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The Dead Planet

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A dead planet. A rogue AI. A secret mission.
Tara Royce’s first day as the Academy’s newest Earth Defense Engineer was anything but ordinary. If humanity has any hope of returning to the dead planet in the next few thousand years, that is assuming it regenerates at all, they must first protect it from alien attack – and the Defense Engineers are its first and last line of defense. Aliens aren’t the only thing the new Engineer needs to look out for, though, and she soon discovers that the stakes are much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Be the first to find out when Book 2 is released: http://eepurl.com/cbuydP

77 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2016

8 people are currently reading
43 people want to read

About the author

T.J. Ryan

7 books2 followers

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5 stars
11 (26%)
4 stars
19 (45%)
3 stars
6 (14%)
2 stars
4 (9%)
1 star
2 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Linda Todd.
307 reviews66 followers
November 7, 2016
A great short story good quality writing well thought out this book I would be delighted to recommend to my friends. My thanks to the author T.J.Ryan for the utmost pleasure of reading this wonderful book so to all happy reading from wee me.
Profile Image for Mandy Walkden-Brown.
629 reviews31 followers
September 24, 2016
Promising start to the series.
A novella, but well and truly long enough to provide an intriguing glimpse into a now dead Earth and the Defense Engineers tasked with protecting the planet from avaricious aliens intent on swiping it for themselves.

The new Engineer, Tara Royce, had rather bad timing as far as starting her first day is concerned. She's immediately thrown neck deep into some pretty stressful situations and watching her deal with the circumstances creates some good tension and suspense.

Not a lot of backstory on the characters, but one assumes that will occur in the upcoming full length novel. I'll definitely be reading it, enjoyed the writing and the story and the ending has my curiosity antennae quivering.

Well worth checking out, I'm glad this story popped into my inbox via an Instafreebie promotion by the author. Always a nice surprise when one finds a new series to follow.
I've just pre-ordered the next book, The Contested Planet - have to find out exactly what happens next!

1 review
August 15, 2016
TJ Ryan's introductory story to the Broken Earth Saga is a high-energy and creative Space Opera novella. Great character development, and it hits all the expected tropes. I read through it in one sitting, and can't wait for the next one. TJ Ryan is definitely the next Sci Fi author to look out for in 2016.
Profile Image for Jim.
1,235 reviews50 followers
September 25, 2016
I hate short stories that try to be books. This short story is over before it starts. This could have been a great start to a real book, a real saga. Just because you want to publish a book, don’t chop it up by chapters and call each one of them books. That’s not right, of course, in my humble opinion. You science fiction writers can do what you want, but from a reader, this is bad for business.

I didn’t realize how short this “book” was going to be. I make it a habit of not reading anything prior to getting into a book because I don’t want anything to spoil my adventure. If I had know that his “book” was only 76 pages, 76, I would not have bothered reading it. I mean, it’s supposed to be part of a sage. Is the author going to write forty-eight short stories and call them a saga? I hope not. This would have made a good chapter in some of the books I’ve read and it would have made a decent chapter in the next book which appears to only be 177 pages long. Together, they would have made a nice book. Ok, enough of my whining.

This “book” has a new Defense Engineer, Tara Royce, out on her first mission. She’s in a single person defense pod that will be orbiting Earth, defending it from alien attacks. Yes, Earth has been destroyed, but this is now thousands of years in the future and humans are vowing to come back and resettle their home world when it has recovered. In the meantime, they have to defend it or some other civilization will want it’s resources. Earth is currently covered by dense black toxic clouds. What happens to Tara during her first mission since leaving the Academy is the gist of this story. Her career my be over.

This was a nicely written short story that should have been part of a bigger book. I don’t know what’s in book 2, but this should have been the beginning of that book and both together would have made a good novel. I gave this 4 stars because I know the author has to have talent to write stories as good as what this could be, but to publish two books that were no more than short stories, is not the way to gain readers. I’m not all that sure I’m going to read book 2 even though I did pre-order it.
263 reviews1 follower
November 5, 2016
It's not supposed to be............

Tara Royce is a brand new Defense Engineer on her first posting to the Earth Defense Grid. When she arrived they were under attack - baptism by fire. Then before she can settle in she received secret orders. From then on in it hit the fan!
An interesting premise, the storyline while basic is interesting. Character development is still embryonic as if to be completed in subsequent books. A pleasant read, quick and easy. I look forward to the next book.
Profile Image for Clay Davis.
Author 4 books166 followers
September 17, 2016
Not a bad story, the old plot line of insane computer wanting to kill a crewmember got tired after Hal 9000 did it. Story reminded me of Oblivion.
Profile Image for Davinia.
224 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2016
to short to really tell, but it made me wonder about the next one, so it did that well
Profile Image for Harley.
165 reviews39 followers
March 19, 2017
um... no. I'm totally not okay with an AI ship trying to force itself in any sense, especially sexually, on anyone. in this case a hard working human. not okay. i was pleased with the end cause of the AI. it deserved what it got.
Profile Image for Denetia.
5 reviews
October 26, 2016
Although this is a short read, it failed to hook me in the beginning. The whole incident with the AI AIDEN was fast paced, awkward and unrealistic. I couldn't help but to create my own back stories for the characters, because it severly lacked in that department. It came off as more of a quiclky written fan-fict, and did not deliver much. It had huge potential and I hope the second book in the series explores that thoroughly. Ryan has room for growth, and these books can be really great at certain points.
17 reviews
September 12, 2016
Short

Feels more like a 3 episode tv series then a movie... Or full novel. Could also use more detail and character development
Profile Image for Darlene.
502 reviews26 followers
November 8, 2016
A great start for a promising series. This short story had action right from the start. What a first day on the job for Tara Royce! Looking forward to reading more books in this series.
831 reviews10 followers
November 14, 2016
A great book TJ Ryan!

Thank you TJ Ryan for a great book to this series! I've a new reading project for my winters reading. A fan
Profile Image for Lisa.
662 reviews4 followers
December 31, 2016
This was a good novella. I enjoyed the twists in the story. And the "I didn't see that coming" factor was good.
Profile Image for David.
40 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2016
Interesting take on apocalyptic earth/space. Physics seems a bit odd. Distances aren't realistic.
Profile Image for John Walkenford.
342 reviews7 followers
April 6, 2017
I wasn't crazy about this book. I think the sexuality is overdone and uneccessary for a story of this size (how he describes what she is wearing when she wakes up. what she does in the shower, the whole AI thing). I had read Destroy the Planet first and thought the same thing about how that story started. Outside of all this there are some interesting teasers about what is to come in dealing with Earth but I haven't decided if I want to continue with this yet.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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