Verdant Pioneers - sequel to Verdant Skies

[Stormchild]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Ah, if only I had a million like you...

(You have told a million people about me, right? Haven't you? Haven't you?)

What? You have not sold a million copies? And they all promised as well.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Stormchild

What? You have not sold a million copies? And they all promised as well.

Well, tell them they're all bringing me closer to the day that I give up writing and get a job as a bicycle delivery man, so they'd better get on the stick!

[xg4bx]

I'm not familiar with your work but I read the sample of Verdant Skies and bought it. I'm a sucker for books that open with a massive disaster lol.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

I'm not familiar with your work but I read the sample of Verdant Skies and bought it. I'm a sucker for books that open with a massive disaster lol.

I have an idea for a story wherein the Moon gets blasted out of orbit, and... oh, wait.

[fum]

OkOk, you got me in the fold too.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Yesss... it's all going according to plan. Except, like, much slower than I thought.

(Places pinky on corner of mouth) (Mods, we need a Dr. Evil smiley... stat!)

[fum]

I saw, that I can buy the books on your homepage for 2.99.
I bought Verdant Skies on amazon for 5.75, I think.
Made me wonder: Which is the best deal for you?
From the homepage, or Amazon?

[Bikeridr]

@fum:
Probably the same. I take it, you do not live in the US, and therefore Amazon charges an extra $2 plus VAT per book.

All "free" books cost me $2,30 and all $2,99 books cost me $5,37
If I find books both at Smashwords and Amazon, I always by from Smashwords and will continue so until Amazon stop leeching those two extra dollars.
Albeit, that's the only negative about Amazon for my part, but I find it quite annoying as I don't own a 3G Kindle and it does not cost them the extra $2 + VAT to send via the non-3G whispernet.

[fum]

Yes, and the vat in Denmark is 25%, so..
But I vondered (wondered? hmm), which is the best deal for the author.
Does he benefit from the extra 2$.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I don't get that extra $2 from Amazon. If I have a choice, I'd rather you buy from my site if at all possible... I'll get about 97% of that payment.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

This just in, from Sift Book Reviews:

Verdant Pioneers was a real page turner for me. I haven't read a ton of space operas, but I have to imagine this story is one of the better ones. Take a look at the description.

The city-satellite Verdant has spent a year out in deep space, moving from system to system in search of the raw materials it needs to survive, fighting off terrorist factions that seek to force their return to Earth influence, and unsure of Earth's state. No one on Earth knows Verdant's status, either, and both sides are afraid of aggression from the other.

And when the deep-space discovery of the age is spoiled by the unexpected disappearance of one of their freighters, Julian Lenz and his staff must make a difficult decision: To take Verdant into hiding, perhaps forever; or to return to Earth, and risk Verdant's survival.

This book is a sequel to Verdant Skies; however, considering this is my first read of the series, I think it stood on its own perfectly well. There was at no point in the story that I felt like I was missing something that must have happened in the first book.

With so much action and drama there was always something new to hold my interest just as one of the other sub plots would wind to a close. There was plenty of romance as well. The passionate moments were way more explicit than I think they needed to be, but they were never vulgar. These scenes definitely grant Verdant Pioneers an R rating; but with just a few scenes turned down a bit, this story could easily broaden its audience.

This story had a multitude of characters and I have to admit I had a little trouble keeping track of them all as well as how all of them intertwined with each other. I'd occasionally have to break my flow to search back in the book to refresh my memory, but it never took too long.

The faster than light mechanism used to explore far away by "translating" instantaneously from one location to another by means of an on board machine reminded me of the Battlestar Galactica TV series (2004) . Just like with that show, I did not want this book to end. I award this book 4 stars and will definitely be going back to read the first in the series as well.