Earth's Remnant

Jewel of The Stars: Season 1 #1

by Adam David Collings

Haylee was more confident designing starships than raising an autistic child. Now she just wants a relaxing holiday with her family. But when Earth falls to an alien armada, she knows life will never be the same again.

Les was just a cruise ship captain. Now, he must rise up and become something greater, if he is to keep his crew and passengers alive.

Braxton never wanted to leave the space navy, but now, taking a cruise is the only way to feel the stars around him. This crisis may be his ticket to regaining the life he thought was gone forever.

Can they overcome their differences and save everyone on the ship?

If they reach unexplored space, they might yet survive, but an unstoppable enemy stands in their way…

Genres: Science Fiction, Novella

116 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2017

About the author

Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.

Adam is the host of the Nerd Heaven podcast, where he discusses sci-fi and fantasy stories from film, television and books. You can also find his content on youTube.

Adam is most known as the author of the Jewel of The Stars space opera series.

Reviews

[Lynne Stringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic and entertaining story about an outer-space pleasure cruise that has to deal with the fact that their home planet of Earth has been invaded by aliens. Where do they go? What do they do? How can they survive? And what if the aliens get them too?
Told from the point of view of three different characters, this book kept me engaged until the end, anxious to find out what happened. While some elements of the story are left open-ended (after all, this is only the first book in a series) enough was resolved to make me satisfied, and the story was well written, so I enjoyed the ride. Recommended.

[Linsey Painter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les Miller is the captain of the luxury cruise star liner, Jewel of the Stars. He has a starship full of passengers who are ready for the holiday of a lifetime. Having received a mysterious warning to stay on earth, Captain Miller can’t shake the feeling that this trip will be anything but normal.
Braxton White has been dismissed from his position in the Royal Australian Space Navy. He is bored with earth and longs to go back into space. But the cruise liner is not what he expected. It doesn’t feel like space and the person responsible for ending his career is taking the same holiday, albeit on the first class level.
Haylee Scott is a wife, mother and newly made redundant military engineer who specialised on alien spacecraft. This is anything but a happy family holiday.
These are just a few of the thousand souls on board the Jewel of the Stars as it heads into space.
When earth is attacked and overtaken by an alien race Captain Les Miller is left with the last remnant of a free human race. What will become of the cruise liner and it’s mix of passengers? How will the peaceful cruise liner survive against a hostile alien attack?
Adam David Collings has set up an intriguing ‘what if’ scenario. In his episodic space opera, Collings mixes cruise liners with space, military with civilian. Jewel of the Stars is anything but a sedate, pleasure-seeking cruise. Action, intrigue, and plenty of heart, Jewel of the Stars will leave readers wanting more.
I really enjoyed the first instalment of this fun space opera series and can’t wait for the next episode to come out. The characters are pulsing with life and have surprising twists to their histories and personalities. I look forward to discovering how their stories evolve throughout the series.
Thanks to Adam for a free copy of Earth's Remnant in exchange for an honest review.

[Nola Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine this. You're on a pleasure cruise on a spaceship and you're hoping for a fun and relaxing time sightseeing among the stars. Then the captain makes an announcement to say that aliens have broken through earth's defences and you can't return. This is the fascinating premise behind this novella. The captain doesn't have any military experience and the ship doesn't have weapons that could protect against hostile aliens. Just as well there's a retired military commander and a weapons engineer on board. But can they find and install the weapons they need before a stray alien ship destroys everyone on board? Well, you'll just have to read it to find out.

This is Season 1, Episode 1 of Adam David Collings' space opera, and I really enjoyed it. There are a range of interesting primary and secondary characters, with lots of scope for future storylines. The action was tight, with plenty of drama, but also some humour. I've read a few of Collings' stories and I like his writing style. It's easy to read, but has some great imagery and the odd quirky turn of phrase ( e.g. aliens who were like grasshoppers on steroids). It's in the mould of space opera TV shows like Star Trek, complete with warp rings and tractor beams, but Collings puts his own original spin on it.

I'm looking forward to reading more in this series. I hope it's not too long until the next installment.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Jewel of the Stars - Earth's Remnant by Adam Collings.

When the space cruise 'ship' Jewel of the Stars is diverted from it's normal first stop, Alpha Centauri, the captain and crew aren't too worried. But it soon becomes clear that some terrible is happening, and the only way to survive is to flee earth controlled space. No one on board is really equipped to face the situation, but each step up with their diverse talents, personalities and way of operating.

Great start to a series that keep me hooked and interested all the way through. The starting chapters reminded me a bit of TV series like Fantasy Island as we are introduced to the main characters at the start - from the by-the-book Captain, to ex-military commander with a past, to a harried mother who has to go above and beyond duty drawing on her space-engineering skills. There's a good mix of character driven elements and the plot, which the tension and danger ramping up quickly with an exciting and nail-chewing climax. It also had the different elements of space opera - space ships, aliens, shields, teleportation etc.

I look forward to reading the next in the series and seeing more of the many passengers step up to the plate.

[Ian King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! Collings has developed excellent characters which the reader can really relate to.
Civilians and trained crew alike are thrust into an unexpected future, when news of earths take over reaches the cruse ship they are aboard, in deep space. Passengers were hoping to have a pampered holiday on the newly refurbished ship 'Jewel of the Stars' when disaster back home strikes.
People need to step up and grasp the paradigm shift, if they are to survive and allude the alien invasion. It becomes a game of cat and mouse as an alien craft is spotted on long range monitors... is it hunting down their own ship? What do they want? Why has such a such a bitter resentment and desire to conquer developed within these merciless aliens? And what can they do about it?
If you like story's of courage and being pitted against the odds, then this should be your next read. It didn't take me long to finish and I believe there are more 'chapters' of this saga coming out... I hope they aren't light years away!
I thoroughly enjoyed it...

[Linda Collings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am incredibly biased as this is my husband's book!!
I read this beauty in a few hours and loved it ! Honestly I am hanging out for part two (hint hint).
5 stars baby I love you!

[Peter Younghusband · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I offered to review this novella. This is the author's debut novella being published outside of the three anthologies where his other short stories are published.

Jewel of the Stars is a wonderful, engaging, novella! Pure entertainment with 100% science fiction space opera action and adventure. Collings has created a world of the future that is very much believable. It seems to be right at the front door of our reality. It would not surprise me that going on a space cruise for a holiday as depicted in this novel could occur within the next 50 years. I read an article this week that stated that the technology for warp speed is much closer now.

Despite the 116 page length of this novella, Collings succeeds in showing enough of this futuristic setting and technology. It is set 100 years from now and I could picture what this would be like. I found myself likening this to some world building of the last two Star Trek movies. I say that as a compliment to Collings.

I am glad that I found the free prequel short story, The Fall of the HMAS Adelaide. This prequel lays the foundation of the alien invasion of Earth and the attempts of its crew to alert Earth'so authorities of this invasion. This novella is referenced by Braxton in Jewel of the Stars. I would like to see more of this connection between Captain Evelyn and Braxton in future episodes. I would suggest that readers of this series read this free prequel before reading JotS. It can be found here.

I kept thinking while reading the prequel that Captain Evelyn Bilingara is very much like Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager. Not sure if that what Collings wants us to picture from this depiction. And Ethan reminds me so much of Commander Oren Monash in Deep Impact.

The main theme depicted in this prequel is a subtle Christian one of self-sacrifice. The decision that Captain Bilingara is forced to make is one that any human would find the most difficult. Its consequences are almost hard to bear and to the point of wondering if you would be able to come to terms with it if you were to survive it. Maybe that is why those that make this decision do not and have to be an integral part of the consequence of this decision.

Even this prequel is engaging and one you cannot put down in one sitting. It does whet your appetite for Jewel of the Stars.

Collins has obviously researched the technology and world building elements he has included in this novella and its prequel. I appreciate this as it forms a solid foundation for this episode and adds credibility as well as plausibility. Not once did I feel that any of the depicted technology or how it was used was questionable or far fetched.

Collings has constructed this novel based on 3 main characters. These intersect with each other when this alien invasion threatens their livelihood. I found myself becoming endeared to all three but my favourite would be Braxton White. He is the rebel, bordering on being a renegade who likes to take risks, change the rules to suit the situation he is in and lives on an adrenaline rush. An action man.

Captain Les Miller is the typical "by the book" type of leader. He sees that this way provides safety for the crew and for space travel and does not like to deviate from this. The events of this novel definitely challenge his status quo and modus operandi and take him out of his comfort zone. He is not the same Captain after this novella finishes.

Haylee Scott is a weapons engineer who has been made redundant and now with an uncertain future. She is the typical career woman and devoted mother. I felt for her in volunteering her expertise in retrieving and installing the weapon from the USS Boston, realising that she may not make it back to her family. I appreciated the interaction that she and her husband had and his point of view when she was about to leave on this mission. That was heart-wrenching and if Collings had developed this even further, I would have been in tears. Being a parent, you place yourself in their shoes and can fully appreciate what this would mean if I had to make this decision.

One thing Collings portrayed well in this novella is the dynamics between Braxton and Miller. Being a military trained man, Braxton instantly sees that now they are under threat of alien attack and are defenceless, all the rules that govern this civilian ship should be ignored and they adopt as much as possible defence tactics to secure their survival. Miller is bent on remaining by the book and not putting the safety of the civilian passengers at risk when they are not a military orientated ship. The clash of expectations, focus and personalities show what this would be like in the future if civilian space vessels are not prepared when placed in unplanned military conflict.

One of the aspects that shone for me is how Collings has taken this civilian crew of The Jewel of the Stars and developed them into a pseudo military unit over such a short period of time due to the urgency of the situation and what its outcome could be if no action is to be taken. This proves much of the action, adventure and suspense in the second half of this novella. I became further endeared to Haylee as she was pivotal in this part of the plot. I was not prepared for the outcome concerning her. Speaking of such, I felt that Collings could have dealt with the aftermath of this affecting her family better than he has. Maybe this will be addressed in the next episode. It needs to be. This is an important issue seeing how emotional their parting was and what this meant as I have described above, and how it played such an important dynamic in the development of the plot arc here.

Having the conflict between the alien and Braxton was well done. It showed what the crew of the Jewel of the Stars are up against and the degree of the threat against them and therefore Earth. I was not prepared for the last aggressive interaction between this alien and the weapon retrieval crew and its outcome. I felt this was a clever move on Collings' part.

Collings has not included obvious Christian themes in this debut instalment. I learnt from the author (from material he provided for an Author/Novel Spotlight post I will be publishing next week) that this series is designed for the wider sci-fi audience and not specifically the Christian market. The only obvious Christian theme is at the end. A minor character explains a biblical allegory of what they have become since defeating the alien and cannot return to Earth: a remnant, similar to that of Israel in Old Testament times. Once this is explained, the reader sees where the title of this instalment has its basis.

Collings ends this novella on a positive and satisfying note with more than enough anticipation for the next episode. I loved how the crew are now more unified and have become a hybrid crew of civilian origins but now military focused as they are now in a war for their survival, being the last free citizens of planet Earth.

I firmly believe that Collings is on a winner with this series. It has a very promising future. This is even better than what I was expecting when I read this novella's description.

Highly Recommended.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging by the title of this novella, this is the first in a series of stories based around the space cruise ship: Jewel of the Stars. Do read the short story, "The Fall of the HMAS Adelaide" before you read this as it will provide some background. You can access it for free from a link in this book. It's very short and can be read in 30 minutes.

"Earth's Remnant" was a fun read. It had an engaging story where cruise ship becomes battle ship and sufficient conflict between the characters and one particularly feisty alien that pushed the story along at a good pace. As this is the first in the series the main characters: Les Miller (Captain), Braxton White (ex-Military Commander), Haylee Scott (military engineer and passenger) and Maya Rice (Deputy to Miller) are all introduced to us and as you'd expect over 116 pages we don't get a whole of depth. However, hopefully this will come over the course of the season.

Collings has a good imagination in creating a story world in space set 100 years into the future. So there is fancy technology, teleporting and such as well as some fancy weaponry.

We see some good conflict between Miller and White even though there is an initial woodenness in their interactions. This woodenness was prevalent throughout much of the first half of the story across all the characters, however, once the tension and action started the dialogue improved and the characters reactions and responses were more natural and engaging.

I like the fact Collings has given women prominent roles in the story and I'll be interested to see how he develops them through the season.

I'll definitely give episode 2 a read and look forward to see what happens to this cruise ship of passengers and in particular, billionaire Dalia Spring, who was mentioned a number of times but we didn't meet.

[R.J. Rodda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable SF story that you can imagine as a tv series. The characters are well developed and kudos for having a mum as one of the main characters who steps up and shows her strength. An enjoyable, entertaining read all round.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jewel of The Stars

I love this. Let me say it again: I love Jewel of The Stars. I have read so many books this year and there are only a few that I think should be made into a movie; this is one of them. Maybe I need to write to Netflix and tell them how this awesome book would make a wonderful movie. I can't wait until the next episode. Aliens and humans trapped in space is my kind of story. I'm in heaven.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've known Adam a long time so I won't claim an unbiased review. I was afraid I'd not like the book and have to find something nice to say, but I need not have worried. Interesting premise, good pacing and a number of characters that work well together. I look forward to the next one!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam David Collings first entry in the Jewel of the Stars series is solid start.

The story combines The Love Boat with Star Trek in a novel way.

The character interactions are well-written and there's little techno-babble compared to other stories I've read.

The pacing was a little too fast. I understand the idea behind the series is that it's written like episodic television but the characters need more development to get to where this book ended.

I'd like to see this book either expanded or broken into more "episodes". We know little about crew interactions and motivations before the crisis occurs.

All that said, Jewel of the Stars is book you can sit down and read in one sitting and makes for a nice evening of light reading.

3.5 stars out of 5. I'm anticipating the next one, David. Don't make me wait too long!

[Ben M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci-fi is usually outside of my reading realm, but I made an exception here because Adam is family. Believe me when I say that I simply will not read anything I do not find interesting or engaging.
That being said, this book had me hanging on by a lead as it pulled me into space.
Mutiny,
Suspense,
Action,
Humor,
And beneath it, something deeply human. Something which I think is often absent in most sci-fi.
I've just purchased the next two books and I'm looking forward to voyaging further into deep space.

[Reed Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story and look forward to future installments. There's definitely more to explore and more characterization to be fleshed out. The descriptions are good and probably very helpful for people with vivd imaginations (I suck at conjuring up visuals to go with descriptions, so I can never hold that against any writer). Braxton and the captain are the most interesting characters to me, but I think Haylee will touch the most people's hearts. The aliens...man, those guys are monstrous, both physically and in their actions. I can't wait to learn their motivations.

I recommend reading "The Fall of the HMAS Adelaide" either before or after this story. You can get it at Adam's website for free if you sign up for his newsletter. http://www.adamdavidcollings.com/

[Dan Melson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent story, but not well thought through

As an interstellar cruise liner gets underway, Earth's combined fleets come under assault from an unknown enemy. As Earth falls, they may be the only free humans left in the universe.

It's novella length, not novel, and obviously intended to be serialized but does have a story arc with a decent resolution within it.

Taken on it's own, a reasonable little story. Decent characters, even if they are way too dramatic for purposes of chewing scenery.

There are lots of unanswered questions and things that don't make sense - like how did the aliens get such sterling intelligence without Earth intelligence or military realizing what was going on (especially if even civilian grade sensors are as good as depicted)? If you don't know where they're from, how can you run away (as opposed to blundering into the middle of them)? Did Earth's military put up any kind of resistance at all, or were they simply overwhelmed and slaughtered (and if the latter, why is one of their jerry-rigged guns worth anything?) Why in the heck does Earth not have planetary defenses or even nationally based ones if they have military ships and an ongoing piracy problem? The author appears to have not thought things out very well or done very little research. The title may be a clue: season 1 episode 1 - in other words, he was trying to write for TV, where effects and dramatic music can be used in place of thinking things through. For these reasons, I'm not likely to continue with the series, but taken on its own, the story told here is decent.

[Winston Crutchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise reads like a sitcom, but the action owes more to Battlestar Galactica than to the Love Boat. Collings writing is brief, witty, and sharp. The cast of characters is hugely diverse, enough so that I had trouble remembering which character came from which nation, but Collings draws each one with individuality and clarity rather than relying on national identification. There is a mystery at the heart of the story, but episode one just introduces us to the cast and to the situation.

Yes, episode one. Collings is unapolgetically up front about the idea that this is a long-form story arc broken down into several smaller pieces. By the time this first adventure is over, the Jewel is set up for a much longer voyage into space, and I'm booking passage clear through to the end.

[Suzie Pybus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. It reads very much like a sci-fi episode of a TV series and I'm looking forward to continuing the ride!

I'm interested to see where the character of the captain is going - the poor man thought he was captaining a cruise ship of holidayers, now he's in charge of the only group of free human beings (that we know of at this stage, anyway). Methinks he's feeling rather out of his depth.

There was a particularly scary scene involving an alien which was so well done I almost had to hide behind a cushion and wait for it to pass!

[Chrissy Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved episode 1! Fast moving drama, well written and full of surprises. Definitely kept me turning the pages as we jumped from scene to scene. It felt like I was watching a television soap opera, except this one was set on a cruise ship to the stars. I can’t wait to read the next episode.

[Laurel Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this episode of Jewel of The Stars. I read the prequel after I read this episode. It's not necessary to read but informative.

[Penny Reeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of sci/fi, but this was a quick, fun read. It included lots of action, some interesting aliens (I thought the cinnamon was a good touch) and a wide cast of engaging characters.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Seemed like a TV series pilot, maybe a cross between “The Love Boat” and “Stargate Universe”. The characters are somewhat one-dimensional, but the story is interesting and clean.