4.5 Stars rounded up.

That was freaking amazing! I cut my (very old) teeth on SciFi and this surpassed all of my expectations! It started, much like some of my favourite SciFi books, in an almost mundane way - school kids on an outing - and turned a sudden corner to apocalyptic destruction before veering left again into high adventure on a distant planet!

This was written for my prompt in the Love's Landscapes event and, as in previous years, I am totally amazed at the imagination and talent of the writers. The stories may not always go in the direction I had imagined but each year I've been delighted with the authors' vision. This year is no exception!
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What starts out as a deceptively “normal” futuristic story, set at the end of the 21st century, slowly develops into full-out and totally unexpected science fiction. The words “drastic turn” in the blurb are not to be taken lightly, I can tell you that much. With a main character who has a lot to learn, and events that kept me on the edge of my seat, I can fully recommend this to anyone who is looking for an unusual story heavy on fantastic world building and light on the romance.

Barron is a pretty average teenager and a month away from high school graduation. He tries to get away with things his parents don’t want him to do, he leads a group of friends who have been with him since they were small kids, and he is sarcastic. One additional characteristic did not endear him to me in the least: he is a bully. Anyone who doesn’t meet his approval (as defined by his father’s morals) gets taunted, or worse, and it becomes clear only a few pages into the book that he is a very mean guy, at least toward his peers.

The catastrophe hits, and everything changes. Barron is still condescending, but he pulls is weight, and the first cracks in his armor appear when he encounters a little girl who needs him to survive. Suddenly he begins to care, and when he ends up blind, his real learning curve begins. It is steep and long, but it was amazing to watch Barron begin to understand what is really important. Great character development!

I cannot say too much else without spoiling the story, but I think anyone who likes science fiction might want to give it a try. If you like the unexpected, if you enjoy catastrophes and apocalyptic events, and if you’re looking for a read that is as much driven by events as it is by characters, with just a touch of romance, then you will probably enjoy this free novella. ( )