to think about and finalize for themselves!
The writing style is complete and the book is packed with action and suspense. Loved it.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it.