The Earthborn
01/08/2003 . Source: Donna Jones 

Welkin is a Skyborn on the Skyworld ship Colony. It ventured off almost three hundred years ago to the system of Tau Ceti to colonise Tau Ceti III.

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That's why you come here, to find out what are turkeys and what are voluptuous, gift-filled crackers! ‘The Earthborn’ is definitely one of the latter.

Written by Aussie author Paul Collins, it is quiet possibly the best Science Fiction that I have read in a long time and that even includes the 'safe-bet' ones too.

Welkin is a Skyborn on the Skyworld ship Colony. It ventured off almost three hundred years ago to the system of Tau Ceti to colonise Tau Ceti III. When Welkin's ancestors arrived they found that the elliptical nature of Tau Ceti III's orbit prohibited them from inhabiting the new planet. A huge debate tore the new settlers, eventually the Elders reinforced the idea that their destiny had changed and that the real future lay in returning to the civil war-torn home planet, Earth.

Earthborn are made out to be uncivilised, brutal cannibals. A disease that needs eradicating before the returning voyagers can retake their homeworld.

Those that have shown a real aversion to the Elders of Colony are banished to the lower decks and labelled in the same poor light as the Earthborn. A problem to be destroyed at the soonest available opportunity. A disease on the face of an enlightened and superior human race, that is the essence of humanity with a seemingly healthy dose of genocide.

Welkin meets an Earthborn very quickly after Colony lands and soon he comes to realise that humanity may not have been destroyed as the Elders would have the Skyborn believe. So ensues the war over Earth and the hopeful combining of forces to create a new start.

I really loved this book. Can you tell? It is like a cross between ‘Return Of The Jedi’ and ‘The Lord Of The Flies’. While I found ‘Lord Of The Flies’ disturbing when I read it, it was disturbing in an eye-opening way and this is where this book has great strength.

It is no tome of a book at 240 pages but that is another really great thing, it is clipped in such a way no word is unnecessary. It is all a development of the story and quite a few authors of Science Fiction and fantasy would do well to take this skill on board from Collins. You don't need a vast background to tell a bloody good story, the story will do its job just fine without filler!

This is the kind of Science Fiction I would recommend to almost anyone. It is so accessible that you could pick this book up and enjoy every page and be a Science Fiction junkie. Die-hards will also like this, too. Collins has a way with characters that is subtle but totally true to life. The backdrops of his homeland of Australia fit so well with the civil war-torn world view, like a vision of ‘Mad Max’!

The style of writing is so fresh that it is easy to get into very quickly. I must admit I have never seen a book quite like it in its conception. There are two chapters that are really long near the beginning, these pave the way for the rest of the book and form sturdy foundations for the events that follow in far shorter chapters.

Go out and get yourself a copy of this book because I not only recommend it I insist that if you read only one Science Fiction book in your life read ‘The Earthborn’.

Collins book ‘Cyberskin’ has earned him critical acclaim and has been cited as making ‘Bladerunner’ look positively emaciated - The Canberra Times. I will certainly be placing an order for this one asap! Damn good Science Fiction from a damn good writer of the genre!

Donna Jones