Foreign Land

This Foreign Universe #1

by J.S. Sherwood

Smith, his soul shattered after suffering a crushing personal loss, is left to fight for the survival of his son and the new colony on a planet that’s far more dangerous than anyone expected.

Hope ran deep when Smith left humanity’s first generation ship to lay roots with his wife and son in the open air of a new planet. When the colony ship broke apart on entry, however, countless lives were lost, including Smith’s beloved wife.

Everything changed, and he now fights to keep his son and his colony alive, all the while fighting off alien-induced hallucinations.

Meanwhile, back on the generation ship, Smith’s apprentice Tashon seeks to discover what happened to his beloved mentor and the colony. He soon learns that the expedition’s leaders are focused on a much more imminent danger, one that could prove the destruction of the entire generation ship.

Each of the two groups, cut off from one another, must fight for survival against an enemy that no one saw coming.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook

343 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 13, 2021

Reviews

[J.P. Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foreign Land is some of the best science fiction I've read in years. It's full of action, intrigue, heart, and even a dash of the type of horror that can only come from man facing the unknown. The book starts like many other sci-fi stories--on an alien planet after an unfortunate turn of events--but it quickly veers into unique and refreshing. Sherwood's description of alien beings and future technology are uniquely his own, offering a new world that readers have never quite experienced before. And under all that, as in all good sci-fi, there's an element of truth and the human condition brought to life through exquisite characters. This is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a good science fiction series to sink into for a good long time (based on the projected series).

[Daniel Woolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was floored by how hard this book gripped me early. Even more surprising was how mcuh more invested I got at the end of every chapter. The last third of Foreign Land was so action-packed I couldn't read it fast enough. The author excels at writing compelling action and characters and then ripping your heart out with what happens to them as they explore a wild world. The thrills never slowed down. I loved how interweaved the ideas of science were with other philosophies here, it made the world feel alive and unique. There are clear sci-fi inspirations but the story is one of a kind. Any fan of The Expanse or Hyperion will find a thoroughly enjoyable read here. I am excited for the story to come, the mysteries that will arise and be solved, and to see the worlds develop. A top-notch first book by Sherwood and one that will keep me engaged in his career with all future books.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol)]

Purchased audio at Chirp
B0B433M1DZ
Narrator: Joe Landry
9 hrs 43 mins
Evolved Publishing LLC
May 10, 2022

[Luke Dylan Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A-/A

I listened to this on Audible. Tbh I know Mr Sherwood and the novel’s voice narrator Mr Landry so that obviously could skew my rating and grade. Also, I did read this book twice when it was just a manuscript and gave Mr Sherwood some hopefully helpful feedback, so that could color my prodigious enjoyment of the book as well.

All of that being said, I did very much enjoy this book and also very much enjoyed Mr Landry’s voice work, particularly his singing: him and Mr Sherwood should start a folk blues band.

Anyways, there’s a lot to like about this book. It’s philosophical yet action packed. The plot is propulsive and gripping, yet there is still time for rumination on humanity’s past, present, and future.

I forget who, but a writer once said that science fiction isn’t really about the future, it’s actually about the present. If that is true, I’d say this book is actually concerned not with interplanetary flight and space colonization but with what divides us and causes violence and strife to erupt between individuals and groups. Being overly sure that you’re right and allowing that surety to make you view people with opposing views as lesser than and subhuman seems to be the ultimate sin in the eyes of this book.

The prose of this book is also pretty solid. I do wish Mr Sherwood would attempt more experimental and/or (lol) ambitious prose pyrotechnics (I know he has it in him). His descriptions are workmanlike and he doesn’t waste words, though, and my attempts at flashy language in my own writing endeavors have yet to yield me much success so perhaps Mr Sherwood should be emulated rather than criticized for this.

One of my favorite things about this book is the worldbuilding. I feel like just the right amount of time is spent on exposition and many elements of the world feel fresh and new without straying into outlandish territory.

Looking forward to delving further into the trilogy and larger cycle. I own all 4 books and know that Mr Sherwood has given me a whole lot to look forward to.

Bravo Mr Landry. Bravo Mr Sherwood. You are my heroes.

[Tristen Kozinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foreign Land is a bit of a conflicted book; the plotting, characters, and prose are clear, but at the same time the grander plot seems a bit lost in context of purpose and theme.
We begin with a colonizing community crash landing onto a hostile planet with incorrect information. The wife of one of our main characters is dead, leaving him with a son, and so I settled into a story about survival and a bit of an exploration about grief (which was present, but a bit blunt, existing mostly as occasional mentions of said grief.) Then the story evolves, as if their wont, but not in a way that compliments this start, becoming in its last third more of a horror story. There's other relevant moments in the course of the story that also defeat the 'survival despite tragedy' narrative, but have no connection to the horror narrative. The one consistent theme(s) of the narrative is loss/tragedy, which makes for a mostly joyless read outside brief moments of comedy, but the loss and death is so prevalent the story grows too indiscriminate for such a personal theme.
None of the individual scenes or moments are bad, and some are good (the horror scenes are generally good, except they're not really written to be scary) it's just they don't synergize with each other on a conceptual level (the horror scenes are structured like horror scenes, with an invulnerable, trans-dimensional monsters hunting a group of survivors through the crashed wreckage of a ship and picking them off one by one, but again its not written to be scary.)
Of the core elements, the characters are probably the weakest. Again, they're not bad, but they're a bit simplistic, and the most morally/internally complex character isn't explored enough to really delve in the rich tapestry they offer.
There's some cool concepts, like traveling via the fourth dimension, but ultimately the book just struggled to form a cohesive vision.

[Brittani (Book_Byrd) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this on CHIRP audio for a free weekend deal.
This is a unique space sci-fi with its creatures, dimensional travel, and lots of action/ tension but thats the most I got from this first book.
I appreciated the song portions by this narrator, he has a great singing voice, but his narration voice acting range isn't quite there yet.
I think I would have preferred physically reading this one.
The characters were okay, but when deaths start to happen I didn't really care a ton...I felt like the way in which the deaths happened were the impactful moments.
There were also a few moments for me that the immersion was broken. We get the gist of why these people needed to leave Earth in small snippets and there were a few times that real world politics were brought in that took me out instantly. That's definetly a "me" thing, but I prefer subtleties when it comes to bringing Earth's "drama", specifically American, into something. There were a few times that it hit too directly on current events and I read to not have to think about politics...
I also am confused what actually happened in the ending, and it may be because I couldn't read with my eyes.
It was a very interesting read and did entertain me though.
Unsure currently if I will continue the series.

[D Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great sci-fi with twists and turns straight out of a thriller. After the ship malfunctions, the people meant to cultivate the land of this strange planet are left with low numbers and minimal resources. That might've been hard enough, but strange things start to happen--things that never showed up in their research on the planet before setting out. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just say I was hooked from the first chapter because of the mysteries of this planet. Some really beautifully written scenes as well. If you enjoy shows like I Am Mother, or movies like Prometheus, you're going to love Foreign Land. Excited for the next book!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to read a sci-fi book for a change. I really like sci-fi. This book started out pretty good. Earth at war with itself, colonists leave on big ship, new worlds to explore, etc. You always have to have conflict or bad guys. Check. Then it gets weird in the 4th dimension and I've lost it. Things get weirder and I'm happy to finish it and get on with my life. That's why I gave 3 stars. The first half was good, the 2nd half - not so much. Sorry.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 25%

There might be an interesting plot hidden in here, but the writing and character development are so flat and boring I just couldn't care.

I don't often rate books I didn't finish, but this one's rating makes me suspect all the reviews and ratings are family/friends or paid.

Glad it was free on Chirp.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know it's bad when you're listening at 1.5x and you still are bored to tears and can't stand the narrator. I got 3% in and nope, don't have time to waste on a so-so story and a straight up bad narrator. Sorry, Sherwood - but make a better choice of narrator next time, ok?

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried this book but had to give up less than half way through. The plot line and premise is good for planet colonization, but the writing is very immature, too many stupid, inane comments from characters. Very weak character development.

[Klair Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many twists and turns I didn't see coming.

[Ryan Kountz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had an interesting premise but I got bored and didn’t care about any characters. Gave up about 75% of the way through the book.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did the audio. Has a good concept m, hard to keep track in some parts of the book. Will stop with just the first book.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Sci-fi. Crash land on foreign planet. 4th Dimension friends or foes?… similar to Star Trek adventure.