Ganymede Wakes

Ganymede Rising #1

by Joshua T. Calvert

In 2042, astronomers finally discover the long-hypothesized ninth planet of our solar system, kicking off an unprecedented space race between two powerful mega-corporations, each willing to do anything to be the first to get their space probes to the mysterious heavenly body in the dark beyond Neptune. After many years in space, one of the robot probes returning with samples from the farthest reaches of the solar system crashes on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, destroying a research station there. After contact with Ganymede is lost, a second sample reaches Earth, and quickly sets off a struggle for control of a substance that defies the understanding of all the world’s scientists.

Amid the ensuing chaos, astronaut Rachel Ferreira and a team of leading scientists board a ship bound for Ganymede to discover the reason for the disturbing silence. They leave behind an Earth erupting in conflict, as a team of mercenaries struggles to get its hands on a possibly alien technology, in the process uncovering a conspiracy that could shake the very foundations of the future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Space, Audiobook

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2021

About the author

Joshua T. Calvert has traveled the world--on foot, by Jeep, by bicycle, by motorcycle, and lots of other ways besides. As you might imagine, he's seen many things most people never see - including an Iranian prison cell, from the inside! In Kyrgyzstan, he fared slightly better, narrowly avoiding being kidnapped for ransom. Skydiver, scuba diver, martial artist, adventurer - his goal is to experience everything possible, and then make it real to you in his books. And he's made a good run of it so far: in the Philippines, he did police training on multiple types of firearms (despite being no fan of guns himself); dove in Asian waters among sharks and shipwrecks; and patrolled with Sumatran jungle rangers.

That's what defines Calvert's approach to method writing: pushing himself beyond his own limits, to experience first-hand what his characters experience, to make your immersion in his stories as deep as it can be.

For Ganymede Rises, after a slight detour with some smugglers in the deserts of Uzbekistan and the steppes of Mongolia, he traveled by dogsled and snowshoe to the Arctic Circle to experience first-hand what it's like to be utterly isolated in the coldest place on Earth. For his book The Fossil, he sat with professional pilots in flight simulators for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft to learn what it's like to fly a passenger jet. His latest adventure: a parabolic flight with European Space Agency astronauts, to experience zero-gravity. All so he can describe it to you, in his own words.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann]

Ganymede Wakes
by Joshua T. Calvert
Scientists on Ganymede find something new, but what is it? Also, a cliffhanger.

[Andy Coleman]

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:

Look, if you're going to go the route of having a mysterious alien-thing growing on Ganymede, your story will be compared to The Expanse. That was not a great thing for this book.

There are two perspectives in this story: First, the scientist who is going to Ganymede to learn about the alien-thing, and second, for some odd reason, a mercenary working on dystopian Earth. The stories overlap for a bit but then they're not really related. So what's the story about?

Basically, something is discovered and the whole story is about getting back to learn more. Do they get back and do we learn more in this book? No. Is there enough mystery to get me to read the next book? Also no.

Skip it!

[Jon]

This is a review of the 3 book series

Started off well. The story consists of two arcs which are covered in alternate chapters. An astronaut, the sole survivor of a disaster, who then returns to Ganymede to investigate an alien construction. She takes along a motley crew of scientists and soldiers. There's a cyborg hidden on board who goes about brutally murdering the crew, but strangely the crew tend to forget about the cyborg most of the time when it's not there and carry on regardless.

Then there's the other story arc related to a small team of mercenaries operating in Los Angeles. They keep doing suicide missions, all get injured yet somehow get to the next mission. In the future it's ok to get shot repeatedly if they can just slot in a new cybernetic limb. After three book I still found the characters to be underdeveloped, little more than "the gruff leader with a drink problem and a heart of gold", "the female sniper", "the hacker" and "the tank".

The world-building is somewhat interesting at first but then again it's nothing we haven't seen before; a bladerunner-esque dystopian future of mega-corps, climate collapse, flying cars, nanotechnology and robots.

The first book was ok but by the second book it started becoming really repetitive. The merc team, all doing their action scenes yet somehow all surviving near-fatal injuries before moving onto the next mission. The evil antagonist who just manages to to get away so he can turn up again 3 chapters later. The astronaut heading back to Ganymede, where the plot moves along at a glacial pace. Ooh look it's another one of those strange alien terraforming rings that we first saw in book 1. How exciting.

It would have been better if there had been more crossover between the two story arcs, but other than the start of the first book and the end of the third book they may as well be in two different novels. To be honest this would have been best compressed into a single novel as there simply wasn't enough variety in terms of the plot to keep me going. I struggled to the end just to see what happened to that annoying cyborg.

[Cyd O]

An exciting read

This story has a lot of moving parts, so I advise reading the timeline the author has placed at the end of the book before starting to read. It feels a little combustome to flip back and forth between groups of people and places - at least at first. But once it really gets going, it becomes clear. Book one has quite a bit of excitement toward the end, then leaves you holding your breath, while scratching your head.

I can't wait to open the next book to see what is really going on!

[Robert A Geloran]

A captivating story

I definitely got drawn in by the mysteries this story presents. It is, overall, well written, though at times the characters’ reactions seem unrealistic, seemly shaped more by the author’s intent to convey a specific mood or attitude. The near-future setting of the story is somewhat depressing but not that unlikely considering the power wielded by powerful corporations.
I am looking forward to continuing the story in the next book in the series.

[Jinho]

Ganymede Wakes opens with an intriguing cyberpunk setup that immediately pulled me in. I was ready to commit to the whole series. But as the story progressed, it lost momentum after the first few chapters.
The plot meanders, the pacing drags, and the promising premise never really evolves into something meaningful. It feels like the author had a compelling idea, but not a complete story. I found myself struggling to finish, and I ultimately didn’t.

[Joseph Robson]

Greatly entertaining. I was not expecting cyberpunk when I picked this up, and was pleasantly surprised. Initially I was a little concerned about some parallels with the expanse series, but it's not at all comparable. I compare this more with novels such as Snow Crash. Can't wait to start the next in the series.

[Emz]

Two threads to the story, both narratives are well written. Both are intriguing in there own different way. I enjoyed it, found it compelling, entertaining and kept my interest piqued, I’m obviously going to read the next book, to see where it leads, plus the characters are interesting, as is the story arc. So strap in for the next thrilling ride to Ganymede.

[KHB]

I really enjoyed this book.

Two uniquely different stories occurring at the same time with two unique protagonists. Lots of thrills along with quiet contemplation and well done character development.

Ended as a cliffhanger, so I'm onto the second book.

[Romeo George]

kept my curiosity wanting more

Good characters, plot and plausibility. 2058 is within our range of reasonableness for technology evolution and ability for our imagination to say yes or no to possibilities.

[Ken Barrett]

Two separate stories with no ending

The writing is good and although the plot is a near copy of the Expanse series, it’s interesting. This book runs with 2 different plot lines that have little to do with each other, and neither has a conclusion. I was disappointed.

[Noodle The Naughty Night Owl]

1/10: Couldn't get past the first few chapters; not for me.

[Steven]

Interesting story line

Held my interest. I liked the character build up. Good science fiction story. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[John T. Dueker]

Miserable book

Gathers every crack pot scenario together and pretends it can all happen at once. Think before you buy this one.

[Donna Kay Schippers]

amazing story telling

Looking forward to the rest of the story! I was hooked after the first paragraph; and the cliffhanger ending was very well done.

[joyce e colf]

Fix at ing

I love story's that draw you in so you become part of what is happening. Share with anyone who loves adventure.

[Leo Goldin]

2nd attempt

[Kellie Carroll]

Not boring

Definitely have to read the whole series. Cliffhanger here. Not mad because I am interested in the rest of the story.

[Irene Hollimon]

It was good

[Happei]

This was free on Audible. I won't be paying to find out if there is any point to this...and yet I did.