Sandstorm

Sandstorm #1

by T.W. Piperbrook

Something is hunting the inhabitants of Ravar...

For three generations, the colonists on Ravar have been stranded on a harsh planet, forced to survive in a desert environment where only the scrappiest animals and the heartiest plants survive. Most live without the foolish hope that Earth's supply ships will ever grace the skies again.

Trapped in a sandstorm, Neena Xylance struggles to make her way back to her colony. What she doesn't know is that she isn't alone, and what she finds might destroy the last of the fragile life on her planet.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopia, Thriller, Fiction, Young Adult, Amazon

182 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

T.W. Piperbrook lives in Connecticut with his wife and son. He is the author of the CONTAMINATION series, the OUTAGE series, and co-author of THE LAST SURVIVORS, as well as the author of THE RUINS. In his former lives, he has worked as as a claims adjuster, a touring musician, and a business systems analyst for a Fortune 500 company.

Now he spends his days fighting zombies, battling werewolves, and roaming Ancient cities.

For NEW RELEASE ALERTS AND A FREE STORY, sign up for the author's mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/qy_SH

LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/twpiperbrook

Reviews

[MacWithBooksonMountains Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid sci-fi survival novel taking place on an unnamed planet. Good character development meets a fast moving and interesting plot. The setting is a desert planet which makes most of us think of Frank Herbert’s Dune. But make no mistake, it got nowhere near the depth or eloquence of the original. Be that as it may, Sandstorm is sufficiently if not refreshingly different. In comparison, Sandstorm is more action oriented and certainly much less literary than Dune. Also, in plot and characters there are few similarities. The author of Sandstorm did, however, import a major element from the Dune series, a sand-worm, which maybe off-putting to some for it seems the author did nowhere pay homage to the original of the Dune series. If this does not bother you, then I would heartily recommend this work of science fiction

[DWR · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terminally boring, a real snooze fest

1) Everything about this book is slow. Plot development, pace, character development and scenery description are just one plodding foot in front of another. 2) There are many POV's, but none seem to tie together or intersect. If each POV were told without the benefit of the others, you wouldn't miss anything. 3) There is no future for the society in this book. They are doomed. One can only assume that future installments will provide some potential upside. Otherwise you're just reading about the agonizingly slow death of a colony. 4) There is no science. The people in this book have forgotten everything they ever knew and more. 5) There is no magic. So, without science, and without magic, not sure that this book fits in either Sci-Fi or fantasy genres.

I gave it 2 stars, instead of one, because the writing is quite good and i did finish the book. I was hoping something interesting would happen, but was disappointed. The ending isn't a cliff hanger, it's just boring.

[Jamie (The Kansan Reader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most speculated Earth was dead.

This takes place on Ravar. Ravar used to be a mining colony but it’s been years since the last supply ship from Earth has been seen. No one mines anymore. Neena is a native of Ravar. She was out hunting for food when the sandstorm hit with no warning.

Throughout the book, we get to see different sides of the sandstorm. Neena is stuck out in the desert, Gideon is in a bunker with the Heads of the Colony, Raj (Neena’s younger brother) is at home with the little brother and Darius is in his workshop.

Neena, I think is the only view I didn’t skim through. I was not interested in the other views. I think that they took away from Neena and what was going on with her. I didn’t care about what the other characters were doing. I didn’t feel as if they helped the story move along.

Will not be moving on to the next one. This did end on a cliffhanger but not one that made me want to know what was going on.

[David Pospisil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow moving and boring.
Poor character development and a cliff hanger to boot.
One and done for me.

[Dorien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced sci-fi story. The plot was moving along nicely and it had an interesting range of characters, but then it suddenly ended. There's a sequel... but I have a feeling it will leave me disappointed as some developments in the story were just too farfetched, and so far the story lacks background and identification with the main characters. I guess I give up and will never know how it ends.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m being generous with the 3 stars. I have bought the whole series as Piperbrook is usually a good story teller. It starts out really good but once we get to the main characters :Neena,Ray, Kia, the story drags and stalls. Nothing really happens beyond bullies catching up with a kid and a long boring trek through the desert. Then it ends, hopefully leading into better things in book 2.

[Glenda Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Got me

Ok T.W.PowerBook you got me! I enjoyed this book tremendously, I am looking forward to the next one. I need answers . I need to understand why Been a and Kai have been thrown in jail . Not allowed to tell their warning.
Is Raj ok? What about Darius?. Great book, I recommend this to all who enjoy sci-fi stories. Thank you for this story!

[Sylvia Lowik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice sort of rewrite of the world of Dune.

[dolly whiddon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sandstorm

I liked this book I just don't like it when it gets good it levels you heaning. But it keeps you coming back for more. I thank that is why I like this book so much .

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in space?

A colony on a plant called Ravar. Originally from Earth, over the decades it seems they've been forgotten. Tossed aside or maybe the apocalypse is happening, there has been no contact for years.
Seem to be an inhospitable planet, full of sand, sparse water & weird animals .
Neena is a hunter. After the death of her parents she is taxed with the responsibility of her two brothers. During a hunt which turns into a massive sandstorm,Neena rescues Dai, a young man from a distant colony they know nothing about. He's brought something with him. It travels under the sand. It makes huge holes & attacks his unwary prey.What is it?
Will the people of her colony accept them?
A really nice storyline, positive characters are well written & plenty of action. ..😊

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

For being less then 200 pages, this book sure felt very long. Nothing really interesting happens in this book until around the 70% mark. The storey is slow to start and stays that way right up to the very end. There is some talk about the past and how people came to be on the planet their on now, some talk about Earth and ships from Earth that used to bring them supplies but other then that a sandstorm happens, two people get lost in it with a huge worm like think after them and the people of Red Rock colony assess the damage that was done. Other reviews are saying this is a cheep knock off of Dune. I have never read Dune myself so I can't say but here's hoping the second storey is better then the first

[Ann Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

He's done it again 😀 my friend the brilliant and talented Mr piperbrook has brought a new and exciting word to life ! This is a great read and if you already love his books you will love this one too ,. Set in a new world of deserts starving residents and an unforgiving world in which people try to hunt for food only to find there is very few animals to find. This new world is full of danger plus and a new danger which reminds me of the film tremors lol great book so looking forward to part 2 xx

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rose

This book was captivating because of the distinctive personalities of its characters. I enjoyed the experience set forth as each person continued in his or her life. It was very hard to put this book down before it's ending.I

[Tiggyleee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not his traditional work. This is dystopian on a different world. Interesting characters. Looking forward to book 2.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Excellent read, fast, interesting. Good characters, good descriptions.

[shirley gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing!

I give this first Sandstorm book high rating because it kept me interested. I love good science fiction. Great job!

[Roger Danchik · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is purely a setup for a series and not worth reading.

[Bret · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really a book

This is not really a complete book. It’s really just a sales pitch for you to buy more of her books. It just ends right in the middle of the story.

[Todd Haffner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

I skipped most of it, waz slow moving and boring. Stupid as wwll, they like w on a.desert planet yet mention earthworms, these people would have no knowledge of them.

[Candice Kamencik · Rating 2 out of 5]

My status updates as I read this will serve as my review:

25% - "This is written competently enough in regard to execution, but what's going on? The characters are ok, but there's no connectivity between the different characters we keep hopping to from chapter to chapter."

45% - "I was so excited to read this....but it reads less like the first book of a series, and more like the longest prequel/intro ever. I'm half way through, and there's still no plot. :( Definitely not the way to get me to read the rest of the books! Very disappointed."

85% - "I'm just going to finish this for the sake of getting "credit" for completing. It's been over a week since I've picked this book up, and there's nothing drawing me back. Unless something amazingly stellar happens at the end of this book that blows me away, don't think I'll be continuing this series..."

100% - "Well, thanks for introducing me to the characters I guess? They were ok, but since there was no world building or interconnection between them, I really don't care what is happening to them (not that there's anything actually going on to be honest). Ending it with a major cliff hanger doesn't endear me to the author either. It's a poor ploy to get people to stay with it, but I'm not buying it."

I bought the entire series as an omnibus and even that fact isn't going to encourage me to continue with these books. There is literally nothing going on in the first book to make me want to continue and I'm tired of authors making the first book be a prologue instead of a novel introducing the series. I'm happy that more people can self publish or get accepted by smaller publishing houses, but the lack of quality editing and guidance is every evident and extremely tiresome.

[Jefrois · Rating 1 out of 5]

.
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Contains “sweat,” ( “…beads of sweat rolled …”) and “vomit,” and “his hands shook,” and “stomach growled,” and “munching,”and “popped,” and “accept,” and “…A blinding flash of pain coursed through his skull…..” and “sipped….” And “sips,” and “sipping….”

And they “hunker down.”

How does one “hunker?”

“I, you, she, he, it, they hunkered.”

…typical bllsht always found in these stories, TYPICAL, TYPICAL, TYPICAL,

slick, fancy, tricky—

—trick-trick-Hollywood, “literary devices,” to keep the story moving.

Trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite trite….

Hate the characters.

Hate the apparently ripped off story (DUNE, by Frank Herbert.)

Hate the entire book.

…and OMG I WISH I WERE A WOMAN!!!

“She carved a tip sharp enough to jab, to hunt. Kai [he] watched her with respect. ‘I’ll admit, I haven’t seen many women performing the task.’

‘Not many women know how,’ Neena said with a shrug. ‘But it is a necessary skill.’

‘Of course….’”

“…This is a lot sharper than the stick I carried,” Kai said gratefully….”

“‘…It is rare to find a woman who can hunt to provide,’ Adriana said. ‘She sounds special.’

‘She is….’”

OMG! SHE IS SO GREAT AND TOTALLY THE BESTEST !!!!!

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[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept for a survival series

Trapped on a planet with meager rations, water, and supplies a group for abandoned colonists work together to survive.

Book series was suggested by our Algorithm Overload, and so far it did a decent job with its recommendation. I was looking for something different, and this fit the bill.

I'm not too familiar with TW Piperbrook, looks likes he writes a fair amount of books regarding the human need to survive under less than ideal conditions. This one just happens to take place in space.

So far I'm interested in the, despite some of the characters coming across as caricatures of who they are supposed to be representing. For instance, story takes place in an indeterminate future in Earths timeline, we have not o ly traveled to other planets, but set up remote mining colonies. Assuming this Earth is anything like ours, men AND women worked damn hard to get us to the stars. Its been approximately 3-4 generations since the Earth ships stopped coming back, in that time, women roles in this future human colony has reverted back to cooking, cleaning, and making babies, while the men are hunters, watchers (police), and govern every aspect of the society.

There's more nitpicking i can do, but for now I'm more curious to what going to happen in the next book. It not great Sci-Fi, but it the kind of mind popcorn i was looking for.

[Roger Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandstorm, a fictional dystopian SyFy story, had too many elements from other similar books to make it stand out. The setting of the story is a desert mining planet, its inhabitants unexpectantly abandon by earth generations ago. The population of the planet is left to their own means to survive, including hunting and salvaging for food, water, and materials. The possibility of vicious sandstorms occurring is an ever-present danger, especially for the hunters who hunt the desert for food and have little shelter to protect them from the storms.
The story's main character is a lone hunter named Neena, who is caught in a violent sandstorm. She encounters another hunter from an unknown colony and they must ally to survive. Neena also learns of a new deadly threat, a giant man-eating earthworm that has the ability to track its prey by vibration on the planet's surface (sound familiar).
The other characters in the story add to the human element and include the struggles for survival in such a desolate environment and political totalitarian atmosphere.

[Red Tide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

The characters are interesting and have real life feel to them. The main character gives you eyes into a harsh and possibly dying society that is organized to combat resource scarcity on an alien planet but can't foster much sense of community. It's realistic against that backdrop.

He does all the characters justice from the main character to the stock characters. The background planet is very Dune-like and needs a bit more ecosystem to make a sustainable human presence believable. But that being said, he does a wonderful job portraying the life that does exist. It has a solid feel to it.

I've read other books by him and I liked them as much as this. His writing is fun and I think the series could be interesting.

[Barrie Turnham · Rating 2 out of 5]

First book I've read by this author, though I am a veteran of more than 50 years of reading science fiction. This is probably one of the worst written books I've read though the plot was interesting enough to get me to the end, but since nothing was concluded at the end, one can't really call it an end, perhaps the end of the beginning? The writer's grammar needs improvement, such as knowing the difference between the verb "to bring" action toward and "to take" action away; and to write a "plethora" of sand dunes, and "plethora" used a plethora of other times (well at least twice total). Citing a South American fable as a source of his sandworm, while ignoring DUNE is an insult to science fiction.

Well, I've already paid for and downloaded the next two, so here's hoping for some improvement

[Margaret Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyler Piperbrook has done a masterful job of taking me from my green, verdant home to a stark, unforgiving desert of a planet. We follow Neena and her family, Raj and Samel. Neena is the hunter of the family, a young girl responsible for her brothers after their parents die. Raj is only 10, Samel is 6. Neena goes out from Red Rock village into the desert to hunt, knowing that game is becoming more and more scarce but needing to feed the boys. While several days from home, a powerful sandstorm strikes. Neena manages to find a shallow cave, enough to shelter her from the fierce winds. Meanwhile, Raj and Samel and the rest of the village have to face the same sandstorm. The aftermath of the storm is traumatic for everyone. I really liked this book.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this first episode in the Sandstorm series, which takes place on a desolate planet abandoned by Earth for unknown reasons.

It switches between characters and slowly builds a picture of the plot. It's well-written except for the occasional awkward sentence structure and grammatical errors, and I really don't like the American phrase, 'off of', itself poor English. However, it is fast-paced and has a good sense of place.

I have the omnibus edition, so I will be continuing the saga.

Recommended.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book moved way too slowly for me. The book ended just when it got to the point I had been waiting for. Other than that, there was a sandstorm, two people lost in the desert, and very little history about these people and their struggles to survive after colonizing the planet and losing touch with earth.

It did end on a mysterious note, so here's to hoping the second book has a little more action and much more dialogue between characters.

[Patiscynical · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen... Son of Dune!

I have to agree with another reviewer. This is a cheap knockoff of Dune. Seriously, the author could have at least mentioned that this was inspired by the Dune novels, but perhaps he blocked that part out.
Results: anyone who has read Dune is going to be annoyed by this book, and I believe that most science fiction readers have read it. Enough said.

[Paul Scanling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bray, Kirby & William are more interesting so far ......

With all of the edge-of-your-seat action and twists we've all read in TWP's previous couple of series, the Sandstorm novel has fallen a bit short and flat. I really hope that the next novel picks up the pace to allow for more settings, different characters, etc. Not saying it isn't a fairly good novel, but it isn't fantastic to me ..... yet.