Terra 1

The Terra Cycle #1

by Ross Turner

We've spent decades preparing for first contact.
Many people expected extra-terrestrials to find us, but we found them first.

When an alien race is discovered on a distant planet, special measures are put in place to prevent them posing any future threat to Earth. A crew of highly-trained specialists is deployed to Terra 1 to neutralise extra-terrestrial military installations.

They went to safeguard our future, but when nothing on Terra 1 is what it seems, can they even make it home alive?

Genres: Science Fiction

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2018

About the author

Ross works as a creative and critical writer, editor, and private tutor, and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Superlative - The Literary Journal.

He is currently completing his practice-led creative writing PhD at York St John University, with a focus on short story cycles. Previously, he attended the University of Gloucestershire, attaining his BA (Hons) and MA in Creative and Critical Writing, for which he received several awards and a bursary.

He has been published by the likes of Fragmented Voices, Indigo Dreams, and Half and One.
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He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Superlative, The Short Story Literary Journal, which publishes quality work by aspiring short story writers in order to promote new, developing authors and the art of the short story to readers worldwide. They work closely with developing writers so that, when they publish work, it is of the highest standard.
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Aside from reading and writing, Ross enjoys CrossFit, rock climbing, snowboarding, and board games.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science fiction is not something that I generally bother with, but this book was well worth reading. There were elements that the book didn't really need, such as the affairs between the staff (even if it was about a power struggle), overall I enjoyed the book. The descriptions of the planet, the slims, the veins in the walls etc were really good and the ending was a little unexpected. Another good read.

[Matthijs van Soest · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars - I received the Kindle version through a Goodreads giveaway.

This was a reasonably enjoyable fast read with a decent plot, but it has enough issues for me to not prioritize keeping up with the series.

The reader is somewhat left to puzzle some things out and while that was not a huge deal, it felt as if some of the background information was forcibly put in the glossary/footnotes. I guess that is to avoid the data dump feeling, you can sometimes get when world building has dominance over the regular plot. I feel here the author may have gone a little too far to the other end of the spectrum.
So if you read this before you start reading: it may actually be worthwhile to look at the glossary and the footnotes while reading - it may provide some extra info that can make some things a little clearer as the story develops.

The characters are a mixed bunch, but none really appealed that much to me, a lot of the character interaction felt forced and strained, with attempts at some character development that seemed to really push people into clear stereotypes then keep a laser focus on one particular thing or behavior that did not seem all that realistic for what would presumably be a crack team that was selected for this apparently really important and also first extra-planetary mission with a potential first contact situation...

I also got the feeling that the author was not quite sure to go fully for a more serious military scifi style or for a much less serious swashbuckling tone with attempts at levity. It ended up a bit of a weird mix for me.

The basic premise is interesting, but that is not quite enough for me to want to keep reading this serious.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book through a goodreads giveaway. I read the kindle version. It jumped right in to the story and I immediately felt like I was missing information about the characters and what they were doing. The reader is able to piece it all together after a while, but there is still a feeling of lacking background information. At the end I realized that there is a glossary and footnotes. I read the entire book, but had no desire to read the glossary and footnotes. They seemed very lengthy and very dry. I would have appreciated instead some of the information being built into the story for some needed plot set up. The main character seemed likable but I didn't get the point of multiple references to his lack of intelligence. He didn't seem cognitively slow and I'm not sure why he kept getting referred to as such. There is a good twist at the end hence the two stars. However, this just wasn't my cup of tea and I don't plan on reading the next installment in the series.

[Bill Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy of Terra 1 by Ross Turner in a Goodreads giveaway. This is a story about a group of people who go to another planet in order to defend the Earth from alien weapons. As the story unfolds, the crew starts to change leading to a confrontation between the crew themselves and the aliens.
This was a quick read but I really couldn't get into it. None of the characters were particularly likeable and I think it needed more background.

[Kelly Knapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpected Twist

When Earth sends a military team to ensure that an alien race will not have the capabilities to harm us, they find not everything is as it seems.
I liked the protagonist but found far too much extraneous information (ie. Affairs) which both slowed the pace and added little to the plot. In addition, having to flip back and forth to the glossary, in a novel, was irritating. I am not a child, who needs to learn vocabulary words.

[Thomas Lennek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well thought out, plausible plot. Glossary provides additional clarifying information, to clear up any misunderstanding. That said, I just couldn't connect with the characters, and for some reason found the end of book #1 unsatisfying. This will be the end of the series for me.

[Chez Nash · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get into the book. I like SciFy but this was slow and overly technical.

[Vicki Gollnisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rcvd this book in good reads giveaway. Great read. Interesting and intriguing. I’d highly recommend

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

First venture into the world of Sci-fi. Thrilling and engaging, well paced story and a great read. Thoroughly enjoyed and would 100% recommend.

[Patrick J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world of this novel is interesting and plausible. It is primarily the world of today pushed 50 years ahead, with some aspects extended. The world is still muddling through. Fast paced, somewhat military-style story. This novel takes a team of flawed heroes and follows them as they muddle through their mission, without a lot of thought, planning and, of course, no help from earth since they are light-years out touch.
Rather uneven writing. But the story is coherent. The ending was disappointing. I found the characters are not drawn in detail enough to make the ending compelling.
There's a sprinkling of British humor, jokes and slang which I didn't understand. That was distracting.