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Homeworld
Abigail, a modern-day nineteen-year-old who has struggled her entire life to fit in, undergoes a genetic transformation to treat her illness and becomes super-enhanced. After the change, she gains unusual abilities that lead her to become the key to saving Earth’s future and a link to humanity’s ancient past. Ironically, her alteration makes it harder to fit in, but she does make a few new friends, including a mysterious alien broadcaster who is sending vital information to get humans into space on a new, advanced ship. Abigail makes history by piloting the first space mission to go farther than any previous space mission had gone before—Mars.
With a crew of two new friends, Silas and Gavin, who are each brilliant in their own way, Abigail pilots an expedition to pick up her pen pal, who turns out to be more alien than she expected. A trip within the solar system becomes interstellar when their new shipmate requires them to travel to the Kronos system to perform a rescue of a species whose planet is spiraling to its doom and who may also be linked to Earth’s ancient past. Earth will never be the same once Abigail and her friends return home with half a million alien refugees.
See Earth through the eyes of ancient colonists who, despite deadly challenges, are determined to build a civilization on an exotic foreign landscape where life is incredibly diverse and abundant, sky water falls, and the oceans are filled with magnificent and intelligent creatures. Will they repeat the mistakes they made on their Homeworld that led to its destruction, or will they find their place within the rich and balanced ecology of a new world?
With a crew of two new friends, Silas and Gavin, who are each brilliant in their own way, Abigail pilots an expedition to pick up her pen pal, who turns out to be more alien than she expected. A trip within the solar system becomes interstellar when their new shipmate requires them to travel to the Kronos system to perform a rescue of a species whose planet is spiraling to its doom and who may also be linked to Earth’s ancient past. Earth will never be the same once Abigail and her friends return home with half a million alien refugees.
See Earth through the eyes of ancient colonists who, despite deadly challenges, are determined to build a civilization on an exotic foreign landscape where life is incredibly diverse and abundant, sky water falls, and the oceans are filled with magnificent and intelligent creatures. Will they repeat the mistakes they made on their Homeworld that led to its destruction, or will they find their place within the rich and balanced ecology of a new world?
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2022
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2022
I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair review!
Homeworld is a great book for a new reader of sci-fi, environmentalists, or young readers (like late teens). I’d categorize it as a “New Adult” book for reasons I’ll explain a bit. Even if New Adult isn’t your jam, this book has a great deal going for it!
This book is interesting because while it’s a book for a slightly younger crowd, it also feels a bit like a classic sci-fi, which appealed to me greatly. I think it’s because of its scope. This book brings in a lot of sci-fi topics on top of environmentalism. In truth, I’d almost hazard to call this book a cli-fi, as it’s probably the biggest theme.
There’s also superheroes, immigration, first contact, theory into what killed the dinosaurs, planet colonization, aliens, and friendship. It would be spoilers for me to get into any one of these in great detail, but while this feels like a lot of tropes in one novel, it worked well. All of these facets were interconnected in a way that served to complement one another rather than compete.
I personally liked the environmentalism aspects and the obvious jabs at political lobbyism, oil companies, and xenophobia.
In terms of the science fiction stuff, I enjoyed the aliens - their culture and physiology were interesting and fun. came When it to the science aspects, it was a little bit far-fetched - we have characters going into space with no astronaut training, for - but again, this isn’t a hard sci-fi so I was fine with it.
Now, while the characters were likeable and engaging, this isn’t really a character-driven story. There is so much going on in terms of the story that while the characters aren’t flat, Abigail’s struggles to fit in are mentioned but we don’t really see a trajectory of her overcoming that, in such as flashbacks. As such, it doesn’t have the coming-of-age story I was expecting, but the rest of the narrative is so compelling it didn’t really need it. In truth, seeing her suffer through high school might have been a bit boring.
Yet, I think a lot of young people will identify with Abigail and Gavin - perhaps their less than robust backstory will allow younger readers to place themselves in their positions in a sort of vicarious experience.
Overall, it’s definitely a fun and engaging sci-fi about a young woman with extraordinary powers who uses them to try and save our planet and others in need. It’s a book I’ll be saving for my daughters when they’re older.
Homeworld is a great book for a new reader of sci-fi, environmentalists, or young readers (like late teens). I’d categorize it as a “New Adult” book for reasons I’ll explain a bit. Even if New Adult isn’t your jam, this book has a great deal going for it!
This book is interesting because while it’s a book for a slightly younger crowd, it also feels a bit like a classic sci-fi, which appealed to me greatly. I think it’s because of its scope. This book brings in a lot of sci-fi topics on top of environmentalism. In truth, I’d almost hazard to call this book a cli-fi, as it’s probably the biggest theme.
There’s also superheroes, immigration, first contact, theory into what killed the dinosaurs, planet colonization, aliens, and friendship. It would be spoilers for me to get into any one of these in great detail, but while this feels like a lot of tropes in one novel, it worked well. All of these facets were interconnected in a way that served to complement one another rather than compete.
I personally liked the environmentalism aspects and the obvious jabs at political lobbyism, oil companies, and xenophobia.
In terms of the science fiction stuff, I enjoyed the aliens - their culture and physiology were interesting and fun. came When it to the science aspects, it was a little bit far-fetched - we have characters going into space with no astronaut training, for - but again, this isn’t a hard sci-fi so I was fine with it.
Now, while the characters were likeable and engaging, this isn’t really a character-driven story. There is so much going on in terms of the story that while the characters aren’t flat, Abigail’s struggles to fit in are mentioned but we don’t really see a trajectory of her overcoming that, in such as flashbacks. As such, it doesn’t have the coming-of-age story I was expecting, but the rest of the narrative is so compelling it didn’t really need it. In truth, seeing her suffer through high school might have been a bit boring.
Yet, I think a lot of young people will identify with Abigail and Gavin - perhaps their less than robust backstory will allow younger readers to place themselves in their positions in a sort of vicarious experience.
Overall, it’s definitely a fun and engaging sci-fi about a young woman with extraordinary powers who uses them to try and save our planet and others in need. It’s a book I’ll be saving for my daughters when they’re older.
April 25, 2022
Review of Philip Ginn’s Homeworld
I received a free book in exchange for my honest review and should also disclose that Philip is a beloved cousin. This might be an obstacle to pure objectivity if I believed such a thing were possible in book reviews, only it works the other way, too, that I picked the book up with a sense of obligation and worry about what I would say if I didn’t love the book.
So it was a relief that I found it completely enjoyable to read. The characters were ones whose company I enjoyed, the premise echoed some of my favorite science fiction—I love and read a lot of science fiction—but was original, and the heaviness of a story taking place in a world beset by numerous familiar ecological and political and sociological crises was offset by a sweetness of even the worst villains being treated compassionately as people who are afraid and can be brought to see light, by a streak of dad joke humor, and most of all, by an imaginative hopefulness that makes me look forward to returning to the adventures of Abigail and her friends in the next book.
I received a free book in exchange for my honest review and should also disclose that Philip is a beloved cousin. This might be an obstacle to pure objectivity if I believed such a thing were possible in book reviews, only it works the other way, too, that I picked the book up with a sense of obligation and worry about what I would say if I didn’t love the book.
So it was a relief that I found it completely enjoyable to read. The characters were ones whose company I enjoyed, the premise echoed some of my favorite science fiction—I love and read a lot of science fiction—but was original, and the heaviness of a story taking place in a world beset by numerous familiar ecological and political and sociological crises was offset by a sweetness of even the worst villains being treated compassionately as people who are afraid and can be brought to see light, by a streak of dad joke humor, and most of all, by an imaginative hopefulness that makes me look forward to returning to the adventures of Abigail and her friends in the next book.
April 27, 2022
At a time when so much YA fiction is set in a dystopian future, it was refreshing to read a book that addresses our ecological future but still manages to leave the reader feeling hopeful. If you’re looking for a book with a strong female lead character, that explores themes like genetic engineering, space travel, and first contact with alien civilizations, then I highly recommend Homeworld.
October 11, 2022
The book was enjoyable. It did read like a lower level YA then the more advanced YA just based on how everything seemed pretty surface level. I was hoping to dive more into the conflicts and get more emotional turmoil and such but everything was wrapped up pretty easily and solutions were always found pretty quick.
I like that there was a high importance on the need for the conservation of our earth and protecting the land we live on. It highlights on how we are damaging our Earth and how we need to protect it at every chance we get.
The dual perspective was pretty cool too because you get to experience the characters present day and what they are going through and then get context for things that are happening based on another storyline.
I would definitely continue the series to see what happens with our characters and what they will get up to next.
I like that there was a high importance on the need for the conservation of our earth and protecting the land we live on. It highlights on how we are damaging our Earth and how we need to protect it at every chance we get.
The dual perspective was pretty cool too because you get to experience the characters present day and what they are going through and then get context for things that are happening based on another storyline.
I would definitely continue the series to see what happens with our characters and what they will get up to next.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews