Earth-Net: The Dianian Chronicles: Book 1

by David J. Garrett

Ray is a bright, beautiful young Dianian colonist, in the last weeks of her schooling. Her comfortable life and her career hopes are crushed when the first, full blooded humans, arrive on Diana. Ray is sucked into a maelstrom of greed and corruption that threatens to consume her planet, her people and her loved ones.

But worse is to come. At the heart of her shadowed past is a secret that will shatter her identity and thrust her into the fight of her life.

Jonah Fielding is part of a small troupe of marines sent to Diana to oversee transition of the remote colony into human ownership. He is ill when he awakes from Hypersleep and Ray cares for him. Ray and Jonah form a tentative friendship. When the depraved plans of the new corporate masters become clear, the human marines side with the colonists to secure the planet. Ray and Jonah must find a way to banish the new owners and lock them out, forever.

From every desperate despair, to uplifting triumph, Earth-Net is one of those rare books that pulls you, body and soul, into a new world. Immersive world building, fast pace action and characters that leap out of the page. Earth-Net lays the foundations for an epic trilogy. Both hard scifi and non-scifi readers will find plenty to like, here.

About David J. Garrett

David is a leading, Melbourne based scientist who works in the medical device field. He has authored more than fifty journal articles and is regularly invited to speak about the future of cybernetic human enhancements and the impact of electronic implants in medicine.

Cover art by Lee Ann Barlow

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 22, 2017

About the author

David J. Garrett works by day as a research scientist at the University of Melbourne. He heads a research group that investigate new technology for medical implants. By night David is a husband, father of two beautiful boys and a Science Fiction writer. "Being a scientist is a fantastically interesting and rewarding career but nothing beats a creative process for extracting value from life."

Reviews

[Martin Schiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great World Building and Character Development

Excellent world building, and the author succeeded in making me care about the characters and want to learn the outcome of the story. I stuck with it until the very end, and I liked his handling of the whole issue of cloning. He also did a great job with the idea of an interstellar net, and I loved the visuals of the two planets being able to see one another. Hard sci-fi for sure, and worthy of the genre.
The only part that left me cold was the issue of the Dianans not having lungs and requiring implants. While this element was well-woven into the story-line, and might be scientifically and physically possible, I didn't find it aesthetically appealing and went away wondering if a more elegant solution could have been offered to explain their inability to speak and issues with blood oxygen levels.

[David J. Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first novel and an epic, personal journey. Written on a zero budget (so editing is not as good as it should be) and I know now just how much I had to learn. Still, it's my baby, so I love it. Looking back, there are things I would improve (hence no five stars, even from me) but it's much more fun to keep charging forward.

The inspiration for writing this book came when I changed from driving to taking the train to and from work. I thought, 1.5 h per day of uninterrupted time every day?I can do something with that. And I did! This whole book was written on the train over a period of six months. Finishing made me realize just how much I love writing. Now, I often intentionally miss my regular stop and ride all the way into Melbourne city so I can squeeze in an extra fifteen minutes of writing. I then have to cram myself onto the tram to get up to work, but it's worth it.

From the outset, I decided to keep this first story relatively simple and linear and learn as I wrote. Not give myself too much complexity to battle for my first book. Thus, I stuck to a single plot arc, wrote it primarily from the perspective of one character and stuck with the bog standard third person, past tense, omniscient perspective. Even so, keeping track of the plot, in particular as I couldn't stop myself constantly tinkering, was a trial. I keep better notes, now.

I really enjoy spending time in this universe and I'm grateful to have the opportunity and time to share these stories. The lessons I learned here have all gone into subsequent books. Every time I sit down to write, I learn something new. Looking forward to honing the craft over many more years. I hope you enjoy. David J. Garrett

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dramatic story of how planets Earth and Diana are linked together using teleport nets to purify the earth's atmosphere by using the forests on Diana. Everything changes for the Dianians when Earth sells the whole facility to a company called Centauri Deep Space Exploration (CDSE). The story focuses around a Dianian called Ray and a cyber enhanced UN Marine called Jonah.

I found the description of the world and the people to be detailed and I was able to imagine and see it all in my mind as I read the book. The description of the characters in the story was clear although I did think it could have been clearer as I never truly understood what was involved in the breathing and language problems around the Dianian race. There was definitely drama in the story and I found the action built up until the end of the story. However the very end of the story felt a little like an anticlimax and a disappointment. Still a great read and very enjoyable.

[Aviar Savijon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth-net

A delightful and adventurous sci fi fiction reading. I enjoyed reading this book. I Loved It!!! Get it today. It will be worth it.

[Faith Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3.5/5. EARTH-NET is the best example I can think of in the science fiction genre where the reader associates with another species so fully that they stand alongside them against the humans. Watership down achieved this, the readers cried, and very little has done so since. The species introduced here isn’t exactly alien but it is a major manipulation of the human genome to create a different form that will survive interstellar travel to found a new colony and also tolerate the different environmental settings of their new home. In evolution, metaphorically, the puddle takes the shape of the hole – the design of any species is selected by the environment in a way because that factor determines which mutation gives it a survival advantage or disadvantage. When humans play God in this future, they can make the puddle the right shape for a hole hundreds of lightyears away and ship it over there, plop it in and expect it to thrive. What a change, what a short-cut. When the Earth is polluted, it’s resources stretched and radical options become realistic to try, a new form of “man” is transplanted through a worm hole to a distant place, so all of Earth’s eggs are no longer in one basket. The species does well, very well, and stands on its own few feet. We get to know the characters, personalities and then hear that the governance of Earth has changed and become much more corporate. Corporations like to exploit their assets and, after all, the law says this hybrid species of sentient and harmless beings, trying their best to pioneer against adversity, aren’t human so you can do what you like to them. Someone, some board room fiend, decides to cash in. The theme is therefore exploitation and gives us a sight of what humans really are, i.e. selfish, grasping, ignoble animals who think only about their personal advantage and will murder for it if they think no one is looking. It’s the wild west all over again. I’m with the aliens on this one. The new species we have made is morally superior to humanity, its creator, but also too submissive and seemingly just wants to please and be good friends. Dodos, sadly, exploited and expendable. I liked the sci-fi in this book and I understood and agreed with the message. Whenever marines are sent into space with their thoughtless, stomping mind-sets, it seems natural to want them to lose and in this story I feel that a lot of people will be left with some affinity with that statement.