Genre: Sci-Fi, Colonization, YA
Reviewer: Scott
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About The Book
Interstellar kidnapping… or opportunity?
A thousand teens and their teachers were stunned when the alien Garubis yanked Twenty-Nine Palms High School right out of California’s Mojave desert, plopping it into a jungle many light years away. It was supposed to be a “gift”—a new settlement for humanity. But tell that to Mark, Alexandra, Barry and Sophie when strange parasites attack… and they don’t know what to eat… and the island of Earth-buildings runs out of water!
Some claim to have spotted strange tool-users in the forest. Are the Garubis back? Or is this some other possible alien menace?
Whatever the skyjacked teenagers and their small number of adult companions face, they will need guts, ingenuity, hard work… and luck! But maybe the worst threat will come from the former students themselves. From basic human nature.
The Review
Castaways of New Mojave is the sequel to Colony High, and the second book in the “High Horizons” series. Book one ended with a bang, as the castaway colonists suffered through attack by alien creatures. Book two picks up right after that fateful night, and the action continues nonstop as the series finds its stride.
Where half of Colony High was set in 2028 in California and was a bit too “contemporary” for my sci-fi tastes, my patience has been rewarded. Castaways of New Mojave, the name the protagonists have bestowed on their planet after the Earth desert where their school used to be located, goes full-on colonization sci-fi. And colony stories are one of my favorite jams.
Where Colony was told mostly through Mark Bramford’s point of view, Castaways branches out, showing things from three of Mark’s friends as well – Alex, the tomboy sidekick; Barry, his nerdy friend, and Helene, the pretty senior Mark has had his eyes on.
As the initial shock of being transported to an alien world with only a small chunk of Earth underneath them wears off, the two-thousand or so people begin to splinter. There are the jocks and the popular kids, who make a bid to run the new world. The carnies who were only there to set up a school carnival the next day. The other adults – teachers, folks who lived or worked by the school, or were just passing through. And the rest of the students, who just want things to go back to normal.
And Mark is right in the middle.
The drama comes from several different things – the politics and social strife are major drivers, as some characters jockey for power while others are just trying to do the right thing and find a way to survive in the strange new jungle world of New Mojave. There are treks through the jungle, alien encounters, and mysterious signs that keep us guessing. Is there more to the world than we’ve been led to believe?
All while the characters scramble to secure food and water to survive long enough to truly start adapting to their new world.
I really enjoyed Castaways of New Mojave. Brin does colony building right, thinking of all the myriad of things that need to be accomplished in a short time while never losing sight of the story. Mark’s character grows throughout the novel, though he still makes mistakes. And other characters we assumed were villains (or at least in league with them) show a surprising new side.
My only two gripes, and they are relatively minor – first off, I wish the characters had shown a little more regret and sadness for their family members lost on the far side of the vast interstellar gulf that separates New Mojave from Earth. Aside from mark remembering his father’s advice now and then, we don’t get any real sense of the existential turmoil these kids would be facing at being so abruptly cut off from their families. Adding a bit of this would have helped make them more vulnerable and well-rounded.
And the other? Give me a few LGBTQ+ characters – throw a dog a bone here!
Nevertheless, Castaways of New Mojave is a thrilling ride through an alien world, with much more to be discovered. Grab your copy today and buckle up!
The Reviewer
Scott is the founder of Queer Sci Fi, Liminal Fiction, and QueeRomance Ink, and a fantasy and sci fi writer in his own right, with more than 30 published short stories, novellas and novels to his credit, including two trilogies.