Day 115 on an Alien World

Settler Chronicles #1

by Jeannette Bedard

Someone needs to be alive to call for help.

A dishonourable discharge left Margo unable to find honest work on Earth. Signing onto a colonizing mission heading to a new world promised a fresh start. Or at least that's what she'd thought.

Strapped into a crashing colony ship, she realized how wrong she'd been.

They hit the ground and the straight forward colonizing mission becomes a scramble for survival. Accidents keep happening—too many to blame on random bad luck. A trail of evidence leads Margo to a startling conclusion—one of her fellow colonists is a saboteur.

Tomorrow is the colony's first communications window with Earth and their only chance to send a message home.

Will Margo stop the saboteur before it’s too late?

Find out now.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Survival, Space, Amazon

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Always writing, Jeannette has filled hard drives with ones and zeros that occasionally coalesce into books. Her non-linear career path has included both working as both a soldier and a scientist (but not at the same time). Currently, she lives on a non-tropical island in the Pacific with her husband and daughter and she really likes math jokes, especially if there is pi involved.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of people gets sent to another planet. Accidents occur, killing off the colonists. Considering the frequency of the accidents and the number of casualties, the colonists quickly suspect someone is sabotaging them deliberately. And it can only be one of their own.


The mystery plot is quite simple in concept. Finding out the truth about the accidents adds a compelling layer of suspense to the narrative, and there’s enough twists to keep you entertained. The pacing is pretty slow, though this gets better after a while and intensifies near the end. The occasional time jumps can also get a bit confusing if you’re not paying attention.


The main characters are well-developed, and their forced marriage adds an interesting dynamic to the story. The romantic subplot doesn’t really feel necessary here, though I will admit that this might just be personal preference. The other characters also could have stood out more had they been fleshed out a bit more. At times, I struggled to remember who some of the other characters were to be honest.


While there are some things that could be improved, it’s clear this is a story written with passion, and that’s always appreciated. It’s a solid science fiction mystery story, with a little bit of romance sprinkled over it.

[Alicia Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so impressed with this book! It’s an interstellar mystery thriller that builds and builds until you realize you’ve been holding your breath WAY too long. This was a Netgalley find and I was so pleasantly surprised to have found this gem. I didn’t expect to get so engrossed in what was happening with the characters, or their missions. The atmosphere was utterly compelling and there was just something super satisfying about hearing all the details that go into starting a colony on another planet...all the water systems, plants, soil studies, necessary insect inhabitants, etc. If there is a book 2 in the future, I will be the first in line to get my hands on it. Seriously, I’m basically recommending this read to anyone with ears. No shame :)

Also, many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this awesome book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Johanna Aldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* all the way for this murder mystery sci-fi adventure… with explosions.
“A fuzzy purple fruit that could only be described as Muppet testicles dangled unapologetically on a thick stem.”
I simply had to mention that one...Just one of many cracking lines in this book!
On a more serious note, I do like a good whodunit and this certainly falls into that category. Being set in space and on another planet during a colonisation expedition, lends an extra chill factor and you never know who’s going to be bumped off next. A well thought out conspiracy plot, with likeable characters (well, some of them!) and even a little romance, I think most Sci-Fi fans will appreciate this one.

[Anna Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sometime end of last year, I received a random email from the author asking if I'd like to review her book. It happens. I have my review email on my blog. Looked at the details and felt eh, why not? It's the type of thing I would casually pick up if it's cheap enough anyway.

Overall, Day 115 on an Alien World was an interesting enough read for me to give it 3.5 stars. I liked the plot twisty stuff and the way things unfolded. The basic premise is simple enough: things are going terribly at the new colony on Thesan, right from departure. Margo thinks there's a saboteur on board... but who? And who can she trust? It's full of mystery and intrigue, danger and adventure. There's a light romance going on, and there are (sad) deaths to tug at your heartstrings. Space opera, in a nutshell.

What I didn't like so much was the structure of the book. It initially took me a little while to get into it because the first few chapters were a little confusing. There were several time-jumpy things. You start off at Day 114, drop back into pre-departure, jump forwards to Day 114, and then Day 1 or something... It also jumps between Gary's point of view and Margo's. I don't think I got fully oriented until probably Chapter 5 or so when it's firmly in Margo's POV and following the storyline at little more sequentially. I guess doing this kind of ramped up the tension a little? But honestly, I'm not quite sure it was necessary. (But also 20% chance I was confused because I read this while in bed with a cold and slightly headachey.)

At any rate, if you're looking for a thriller/suspense story set in space, this one's a good one to try.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[S. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fun! There is space, sabotage, hard scifi, murder, mystery, butterflies, romance, arranged marriages, and suspense.

Gary is a perfectionist doctor who joins the Settler Three colony to be with his twin brother. Margo is an entomologist who joined to escape her past. Their marriage was part of the deal to get onboard. It wasn’t the only strange arrangement made for the colony. Someone is determined to make their colony fail!

The hard scifi was interesting. Mostly about biospheres and biology. I grew up in Arizona, so I got to visit the Biosphere 2 in Tucson a year after the experiment where the six scientists lived within it and it was sealed. It has captured my imagination ever since! The Pauley Shore movie sustained said imagination through my teen and young adult years. Now this book has taken the reigns.
Jeanette and I are part of a writer group online and through a bungled attempt at an international Secret Santa exchange, it is much harder to gift books internationally than it should be, I got a free copy of this lovely story from the author. I was under no obligation to review. It’s more of a personal compulsion! I love talking about good books. That’s why I built Science Fantasy Hub.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This is spoilt by the jumping back in time whilst reading.
Once you get past this the story is gripping and does keep you guessing until very near the end.
Overall a good story though.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Wasn't totally sold at the start but, but kept getting better and who doesn't love a cool mystery in space? Kept me guessing and I will definitely read the next one.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com. I received a copy of the book from the author in return for an honest review.

This is one of those books that manages to be more than the sum of its parts because one element of it is so very good. It’s a thrilling hard SF ride with a really entertaining mystery element and an engaging protagonist. There’s a load of action to enjoy, a lot of twists and turns in the plot and enough science to make you feel like you might be learning something.
The plot centers on a commercial mission to colonise an alien planet that goes badly wrong. Right from the start it’s clear that the crew and colonists don’t have the whole picture and as the mission is set by a series of fatal accidents it becomes obvious that they have a saboteur amongst them.
It’s the mystery angle that makes the book work so well. At times it feels like Agatha Christie in space, as the body count mounts and heroine Margo works to figure out who is behind it all. The structure that author Jeanette Bedard has chosen to tell the story is particularly brilliant. The book is set on day 115 of the mission, crucially the first day when it will be possible for the colonists to communicate with Earth. By this point Margo is dead. The bulk of the book is her husband, Gary, reading through the journal that details her investigations over the past 114 days. Margo’s story is told through a series of flashbacks, the elephant in the room being that we know she ends up dying. In some ways it reminded me of the classic movie ‘D.O.A.’, in which a detective who has been poisoned investigates his own murder in the few hours before he dies. It’s a really neat trick and kept me glued to the book.
Beyond that the book has gripping and entertaining “peril in a hostile environment” style thrills and spills, along with some cool action flashbacks to Margo’s previous military career. Author Bedard has worked as both a scientist and a soldier, and that really shows. Whether she is writing about the dangers of working on an alien world or military operations, there is an authenticity to her writing that makes everything all the more engaging. She also throws in an interesting relationship angle, with Margo involved in a love triangle.
All this adds up to an entertaining and rich read. It’s not quite perfect, and falls into one of the traps you see quite often in first books - the supporting characters are sometimes a bit indistinct and I found myself sometimes confused as to who was who. The positives far outweigh the negatives though; and the plot structure in particular is excellent.
‘Day 115’ is an accomplished first novel that has something for everyone and balances its various elements well. It has the slickness and entertainment value of a Hollywood blockbuster and gets a big thumbs up from me.

[Jay Brantner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Day 115 on an Alien World as part of a judging team for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition.

I’ve read a lot of SFF this year with a mystery at the heart of the plot. But almost all of them seem to be books about something other than the mystery—either the mystery leads to a bigger conspiracy that takes over the later plot, or else the real story is the friends we make along the way. But Day 115 on an Alien World is a true murder mystery in space, with bodies dropping from the first chapter and no candidates for the killer outside a single 50-person colonizing team.

And as a murder mystery, it’s very well constructed. There may be a red herring or two that are far too obvious for a genre-savvy reader, but we see enough side characters to have plausible candidates for the crime, and we learn enough about them to form opinions as to who did the deed. And the story is just told so smoothly. Once things really get going (about a third of the way in), I got to the point where I would look down and realize I’d read another 100 or 150 or even 200 pages without really noticing. It’s been a while since I’ve read something that bingeable.

The downside, however, are the side characters, as they appear to the leads. We have two primary perspective characters (with Margo taking the bulk of the page time in a series of flashbacks) whose perspective helps the reader really understand them. But we see the side characters mostly through limited conversation with the leads, and the dialogue can be a bit heavy-handed, leading to secondary characters whose fully realized motivations I can see if I read between the lines, but who can tend to look a bit like caricatures on the surface. This arrested my momentum more than once with thoughts of the “seriously, why are they like this” variety.

Overall, the mystery is interesting enough to largely make up for some weaker dialogue, and the pacing through the final two-thirds of the book is excellent. But those flaws hold this back from being a five-star read.

First impression: 15/20. Full review and official SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com

[S.J. Higbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a colony world adventure where said colonisation plans have gone very badly wrong from the word go. I’m a sucker for these kinds of tales of survival – basically because it gives the author so much scope to take the story in all sorts of interesting directions. Bedard doesn’t disappoint with her vivid evocation of this bleak, airless environment, which nonetheless has been selected as suitable for this plucky group of pioneers to establish a foothold for humanity. The description and world building is believable and effective in producing a strong sense of reality without holding up the pace.

I really liked Margo as a protagonist. While having a troubled and eventful background, she is not too full of angst to be able to respond effectively in the challenging circumstances around her. There was a particular event that happened about a third of the way into the book that absolutely floored me – to the extent that I nearly stopped reading. However, I had an instinct that if I did, so I’d always wonder what happened next and I’m glad I continued. In the interests of providing a spoiler-free review. I’m not going to say more than that, but if you do happen to pick this one up, do be mindful that this is not the place to stop reading in disgust.

Any niggles? Well, there is just one. Part of the story is told through Margo’s journals, which I found more than a bit confusing because at no time did the viewpoint switch to 1st person and she isn’t the sort of character who would talk or think of herself in the third person. This did bother me for a while but as the tale was so genuinely engrossing and the stakes continued to become ever higher, it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

Of course, the difficulty in raising said stakes is that the climax has to give the reader sufficient reward or having stuck by the story in the expectation that the denouement is going to be worth it. I’m glad to say that Bedard managed to pull it off. This one has stayed with me since I finished reading it and I am keen to return to this isolated outpost of humanity to find out what happens next. So I shall certainly be tracking down the second book in the series. Recommended for fans of science fiction murder mysteries in dangerous settings. While I obtained an arc of Day 115 on an Alien Planet from the author via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are part of an initial colony expedition to a new planet through a wormhole, and you are required to get married to someone you don’t know. What could possibly go wrong? Day 115 on an Alien World is the story of Margo, an agriculturalist who has signed up as a colonist. Right from the start, the wheels start to come off the cart.

Author Jeannette Bedard chooses the path of hard fundamental science, while at the same time creating a theoretical wormhole to move the characters away from the comforts of Earth. I find this refreshing as it speaks to fundamental and relatable human issues, while at the same time placing support barriers. In some ways it is a survival story, as much as anything else. I thought the ship and world details were captivating.

I was intrigued by the story. It is more of a thriller or mystery set in a futuristic science fiction world, something I deeply enjoy. However, I did find some integration pains as the author merges the two genres. The “day 115” part is the ticking clock, and with the colonists separated from any type of support for that period, they must solve their own problems.

I loved the characters. I found that they had real emotions, needs, and desires, in particular the protagonists. The antagonist is both the world they are going to colonize and the events that take place on the ship. I found Margo to be an incredible character, someone I would like to meet someday (perhaps in the next book in the series…), and I found her to be resourceful and motivated.

The story was well-paced. I found the jumps back and forth in time to be well done and straightforward. The story moves along nicely as there is both personal and institutional activities are in play. I did feel that I was on the planet Thesan, and in the colony ship.

My only complaint is that I found the last few chapters, the thrilling conclusion, to be a little contrived. It seemed to be split into a few different locations and situations, almost like the author was trying to figure out how she was going to end the story. I also found that the ultimate antagonist was not developed much during the story, other than the odd story footnote. There also seems to be a cumbersome attempt to setup the next story by parachuting a new character down to the colony. Overall, I found the last act of the story not up to the high standards set by all the earlier chapters. Four of five stars on Goodreads.

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margo Murphy had had enough of this life on earth. After her court-martial from a babysitting assignment to safe keep a conglomerate work party, she was not able to get a decent job. Margo had been reduced to raising butterflies on her family’s farm in an old greenhouse. Rich people would pay good money to have live butterflies in their indoor gardens. She had tried to get a water permit to revive the farm and grow much-needed food, a path that would have made her feel like she had a decent job and was a member of society, but she was denied. Craig found her and what she was doing and invited her to colonize a new planet in a new solar system. So she applied to work off-world as humanity spread to the stars. She doubted her application would be accepted, but when Craig had a buddy in the archives redact her military records, she was accepted. And now here she was, aboard a shuttle taking her to a colony ship where she would have to marry a stranger just for show, as all couples were supposed to be of childbearing age. What happens after the televised marriage is up to the couple in question, as her marriage was not the only one for appearance’s sake, just so long as they did not rock the boat for the rest of the crew.

Oh wow! The twists, the turns, the surprise, and the ending result. Where is book two? I want to ride this rollercoaster again! The physical world-building gives you more than enough for the scene. While the ethereal world-building seems to be individualized for each character. The character building is enough to get you to understand the nuances between the character interactions. There is even a surprise about the characters.

Oh yeah! This series starter gives itself to becoming a space opera full of science fiction and action & adventure. I give this story five stars out of five stars.

[John Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Day 115 on an Alien World" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Jeannette Bedard (http://jeannettebedard.com). This is Ms. Bedard's first novel and the first in her "Settler Chronicles" series. 

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in the future. The primary character is Margo Murphy.

Murphy has served in the military but was dishonorably discharged. She has signed on to a colony ship for a new start on a new world. But then 'accidents' start to happen. Their ship crashes on the target planet and colonists begin to die. Murphy does not know who to trust, but she feels strongly that there is a saboteur amongst the colonist. Can she survive long enough to determine who is behind the deaths? 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 8+ hours I spent reading this 362-page science fiction mystery novel. I liked the characters created for this novel, and I liked the plot. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

[Shauntrice Haive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex, non-linear plot—just what I've been looking for in a novel! I love the back-and-forth scenarios. The story is interesting, but I only got invested by chapter 20, as this is when the revelations started to unfold. Though I'm not familiar with the technical terms, I’m still intrigued—I like space stories. I admit, I’m amazed by how the author could write hard sci-fi, and then at the end of the book, I learned that she's a scientist. It really showed. I’m impressed.

The mystery was there, though I was able to figure out who the saboteur was even before the characters considered this person as such. Maybe I’m just a bit of a detective? Hahaha. Anyway, I did enjoy reading this book, but I wish the characters were developed a bit more. I found them a bit lacking, especially with the antagonist—I think his motivation wasn’t strong enough, which left me feeling unsatisfied. Nevertheless, I can say it was worth my time, especially since this is the first sci-fi I’ve decided to read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting who-done-it set on a distant planet with a group of new colonists. The writing style was also interesting, flipping back and forth between present and flashbacks, and flashbacks within a flashback. But somehow it all worked and it was not confusing or off-putting. I liked how the story unfolded and was amazed at how the author was able to slowly unfold a couple of different stories in different timeframes all at once. The one thing I didn't like was the mass picking off of characters. I was starting to wonder if there would be anyone left by the end of the story. It also would have been nice to have a few more clues and a bit more of the various back stories (e.g. what exactly did happen on Mars? How did the saboteur develop to get to this point in the story?). All in all a good read and I will likely continue with the next one.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid 3.5*

I recommend reading it for a short distraction.

It is a simple story, more who-done-it than Sci Fi. The author takes the easy way out too many times for it to round up or to be taken seriously as Sci Fi. For instance, they used a worm hole to get to a planet at a distant star, but they still use caulking to prevent panes from leaking and have to apply it in person (just one example of silly). And people smuggle all kinds of things onto the space ship.

In the author's defense, her bio states she is a scientist by day and a reader/writer in her spare time. Amazing story telling and writing skills for a part-time writer. She seems to simply enjoy writing and makes decisions to move the story along or add a brief bit of action or description without being overly concerned about how it fits into a world of the future. Fun read. Enjoy it.

[Andrew Spink · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, one small colony on a distant planet had more murders than a typical Midsummer village. That meant that to my surprise, as well as being a Sci-Fi novel this is also a detective story, where much of the plot centres around the question of 'whodunnit'. I like detectives and as always in that genre this book presents the reader with genuine clues and red herrings, and it is up to us to try and figure out which is which. On the Sci-Fi front, there was a surprising abundance of current day technology, down to USB sticks for transferring data. I wonder if the transparent aluminium was a deliberate reference to the old Star Trek film where that crops up.
A fun book to read and a definite page-turner.

[Beth L · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fast paced mystery of who's sabotaging the newly settled colony, causing accidents, and killing the crew off at an alarming rate.
At day 115 after landing, they can contact earth to ask for rescue or supplies - hence the title
This book was actually a surprising find, both credible and stimulating enough to maintain my interest the whole way through.
Although I did guess who the sabbateur was, and found it frustrating that the heroine was blind to the fact for waaayyyy too long, I really enjoyed this book, and am very much looking forwards to the second one.

I was grateful to receive this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review
#netgalley #day115onanalienworld

[Elliott Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margo and Gary are married.

They agreed to join an off-world colony, far away from Earth. One of the conditions they both agreed to when they signed up to leave their pasts behind was an arranged marriage. So here they are. Married.

Bit by bit, the mission goes awry. People die. More people die. Then a few more. How���s a fledgling colony supposed to survive when it keeps having freak accidents?

I really enjoyed this story. It’s not perfect. For starters, it could do with another round of editing. And it does get hard to follow in a few places. But, on the whole, it’s a really compelling work.

[Peter Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book not knowing what to expect. It was a 'first in a series freebie' and I figured I had nothing to lose. I was left impressed enough to put all the rest of the series in my wishlist as I definitely want to read more about these characters.

Initially I was a little put off with the jump back and forward in time - but you get used to it quickly and it is deftly used to add to the mystery and the gradual unfolding of the characters. The story line definitely keeps you guessing until right towards the end. However, even when you have a good idea who the culprit is, you are still left on the edge of your seat as how everything is going to end.

Well worth the read!

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science fiction is always a great pallet cleanser for me, and this was a sure favourite right off the bat. The story begins with Gary watching his new wife crash and die in a ship headed for the planet Thesan. Though he didn't really know anything about her, they were matched up for their colony's survival to continue the human race, just like everyone else on the ship. Jumping right into the action, I was pulled in from the very beginning, and couldn't stop until I figured out the mystery of this book.

Check out my full review here!

https://mutatedlibrary.wordpress.com/...

[Baiculescu Nicolae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5
I think the story is compelling enough to be read, but the problem I had with this book is that there is just 5% of sci-fi in it.
There is nothing that takes me to an "alien" place. A vague description of the place fails to transport me there and make me want to envision how could it really be to live there in person. Instead the same human drama unfolds to a different place that I fail to imagine because I don't have the elements to do so.


There is also a noticeable amount of typos.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly deep!

This is an excellent story with interesting characters and a storyline that flows so well, the reader forgets they aren't on Thesus. I found myself holding my breath with the characters and loudly exclaiming over the twists. I definitely recommend this one. The science in it is interesting, too, without being overly science-y. Definitely well balanced.

[Woody James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book for one thing it had an ending not just a starting point for the next book. There is a next book and after killing off so many of the original settlers I'm wondering what she has left. But we have a whole unexplored planet out there so there is a lot of material for moving forward.

[Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun space "opera" but with a nice heroine that just makes me feel like I am in the book/the world rather than someone else. It reminds me a little of Prey and other space games, and it may go well for readers that enjoy Becky Chambers or The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. A little less political and all over the place than Elizabeth Moon but with a heroine of the kind that her books do.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Help me read more books

Not exactly what the blurb promised, but I suppose it's close enough. Don't think I'll be continuing with this series. I generally like new colony world stories, and this one is ok, it just didn't strike me as being interesting enough to stretch it out to multiple books.

[Tony Duxbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well-written and thought-out story. A colonisation effort goes wrong, accidents happen and people are killed, and Margo Murphy is in the thick of it. Everything is wrong with the mission. Bad luck or sabotage? Under suspicion, Margo investigates. Recommended reading for lovers of Sci-Fi and mystery.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting idea and a valiant effort in desperate need of an editor. After seeing a usage error within the first ten pages, I checked: sure enough, self-published. It wasn't long before I stopped reading for entertainment and just looked for things that bugged me. I eventually gave up halfway through; I couldn't be bothered to find out what happened.

[Amanda Meggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery and Science Fiction

I enjoyed the world building and the interesting characters. The mystery was very well done and I didn't know what was going to happen next. I am keen to read the next book in the series.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this thriller. It’s really a murder mystery wrapped in sci-fi. Someone is sabotaging a brand new colony with no regard for how many colonists die in the process. Looking forward to a follow-up novel!