Cover Image: Alex and The Colony

Alex and The Colony

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Member Reviews

Sorry for the late review. I am just getting round to them now as I’ve had a rough few months.. I have notes for the books that I reviewed but they may be cut short to get through them.

This book was definitely not my favourite. I struggled a lot. It was very cliche. You could almost predict what was coming as you went along. It wasn’t very memorable and the characters didn’t really stick with you.
I actually had to re read this books first couple of chapters to remember it at all.

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I enjoy apocalypse/dystopian stories. I find them both terrifying and hopeful. I found Alex and the Colony a bit all over the place and too much. There was too much going on and not enough explaining.

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Alex and the Colony seems to be a crudely written apocalypse evacuation story, where people from our Earth have somehow been landed in another universe populated by dwarves, elves, gnomes, goblins, gargoyles, wizards and ogres-- a RPG in fact.
Things happen in a disjointed way, and somehow everyone in this new dimension eats the same sort of carbon-based foods and speaks English. Nothing and nobody is described in a way that could enliven a reader's imagination; it's just generic for everything, even the dog!
But if the humans can't do a thing, it's because of MAGIC. This gets really tiresome. Only our hero might be able to do any because of his birthmark that proves humans originated in this other world. To mine even more cliches, the only thing special about him is the power of making FRIENDS.
*spoiler removed at author's request*
It's an okay generic sword'n'sorcery story with a sci-fi wrapper on the front that is soon discarded.

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This pretty good, not great. I'm a bit old for this fantasy, but still liked it overall. Has the feel of a new author, so it's not polished writing. But if you're seeking a quick read without high expectations, you might enjoy it. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

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Alex lives in the Colony with the others that have managed to survive the dying of the earth. However it’s getting tough, there is limited resources for them and Alex’s father dying (who was the leader) have caused the rebels to create problems. Suddenly a storm and earthquake happen with Alex being unconscious due to his head being hit. When he awakes, he finds himself and some of the folks from the Colony are on a different planet with even less resources. People are scare and Alex with the help of Lucas takes control of the group even though he feels as if he is the last person to be doing it. When Alex and Caitlin is captured in a net, the ogres made, they let them out and pretend to be friendly. They are taken to the ogres town and find out that they must fight the ogres in an arena. It is entertainment for the ogres. Alex finds out that he is the person mentioned in a prophecy. He has a birthmark that lets others know who he is. What will Alex do?

In this novel, I found besides the ogres, elves, dwarves, wizards, gnomes, trolls, goblins, a dark witch and a banshee. This is the first novel that I’ve read that had gnomes in it. The story is about Alex’s hero journey which comes with adventure, impossible situations and first love. There is touched upon the story racism but in the sense that it’s really species not human racism. I enjoyed following Alex’s experience on a new planet where there is magic rather than technology. I can’t wait to read the next book!

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Alex has not had good luck with his family. When they went downtown shopping, he got separated from his mother and no one has seen her since. Now his father has an infection and there is nothing left to cure it. He's going to die, too. But he tells Alex he'll have to take over the colony of people. He doesn't want to, but he doesn't have much choice. Climate change has killed many but their colony has survived. Now the weather is storming and there's a huge earthquake...

BooksGoSocial and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been oublished and you can get a copy now.

When they recover from the storm, they find themselves on a new planet. The only source of food they've found so far are fish. They find they are all young adults, no adults made it. They have lost one young man in the woods already, so they are cautious at gathering food. Alex leads a group in the woods to hunt and almost becomes another victim. There's a banshee living in the woods.

Then he gets caught in a net and is captured by ogres. They are huge and they like to fight their prisoners. His little group is the last one to fight. He's taught them to fight together. He has an elf on his team, as well as a dog he's befriended. The dwarf is a good fighter. They manage to win their battle, but they are still prisoners and there will be another harder fight tomorrow. Then the shaman comes in the night and leads them out and away. The dwarf takes them through a tunnel in the mountain to where the other humans have been incarcerated.

The elves, gnomes, dwarves, and humans unite but they are going against ogres, goblins, and trolls. They are bigger so the little guys will have to be smarter.

Alex Finds he's part of a prediction. He's survived so far but he has a long way to go...

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DNF. The book was sloppily-written and poorly edited (if at all). Far too much exposition and overwritten speech, not enough description. A good premise with a lot of potential but unfortunately didn't deliver.

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D.S. Samra establishes an engaging and relatable first person to guide us through this fictional (and interesting) world. Alex and The Colony is a book I would readily share with young adult readers and grown ups too.

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