Dirt is for losers.
It’s 2021, and humanity has been in space for half a century. Cities dot Luna, colonies are spreading across Mars, and ships are being built to explore deep space. Sixteen-year-old Mara Duval, born and raised on Tombaugh Space Station, is training to be part of humanity’s first mission to the moons of Jupiter.
Life in space is full of opportunities... but not for everyone.
Some are condemned to live their lives on dirt—a place everyone knows but no one mentions. Dirt is for the people deemed unfit for life in space—the unintelligent, the diseased, the mentally ill, the emotionally unstable, the sociopaths, and the criminals.
Every family has members who are condemned to life on dirt, and Mara’s is no different. Yet whereas every other family moves on and leaves behind relatives who have failed, her parents are determined Mara should get to know hers—to understand her past before going off to her future in deep space.
For Mara, there’s no escape. Despite the dangers and diseases, her parents are forcing her to go down to dirt.
“DOWN TO DIRT is YA hard science fiction with an attitude, full of technical details as engaging as the characters. I was immediately drawn into the story.” ~ Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of ETERNITY’S MIND
Evolved Publishing presents the first book in "Dirt and Stars." This young adult science fiction series features an alternative history/future adventure sure to keep you glued to the page. [DRM-Free]
Books by Kevin Killiany:
More Great Sci-Fi from Evolved Publishing:
Genre: JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction
Sales have been limited thus far, mostly by design, as we've held on an aggressive marketing campaign until Book 3 of the series is launched, which is happening on 7 May 2018.
1030 / 30 August 2021
"It's blowing child abuse."
"It's not abuse, and don’t curse," Momster answered. Again.
We'd had this conversation—with and without the cursing—about two hundred times in the last few weeks. Okay, maybe only one hundred. I'd come home from sophomore cycle final exams on Friday, ready to do absolutely nothing for the two weeks before my junior cycles began, only to discover my parents had completely ruined my life.
They were sending me to dirt. I shouldn't have been surprised because they've been talking for years about sending me down to visit my only living relatives who don't share our apartment. I just never'd thought they'd be cruel enough to follow through on the threat.
But here we were in Dr. Kelso's waiting room—
Yes, room. Where every other doctor on Tombaugh Station had folding benches in the corridor, she'd been authorized to waste what looked like at least twelve cubic meters just to impress her patients. Of course, Dr. Kelso was one of a kind. Disease-infested people aren't allowed in space. All the other medicos specialize in injuries or nutrition or dentistry or OB-GYN stuff. Dr. Kelso is the only doctor on Tombaugh certified in infectious diseases.
Which is why Momster and I were rehashing—or, rather, she was reading and I was rehashing—our dead-end debate while waiting for my weekly physical update and battery of vaccinations. Vaccinations as in shots, battery as in many, and weekly as in fourth of six multiple-shot sessions to which I had to be subjected if I was to have a fighting chance of surviving on dirt. If sending your only child to a place so teeming with deadly bacteria your life depends on dozens of painful and potentially dangerous inoculations isn't child abuse the definition needs to be updated.
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Carmelo Massimo Tidona
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Author review: Carmelo has been a real pleasure to work with, and a true professional. ~ Dave Lane, CEO, Managing Publisher/Editor |
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Juliana Scheffer
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Author review: Juliana was a pleasure to work with, and she did a terrific job. She followed our formatting guidelines well, and produced an excellent translation. |
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Ana Sthal
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Author review: Always a pleasure to work with Ana. |
