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Colony Ship Trailblazer #3
Terror on the Trailblazer
On the vast Colony Ship Trailblazer, the adventurers Ken and Janae are seeking to find out what is happening. Yet, people, animals, and circumstances seem to be turning against them in frightening ways. Strange events are unfolding, and the various groups and habitats are still a mystery. Knowing they need to gain some understanding of the situation, and try to restore their broken artificial intelligence system, Kimberly, they set off to get back to their equipment and find some measure of security. Threats have arisen. Death and horror stalks them. Unknowns lurk around every turn in the labyrinth of corridors in the mechanical parts of the colony ship, and in the large and bizarre biological habitats. What terrors await on the Trailblazer? This is book 3 in the Colony Ship Trailblazer series.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 14, 2017
6 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
John Thornton
199 books21 followersJohn Thornton will just write this autobiography.
Hi everyone,
Updated as of August 31, 2025.
Thanks for reading this page. For a smoother way to contact me, look for the Colony Ship Eschaton series page on Facebook.
I am getting excellent feedback about the audio versions of my books. And over 3 million page reads through Kindle unlimited. Thank you so much for being readers and listeners to my books. I truly appreciate you.
The Colony Ship Eschaton 10 books), the Colony Ship Vanguard (8 books), the Colony Ship Conestoga (8 books), and the Colony Ship Trailblazer (8 books) are all complete and out in kindle, paperback, and AUDIOBOOKS!
The Colony Ship Warren series (7 books) is complete and all are available as kindle, paperback, and audiobooks
The Colony Ship Zubalamo series has four books. Pursuit of the Zubalamo
Fugitives on the Zubalamo
Ghosts on the Zubalamo
Prisoners on the Zubalamo
More in the Colony Ship Zubalamo series are being written.
The audio versions are by professional narrators! Please check out those options! The narrators have done a superb job. I sure hope you listen to those.
One of my works is somewhat different. The Battle on the Marathon is written in first person. That book is stand-alone work, and while it is in the same universe as the other works, is not as directly connected as the five other series.
In the summer of 2022, I released four short stories. Penny, Homecoming, Shelter, and the Dog Unit. These are a different style from my novels and are available as a kindle of audiobook. I think you will like those.
"Year Eighty-Five" is a stand-alone novel which is related to the Colony Ship Universe in a peculiar manner. Can you figure out that mystery?
And percolating in my mind is the Jelly War series which will begin, chronologically at roughly where the Colony Ship Eschaton series ended, but will have many crossover aspects to it.
As to me, I have read science fiction since I was a small child. For over twenty years I have been making notes, writing outlines, and drawing deck plans of the Colony Ship. These jumbled ideas have finally coalesced into book form in the Colony Ship Eschaton series. Damon Knight's "The World and Thorinn" and Robert Heinlein's "Orphans of the Sky" showed me how bizarre and interesting a generational space ship environment could go wrong. Those books, and many others, have given me hours of pleasure in reading.
I worked as an RN for 10 years in various ICUs, cardiac, surgical, and medical. I saw lots of people die, and I also listened to some really amazing people share their life stories with me.
I graduated from a variety of colleges, all of which helped shape and mold me into what I am today. After finishing a doctoral degree, I decided to focus on informal educational endeavors. I still love to learn.
I enjoy reading very much. I read all kinds of literature, from romance novel to historical fiction to science fiction (I love dystopias and stories about things in a post apocalypse) to theology texts, to how to books. Did I miss any genres?
If you are new to my works, you can start with any series, or the Battle on the Marathon. Some readers have discussed which series is their favorite to start, but that is all personal preference. They are all set in the same "universe" or "alternative reality" or "cosmos" I invented. I call it the "Colony Ship Universe" but I hope you call it a fun read!
Back to reality. I have four grown-up daughters, all married, a delightful wife, fabulous grandkids, two wonderful dogs, and a very nice cat.
I live in the Northern Plains of the USA, so I experience the cold and bitter during the winter, and hot and dry during the summers. I also live with a chronic associate, a painful form of degenerative arthritis. I have lots of mechanical parts inside my body, and in some ways, I truly am a cyborg.
The best way to contact me is through Facebook.
Hi everyone,
Updated as of August 31, 2025.
Thanks for reading this page. For a smoother way to contact me, look for the Colony Ship Eschaton series page on Facebook.
I am getting excellent feedback about the audio versions of my books. And over 3 million page reads through Kindle unlimited. Thank you so much for being readers and listeners to my books. I truly appreciate you.
The Colony Ship Eschaton 10 books), the Colony Ship Vanguard (8 books), the Colony Ship Conestoga (8 books), and the Colony Ship Trailblazer (8 books) are all complete and out in kindle, paperback, and AUDIOBOOKS!
The Colony Ship Warren series (7 books) is complete and all are available as kindle, paperback, and audiobooks
The Colony Ship Zubalamo series has four books. Pursuit of the Zubalamo
Fugitives on the Zubalamo
Ghosts on the Zubalamo
Prisoners on the Zubalamo
More in the Colony Ship Zubalamo series are being written.
The audio versions are by professional narrators! Please check out those options! The narrators have done a superb job. I sure hope you listen to those.
One of my works is somewhat different. The Battle on the Marathon is written in first person. That book is stand-alone work, and while it is in the same universe as the other works, is not as directly connected as the five other series.
In the summer of 2022, I released four short stories. Penny, Homecoming, Shelter, and the Dog Unit. These are a different style from my novels and are available as a kindle of audiobook. I think you will like those.
"Year Eighty-Five" is a stand-alone novel which is related to the Colony Ship Universe in a peculiar manner. Can you figure out that mystery?
And percolating in my mind is the Jelly War series which will begin, chronologically at roughly where the Colony Ship Eschaton series ended, but will have many crossover aspects to it.
As to me, I have read science fiction since I was a small child. For over twenty years I have been making notes, writing outlines, and drawing deck plans of the Colony Ship. These jumbled ideas have finally coalesced into book form in the Colony Ship Eschaton series. Damon Knight's "The World and Thorinn" and Robert Heinlein's "Orphans of the Sky" showed me how bizarre and interesting a generational space ship environment could go wrong. Those books, and many others, have given me hours of pleasure in reading.
I worked as an RN for 10 years in various ICUs, cardiac, surgical, and medical. I saw lots of people die, and I also listened to some really amazing people share their life stories with me.
I graduated from a variety of colleges, all of which helped shape and mold me into what I am today. After finishing a doctoral degree, I decided to focus on informal educational endeavors. I still love to learn.
I enjoy reading very much. I read all kinds of literature, from romance novel to historical fiction to science fiction (I love dystopias and stories about things in a post apocalypse) to theology texts, to how to books. Did I miss any genres?
If you are new to my works, you can start with any series, or the Battle on the Marathon. Some readers have discussed which series is their favorite to start, but that is all personal preference. They are all set in the same "universe" or "alternative reality" or "cosmos" I invented. I call it the "Colony Ship Universe" but I hope you call it a fun read!
Back to reality. I have four grown-up daughters, all married, a delightful wife, fabulous grandkids, two wonderful dogs, and a very nice cat.
I live in the Northern Plains of the USA, so I experience the cold and bitter during the winter, and hot and dry during the summers. I also live with a chronic associate, a painful form of degenerative arthritis. I have lots of mechanical parts inside my body, and in some ways, I truly am a cyborg.
The best way to contact me is through Facebook.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 2, 2018
Crazed Animal Things!
Author John Thornton has an amazing imagination and has put together a fun-to-read series of novels based on the imminent final destruction of post-apocalyptic Earth and the attempt by the remaining humans to locate the colony ships sent out in the distant past. Reading this on its own is possible as references to past events provide some context, but that is not the intent of the author and the details of those events are fairly important to understanding why Janae is both uptight and out-of-control. Narrator Jaclynn Michelle Elfring has a lot of fun emoting when our heroine and the villainess get to clashing, but I wasn't prepared for the surprise twist at the end--which is NOT a cliffhanger. The story's premise allows for parallel tales following the adventures of other travelers with a potential of bringing everyone together at the end, but I don't know whether Mr. Thornton followed that path. I may have to explore a bit further to find out!
Author John Thornton has an amazing imagination and has put together a fun-to-read series of novels based on the imminent final destruction of post-apocalyptic Earth and the attempt by the remaining humans to locate the colony ships sent out in the distant past. Reading this on its own is possible as references to past events provide some context, but that is not the intent of the author and the details of those events are fairly important to understanding why Janae is both uptight and out-of-control. Narrator Jaclynn Michelle Elfring has a lot of fun emoting when our heroine and the villainess get to clashing, but I wasn't prepared for the surprise twist at the end--which is NOT a cliffhanger. The story's premise allows for parallel tales following the adventures of other travelers with a potential of bringing everyone together at the end, but I don't know whether Mr. Thornton followed that path. I may have to explore a bit further to find out!
September 3, 2023
Kidnapping and escaping.
The author John Thornton continues with the adventure on the Trailblazer with another habitat, a desert one which more of a religious one and probably got the nicest people living there assisted as much as possible after crashing there after being kidnapped.
Now the desert people helped them on getting back to the ship which they came with that holds their Artificial Intelligence built into it but needs a reboot to purge it from the virus which attacks it.
But as usual just as they dock they fall right back into a trap.
Death, now what’s next ?
The narration by Jaclynn Elfring is done beautifully for each of the characters.
My recommendations !!!
Oded Ostfeld.
The author John Thornton continues with the adventure on the Trailblazer with another habitat, a desert one which more of a religious one and probably got the nicest people living there assisted as much as possible after crashing there after being kidnapped.
Now the desert people helped them on getting back to the ship which they came with that holds their Artificial Intelligence built into it but needs a reboot to purge it from the virus which attacks it.
But as usual just as they dock they fall right back into a trap.
Death, now what’s next ?
The narration by Jaclynn Elfring is done beautifully for each of the characters.
My recommendations !!!
Oded Ostfeld.
July 20, 2018
John Thornton continues to impress. When an author can awaken a connection where you become frustrated, or empathetic, or disappointed in their characters, you know you are reading a good book.
Exploring the Trailblazer with our adventurers continues to be enthralling. In this volume the author's use of his characters and the tough decisions he makes with them demonstrates how dedicated he is to this series. Starting the next volume immediately, thank you Mr Thornton.
Exploring the Trailblazer with our adventurers continues to be enthralling. In this volume the author's use of his characters and the tough decisions he makes with them demonstrates how dedicated he is to this series. Starting the next volume immediately, thank you Mr Thornton.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews