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Redworld
Belle Song and her family are aliens on a new world.The Songs came to Mars to seek a new life, but living on the red planet isn't easy. The land is rough. The people are strange. The weather is unpredictable, and water is always in short supply. However, adventure is never far away. Belle adapts to her new life on Mars, faces dangerous Water Raiders, explores wondrous ancient sites, and has other amazing adventures on Redworld.From the rich imagination of author A.J. Collins comes a fantastic sci-fi western story of growing up on the Martian plains.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2018
3 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
A.L. Collins
18 books98 followersI'm a character enthusiest and lover of storytelling. I've spent most of my life listening to the tales that people tell and studying what makes a book or characters alive and interesting. Writing is my love and the details the flavor. I hope that people enjoy what I can create.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 10, 2017
The ‘world’ was interesting. Just what would life be like in the shadow of Olympus? What would it take to survive weather conditions on Mars? The answering inventions are quite clever and fun. The author does a great job of making it very futuristic but also keeping it understandable for the target age group.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like the heroine. I think Collins was trying to portray Belle as being very spunky and courageous, but she came across as just plain rebellious. She routinely disobeys her parents, authorities, or any adult in the general vicinity. It’s not that she’s just impulsive or thoughtless. She often takes the time to think about what she is going to do, and then she always decides that she is wiser than her parents so that she can act as she wishes. She even convinces her friend to lie to her parents. Beyond a lecture, and finally a grounding, there are never any consequences for her actions. In, fact she is constantly getting praised for what she does.
The main lesson is the evils of racism. I wouldn’t have guessed how that got settled. That was unique and would have been good, if it hadn’t relied on Belle, once again, disobeying and breaking her word.
There were a few other things that bothered me as well, some more than others. The acceptance of some of the more radical environmental theories as facts was annoying. The family unit of one or heroines best friends made me very uncomfortable. The author may not have meant anything weird, but having three parents living together is just a bit confusing and unsettling.
Because of the age of the target audience and the behavior encouraged by the heroine, I cannot recommend this book.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Capstone. No favorable review was required. These are my own honest opinions.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like the heroine. I think Collins was trying to portray Belle as being very spunky and courageous, but she came across as just plain rebellious. She routinely disobeys her parents, authorities, or any adult in the general vicinity. It’s not that she’s just impulsive or thoughtless. She often takes the time to think about what she is going to do, and then she always decides that she is wiser than her parents so that she can act as she wishes. She even convinces her friend to lie to her parents. Beyond a lecture, and finally a grounding, there are never any consequences for her actions. In, fact she is constantly getting praised for what she does.
The main lesson is the evils of racism. I wouldn’t have guessed how that got settled. That was unique and would have been good, if it hadn’t relied on Belle, once again, disobeying and breaking her word.
There were a few other things that bothered me as well, some more than others. The acceptance of some of the more radical environmental theories as facts was annoying. The family unit of one or heroines best friends made me very uncomfortable. The author may not have meant anything weird, but having three parents living together is just a bit confusing and unsettling.
Because of the age of the target audience and the behavior encouraged by the heroine, I cannot recommend this book.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Capstone. No favorable review was required. These are my own honest opinions.
November 25, 2017
This book was maybe 2.5 stars.
The illustrations at the beginning/end of each book division are HYPE and I love them, and the concept has a ton of potential. The story "Earth kid moves to Mars colony and deals with environmental and personal perils as well as xenophobic tensions between alien races" has so much room for creativity and adventure. I enjoy space westerns, and I was hoping for the Mars version of a pioneer story.
Unfortunately, I found the reality of the book a little underwhelming, compared to what it could have been, as shown by the awesome illustrations. Though the main character is twelve and thirteen years old, the book seems very young. The relationships seem more like "we're friends now! yay!" eight-year-old friendships than anything else, and the inter-species racism is also dealt with pretty shallowly.
Belle deals with all her problems by panicking, disobeying her parents, and running at someone screaming. She survives and gets credit for things as varied as defeating a marauding band of outlaws, breaking up a dogfighting ring, and discovering an ancient archaeological site because of her deus ex machina nanny-droid and her smart friend Ta'al. Without them she would be dead as a doornail. She doesn't seem to realize this, and throws fits every time her parents ground her for wantonly disobeying them. "I'm thirteen! I need some freedom!" Do you, Belle? Do you now? Why should your parents let you out of the house when all you do is try your hardest to force natural selection to act?
The book is divided into four "books," each with its own main subplot. Weirdly, at the beginning of each "book," the background and cast of characters is re-introduced. Do they think I just read a fourth of this book and then set it down for seven months, before picking up the rest of it, so I need everything re-explained to me? Was Redworld meant to come out in installments? I have no problem with breaking the book into sections -- thousands of books have done that -- but was left confused and a little annoyed by this "previously on" repetition, like I didn't remember everything that came before.
I wish the book itself had been a lot more than it was. I wish the book had stuck to one main plot and dealt with that in a deeper way. I wish the water raiders had been scarier. I wish the book had dealt with the weirdness of having all-powerful assassin/policeman robots providing law enforcement to a population still paranoid because of the Robot Wars two hundred years ago. I wish the worldbuilding had been more, instead of just crossing two Earth farm animals into a portmanteau word. I wish it had been as vivid and compelling as it could have been, as the illustrations are.
The illustrations at the beginning/end of each book division are HYPE and I love them, and the concept has a ton of potential. The story "Earth kid moves to Mars colony and deals with environmental and personal perils as well as xenophobic tensions between alien races" has so much room for creativity and adventure. I enjoy space westerns, and I was hoping for the Mars version of a pioneer story.
Unfortunately, I found the reality of the book a little underwhelming, compared to what it could have been, as shown by the awesome illustrations. Though the main character is twelve and thirteen years old, the book seems very young. The relationships seem more like "we're friends now! yay!" eight-year-old friendships than anything else, and the inter-species racism is also dealt with pretty shallowly.
Belle deals with all her problems by panicking, disobeying her parents, and running at someone screaming. She survives and gets credit for things as varied as defeating a marauding band of outlaws, breaking up a dogfighting ring, and discovering an ancient archaeological site because of her deus ex machina nanny-droid and her smart friend Ta'al. Without them she would be dead as a doornail. She doesn't seem to realize this, and throws fits every time her parents ground her for wantonly disobeying them. "I'm thirteen! I need some freedom!" Do you, Belle? Do you now? Why should your parents let you out of the house when all you do is try your hardest to force natural selection to act?
The book is divided into four "books," each with its own main subplot. Weirdly, at the beginning of each "book," the background and cast of characters is re-introduced. Do they think I just read a fourth of this book and then set it down for seven months, before picking up the rest of it, so I need everything re-explained to me? Was Redworld meant to come out in installments? I have no problem with breaking the book into sections -- thousands of books have done that -- but was left confused and a little annoyed by this "previously on" repetition, like I didn't remember everything that came before.
I wish the book itself had been a lot more than it was. I wish the book had stuck to one main plot and dealt with that in a deeper way. I wish the water raiders had been scarier. I wish the book had dealt with the weirdness of having all-powerful assassin/policeman robots providing law enforcement to a population still paranoid because of the Robot Wars two hundred years ago. I wish the worldbuilding had been more, instead of just crossing two Earth farm animals into a portmanteau word. I wish it had been as vivid and compelling as it could have been, as the illustrations are.
June 3, 2018
This tale of a family from overcrowded Earth moving to farm on terraformed Mars, reminds me of nothing so much as the Laura Ingalls books, and is for a similar age group.
As ever, SF is an ideal way to explore social issues, whether people of different races getting along or farmers versus city kids. Just expect that the other races are smart aliens, even robots, and the farmers farm in red dust and fight off water pirates.
The book is relatively long as it does cover a whole year in various episodes. Each chapter and episode has a great illustration of the Martian life and environment.
Recommended for adventurous kids, especially bright girls.
I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley and Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.
As ever, SF is an ideal way to explore social issues, whether people of different races getting along or farmers versus city kids. Just expect that the other races are smart aliens, even robots, and the farmers farm in red dust and fight off water pirates.
The book is relatively long as it does cover a whole year in various episodes. Each chapter and episode has a great illustration of the Martian life and environment.
Recommended for adventurous kids, especially bright girls.
I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley and Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.
September 25, 2017
This book was okay with a few things that I just couldn't get past, but we'll get to those later. First, I loved the concept and some of the execution. This book comprises the first year of young teen, Belle's, first year or so living on Mars. Her family moved there from Earth only to find her parents wouldn't have the jobs they expected. They became farmers instead. I loved the thought of a human moving from Earth to another planet with alien races and having to get used to thinking of themselves as the alien.
Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't dislike the main character but I also didn't really bond with her. She had feelings but I didn't feel like I got a real personality from her. I enjoyed her best friend, Ta'al, much more. Probably the thing that bothered me the most and I had the hardest tinge just ignoring is that the book felt like web episodes or journal entries that were meant to be stand-alone stories that were thrown together instead of a cohesive book. There are certain things that are explained multiple times in the book when it was completely unnecessary. Some good copy editing could have corrected this. I do definitely want to note that I was reading an ARC so this could be corrected by the final version. I absolutely loved the artwork!
Overall, still an entertaining enough read and most kids (the target audience) may not notice what I did. For the fantasy of a world we sort of know, reimagined, it was worth the read.
I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't dislike the main character but I also didn't really bond with her. She had feelings but I didn't feel like I got a real personality from her. I enjoyed her best friend, Ta'al, much more. Probably the thing that bothered me the most and I had the hardest tinge just ignoring is that the book felt like web episodes or journal entries that were meant to be stand-alone stories that were thrown together instead of a cohesive book. There are certain things that are explained multiple times in the book when it was completely unnecessary. Some good copy editing could have corrected this. I do definitely want to note that I was reading an ARC so this could be corrected by the final version. I absolutely loved the artwork!
Overall, still an entertaining enough read and most kids (the target audience) may not notice what I did. For the fantasy of a world we sort of know, reimagined, it was worth the read.
I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 19, 2018
Let me first say that I am much older than the target audience for this book. I may ♥ YA books, and I may have read some amazing MG books recently, but this book is geared for a much younger age group.
I thought this was a YA book when I requested it. I just looked back on NetGalley, and I see that it says Middle Grade, but I was browsing through YA books when I found this one.
SIDE RANT: I would love it NetGalley would either integrate information from GoodReads into their site or develop their own information system that gives more information about books, besides their title, author, publisher, and a synopsis. for example, sometimes NetGalley doesn't list if a book is part of a series. I have unknowingly requested the 2nd or 3rd book in a series before, then had to find and read the other books before I was able to read the one book I thought I was requesting.)
But I digress...
Although this book was written for a younger audience, I still found it entertaining, and I know if I were younger, I would have absolutely loved it.
Not only does it allow younger readers to imagine what it might be like to travel to or live on a different planet, but it also touches on some important topics, like race relations, but in a way that younger readers can understand and enjoy.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Check out this and many other reviews on my blog: Meet Your New Favorite Book
I thought this was a YA book when I requested it. I just looked back on NetGalley, and I see that it says Middle Grade, but I was browsing through YA books when I found this one.
SIDE RANT: I would love it NetGalley would either integrate information from GoodReads into their site or develop their own information system that gives more information about books, besides their title, author, publisher, and a synopsis. for example, sometimes NetGalley doesn't list if a book is part of a series. I have unknowingly requested the 2nd or 3rd book in a series before, then had to find and read the other books before I was able to read the one book I thought I was requesting.)
But I digress...
Although this book was written for a younger audience, I still found it entertaining, and I know if I were younger, I would have absolutely loved it.
Not only does it allow younger readers to imagine what it might be like to travel to or live on a different planet, but it also touches on some important topics, like race relations, but in a way that younger readers can understand and enjoy.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Check out this and many other reviews on my blog: Meet Your New Favorite Book
February 10, 2018
This was a unique middle grade story about life on Mars.
While I was reading this story, I was reminded of the book The Martian. That’s the only book I’ve read that is set on another planet. However, in this story, Mars has already been colonized and humans have lived there for many years.
It was interesting to see the different alien races that also lived on Mars. The segregation between the aliens was a lot like race segregation in the real world. Belle’s friend, Ta’al is of the Nubian race. She has to go through separate entrances, and she is completely ignored by everyone else at school. Belle questions why this is, which demonstrates that she is an intelligent girl.
This book is separated into four parts. Each of these parts was originally published as a separate book. This is a little confusing at first, because the characters are reintroduced at the beginning of each part. My least favourite part was the first one. It was an introduction to the characters and setting, but I found it anticlimactic. The following parts had more solid storylines with lots of tension, so I enjoyed them more.
This book is great for kids who are interested in life in space.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
While I was reading this story, I was reminded of the book The Martian. That’s the only book I’ve read that is set on another planet. However, in this story, Mars has already been colonized and humans have lived there for many years.
It was interesting to see the different alien races that also lived on Mars. The segregation between the aliens was a lot like race segregation in the real world. Belle’s friend, Ta’al is of the Nubian race. She has to go through separate entrances, and she is completely ignored by everyone else at school. Belle questions why this is, which demonstrates that she is an intelligent girl.
This book is separated into four parts. Each of these parts was originally published as a separate book. This is a little confusing at first, because the characters are reintroduced at the beginning of each part. My least favourite part was the first one. It was an introduction to the characters and setting, but I found it anticlimactic. The following parts had more solid storylines with lots of tension, so I enjoyed them more.
This book is great for kids who are interested in life in space.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
February 5, 2019
I found this book on display in the YA section of the library. I'm not sure if it was misplaced, but it reads like it was written for elementary students. The idea and the world-setting is very intriguing with all of the animals and technology, and I'd like to see a better written story take place in it.
There were multiple typos, and the text had a hastily-written-for-simpleness vibe to it. It feels like the author is telling you various morals, and while they are good morals, they just feel flat and not shown. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of twelve.
There were multiple typos, and the text had a hastily-written-for-simpleness vibe to it. It feels like the author is telling you various morals, and while they are good morals, they just feel flat and not shown. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of twelve.
October 18, 2017
Couldn't do it. This book is just so poorly written. I liked the idea of a Mars colony and a kid adapting to that world, but the book reads like no one ever came near it with an editing pen. It is really repetitive sometimes explaining what just happened in a previous chapter. And it is boring. How you can make a book about living on Mars boring I don't know, but it is. I got about 1/3 of the way through and decided I had enough.
I received this book from Netgalley.
I received this book from Netgalley.
November 1, 2017
Probably a 3.5. The story was interesting, and I think middle graders will relate. The book could have benefited from some editing. It seemed like a couple of stories were combined, and explanations of what had previously happened were repeated.
I received an E-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley or Edelweiss.
I received an E-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley or Edelweiss.
January 6, 2018
*thank you to Netgalley and Capstone for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
2 stars.
I really really wanted to like this. The idea of the story sounded fantastic! But, it had just few too many scenes that I found uninteresting and my mind often wondered.
2 stars.
I really really wanted to like this. The idea of the story sounded fantastic! But, it had just few too many scenes that I found uninteresting and my mind often wondered.
March 2, 2019
3.5 stars.
Love the authors take on the world of Mars. Plot of the story is average. It feels as if it could've been better. Illustrations make up for it though.
Love the authors take on the world of Mars. Plot of the story is average. It feels as if it could've been better. Illustrations make up for it though.
September 5, 2017
"Belle Song and her family are aliens on a new world. The Songs came to Mars to seek a new life, but living on the red planet isn't easy. The land is rough. The people are strange. The weather is unpredictable, and water is always in short supply."
Redworld is a fun adventure for late elementary or early middle school readers. Each section of the book is a new adventure of Belle and her friends and each reads as a somewhat independent story. There is a bunch of repetition at the start of each section, which makes it seem like they may have been intended to be separate books. The stories are each enjoyable with a nice messages on friendship and acceptance. They reminded me of the Little House books in how they talk about homesteading, although it is a sci-fi version! Boys and girls would equally enjoy Belle and her adventures.
Full disclosure: I received the book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Redworld is a fun adventure for late elementary or early middle school readers. Each section of the book is a new adventure of Belle and her friends and each reads as a somewhat independent story. There is a bunch of repetition at the start of each section, which makes it seem like they may have been intended to be separate books. The stories are each enjoyable with a nice messages on friendship and acceptance. They reminded me of the Little House books in how they talk about homesteading, although it is a sci-fi version! Boys and girls would equally enjoy Belle and her adventures.
Full disclosure: I received the book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
February 3, 2018
that was one of the best books I've ever read it's so cool and all of you should buy it and then read it!!!
stopped-reading
November 13, 2018The paper is so glossy that the book is hard to read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews