Darwin's World

Darwin's World #1

by Jack L. Knapp

Ultimate freedom; it’s desired by many, but most have no idea what the term means.
It’s the freedom to live or die by your own efforts. You’re on your own in a way that few have ever experienced. Would you really want the chance to face evolution? To survive if you’re fit, perish if you’re not?

A select few have found themselves transplanted to a world where there are no native humans, where they have that ultimate freedom; now what?

Surviving won’t be easy. There are predators, huge ones. They’re better adapted to Darwin’s World than humans are. Predators such as existed in Earth’s Pleistocene, saber-tooth cats, short-faced bears, and dire wolves. Plus the other predators that survived the Pleistocene extinction, lions, wolves, jaguars, things like that.

And some of the predators are human…

Genres: Time Travel

Unknown Binding

First published April 30, 2014

About the author

Soldier, teacher, author, hobbyist; my past experiences find their way into my books.
I have an imagination with few boundaries. I use that imagination extensively, particularly in my New Frontiers Series.
By contrast, imagination figures in my Darwin's World series but there's also tons of personal experience. When I describe chipping flint, I've done it. I've set traps, made and used ropes, raised horses, spent a lot of time in the deep woods. But the series is really not about survival; that's how it begins, but by the time you reach The Return, it's begun to change to hard SF. I'm currently writing Defending Eden, which is not only hard SF, it has elements of space opera.
The Wizards Series is about wish fulfillment. Who wouldn't want to find buried treasure, move huge objects, fly, and do in bad guys? With side journeys into saving lives and fighting wildfires?
As for my novella, Hands, expect everything from grins to belly laughs. And then there's the stand-alone short story, Ants, which offers a different view of where the New Frontiers Series might have gone.
One work-in-progress, two more in the pipeline, and a new home page: http//jacklknapp.com/home
In other words, I'm nowhere near ready to retire!

Reviews

[Vincent Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story, and one which I've wanted to write myself, only Jack Knapp beat me to it. It tackles the familiar time-travel story and takes a new look at it. Instead of 21st century people traveling back with tools that ensure their success, removing the essential drama from the story, this story instead details just how ill-equipped modern man is for dealing with what everyone had to deal with in that period, and shows how delicate the tradeoff between knowledge and experience is.

I've read other of Jack's works, and we have a similar approach to stories, so I'm anxious to see how this story plays out. I love the characters, the situations, the story development, and the unexpected twists and turns it takes.

I also appreciate how the author portrays his characters, making them seem real and alive, making the outlandish situations seem more believable.

[A.R. Bredenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

In "Darwin's World," by Jack L. Knapp, a man finds himself transported after death to a parallel world during a period corresponding to something like Earth's Pleistocene epoch or just after transition to the Holocene. There the protagonist, Matt, must struggle to survive while banding together with other people mysteriously deposited on Darwin's World.

Knapp's writing is good and he has an interesting story idea, but I can only rate "Darwin's World" two stars out of five for several reasons. One is the simple need for a line editor to polish and tighten up the copy and correct errors.

I also see larger problems with the story. One of my greatest objections is that the story begins with an enormous amount of "explaining," in which a mysterious "Futurist" launches into a long explanation as to how and why Matt is being sent to Darwin's World. The writer needs to deal with such rationalizing in some other format than one big info dump in a prologue.

Knapp goes to great lengths to describe the technologies Matt uses to survive in the stark environment of Darwin's World. I'm actually interested in that stuff, but to be frank it doesn't make great reading. This kind of detail could be cut down by at least half.

Most of the story is told in first person from Matt's point of view, but the narrative suddenly switches to third person at a couple of spots. I found that this shift yanked me out of the story.

I also found the characters puzzling. They all seem inexplicably silent on their previous lives before they were resurrected and transported to Darwin's World. Why doesn't anyone talk about their previous life in which they were a network administrator or an English professor or a Nissan mechanic? Surely such topics would come up in daily conversation? It's possible that this disconnect is due to the darwinist ideology, which seems inherent to the story. When people are thrust into such a stark environment, all mores and social niceties have to go out the window just so one can survive. Knapp's rationale seems to be that everyone is too preoccupied with raw survival, but I just don't buy it.

I would give Darwin's World a cleanness rating of two stars out of five, for some profanity and a fair amount of sensuality and violence.

ARK

[Mike Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg Good

This story of a guy getting a second chance life to live on a world of mammoths where humans are not the top predator yet is so interesting and entertaining and different. I can not stop reading this book.

[Patiscynical · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it was dull

You know, you can't just add a few exclamation points and call that exciting.
Matt is an old man made young again by technology from the future. He has been selected by the futurists to be transformed, and sent to an alternate earth, where humans never developed. This is done supposedly to ensure the survival of the human race. He is to be sent to a time of around the last ice age. He will be given memories of things he's never done, like making flint tips, spearheads, etc.
Sadly, the story lacks excitement, and the characters have little depth.
Also, it irked me that Matt never seemed to take more than a week to master any new skill, such as flint knapping. The story is told first-person by Matt, and in such a way that it reminded me of bees droning in a flower garden. And Matt seemed kind of chauvinistic. The phrase "the women" is used in this book 74 times. That's about 50 times more than I would have liked. Like Matt doesn't need to differentiate between them. Like they're all the same.
Results: I only read 45% of this before I realized I must've picked the wrong day to quit drinking. Seriously, though, I respect that the author finished writing a book and had it published. It just wasn't for me.
Oh, and there was a little profanity, and some non-graphic sexual content. Maybe a PG to an R rating.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A JLP. SYFY Novel About Time travel and the Prehistoric Age (DWSB1)

JLP. has penned a SYFY novel of time travelers who find older men and women reduce their mind and bodies back to their young selves. Then they are transported via time travel back to prehistoric time. The latest man forms a small family and because he does he assumed the responsibility.
six other' people. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS

[Daniel Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story concept.

I really like the concept of this story. Kinda a do over for humans. But I hate books that can't stand on their own. This just finished as part of a book. The story can and should continue but it also should stand as it own with following books continuing the story.

We written and with good details and twist. You care for the characters.

[Connie J Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel Futurists


No Soylent Green here Folks. Just move along!
Like the premise of the story.
It felt like Matt spent way too much time in letting the reader know every detail of building his weapons.
But. Once Matt met other humans, the story finally came together.
I'm glad I kept reading.
Heading into the next book in thiis series

[Theraaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

A guy's wet dream of masculine superiority and individual dominance. Seemingly unedited, repetitive infodump of survival techniques without credible characters or meaningful plot. A morality-free killing spree.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

To much info on making weapons, skinning and trapping animals and building a shelter. After reading this, I feel that I could go on Naked and Afraid and survive. Not enough story line. Will not be reading the second book.

[Jim Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story!!

Educated man back to stone age and how he gets along. As usual, the devil is in the details. I think you did a fine story telling job. I would recommend this to my friends and enemies. (If I could find any)

[Angela Gardiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darwin's world part one

I absolutely love this story!!! I am going to read the second book now 😜!!!I am glad you are done with the second book so I can continue the story without having to wait for one chapter every week!!!

[Tim Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Book NO Ending

I thought the book was pretty good and pretty well written. The major drawback is it had no ending. I would not even have wasted my time reading this book if I knew it did not have an ending. That is why it’s only getting two stars.

[K9palstruvista.net · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprise

Book was great bust a little too much detail. Story got lost in th details.




Too much detail story got lost.

[Nicole]

DNF

[Jimmy Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good premise!

Well told story, bringing in people slowly, with interesting scenes. If I ever do a book, I'll remember the concept.

[Mike Billington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine waking up one day in the distant past at a time when mammoths, dire wolves, and giant bears roamed the Earth.
Then imagine that you are armed only with a knife, a camp ax, and what knowledge you have of survival techniques.
Could you, born in an age of easy abundance and labor-saving devices, survive? Would you be tough enough, swift enough, and lucky enough to last more than a day or two in a world in which you are no longer an apex predator but are, instead, prey for animals that are bigger, stronger, and faster than you?
Would you be psychologically strong enough to withstand long periods of loneliness in an extremely hostile environment?
And if you were, would you be able to hold on to enough of your civilized humanity to work with others if - and when - you came into contact with them?
Fascinating questions and the basis for Jack L. Knapp's excellent adventure novel "Darwin's World: An Epic of Survival." In it, Knapp has imagined a world that is an alternative Earth: One that exists across dimensions. He has populated it with men and women who have been "transplanted" to this planet during the Ice Age by Futurists, given minimal supplies, and then discreetly monitored. The reason: In the far future humanity is dying out and needs an infusion of stronger genes to survive. The Futurists reason that by placing people in this extremely harsh environment, only the strongest will survive. Those that do will later be "harvested" and brought back to the Earth that exists in their own dimension. Adding their more robust genes to the pool will, the Futurists think, ensure that humanity doesn't die out.
What made "Darwin's World" a really good read for me is Knapp's ability to fashion a wide-ranging narrative that is part primer on survival techniques and part sociological study on small group dynamics wrapped in a crackling good adventure. His world-building skills are impressive and his characters are well drawn. The situations they find themselves in are realistic as are their reactions to the threats they face. Knapp writes smoothly and effectively; there are very few wasted words in "Darwin's World." If I have any quibble with this novel - the first in a series - it is the fact that Knapp abruptly switches from first-person to omniscient narration near the end of the book. I understand why he did it but it was, nonetheless, a little jarring.
That aside, this is a very fine novel that asks, and answers, some interesting questions and gives readers something to think about. A solid 4.5 stars and a novel that I have no problem recommending.

[Jack Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author's Review:
I'm not sure I ever got it right. This was my second book and I tried to make it realistic; no gee whiz paranormal stuff, just constant work, danger, new challenges.
I have considerable knowledge and I added more research to the topic. Still, describing a whole world? Not easy.
Why 'modern' humans are there, that's the plot. But after that point, it's almost pure action-adventure. Survival under harsh conditions, possibly too much descriptiveness (that authenticity part again!), but still I achieved most of my aims.
So far, there are two books in this series, Darwin's World and The Trek. That will be published this month, with luck.
DW convinced me I was a writer. I got hate mail. Really.
Why? People really identified with my character. I don't want to spoil things, but I added the epilogue later because of the hate mail; it was originally supposed to be the prologue to The Trek.
This was submitted to a number of beta readers through a group; it had more than 5500 fans. And yes, I got real fan mail! Astonishing! :D
The series will eventually deal with the invention of society, government, all that stuff that few understand. Did I bite off more than I can chew?
You'll have to decide for yourself.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matt has had a full life but now the body is wearing out and he is in the hospital awaiting the end. He wakes up from a nap and feels much better, very much better and is confronted with a strange room and stranger man. He is told that he has been selected to be "reconditioned", returned to an improved him at a much younger age. He will be given some extra memories and then placed on a alternate earth with no indigenous humans and basically the clothes on his back to make it on his own. He walks out a door of his room and finds himself in what would be southern middle America in his past time but now is somewhere in the Pleistocene era. The book continues with his survival and connecting with others who have been sent to what he calls Darwin's World. A decent read and there is a continuing book that I will have to look up in the future.

[Blair Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read Darwin's World by Jack Knapp a couple of weeks ago. Jack has a very vivid imagination and this is a scifi story with a difference, a rebirth and survival story. The characters are well-drawn and believable and the story is well-written. As I said, I read the book a couple of weeks ago, but I still find myself thinking about it, hence this quickie, and not so timely, review. Well done, Jack. Will be reading more of your works.

[Russell Quinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favorite author

I liked the plot, the story has just enough details to make it interesting but not so much as to become tedious in other words just the right amount. It made me think of what Jean Aurel would write in a Scfi setting only better. I have some things I need to be doing but Mr. Knapp has forced me to read the next book in the series because he left me hanging on the ending of this one.

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book

I liked this book and look forward to reading the series the author does a good job of explaining the actions and experiences of the characters in the book and making you feel a part of the book

[Phil Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

What's with this author and salt? Good only for preservation. That's where people got a taste for it. Frequent contradictions. (Hooves placed in a bag to take with, later going back for them, etc.

[chrissy murdock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adventure

Good story. I'm looking forward to book two to see how this adventure continues. This book could be made into a scify mini series.