Jonathan G. Meyer

Cover/Title: I picked this book because it had a dinosaur on the cover.

Characters: I liked the characters. I felt bad for Chris being alone for a whole year while everyone slept. I also felt bad for Tammy because she was brain-washed by the people that supposedly cared for her.

Plot: I loved the idea of starting a colony on another planet. I also liked that they were respectful of the original inhabitants. The dinosaurs were a nice touch as well. I wonder what other creatures they will come show more across in this series. I can't wait to find out.

Overall: I loved the concept of this book and I am enjoying it as it plays out. I will definitely be reading more of this series. show less

An amnesiac man wakes up alone in a cavernous starship with one section open to space. He adopts the name Al Clark from a sign he sees. He doesn’t remember his personal history, but he does remember how to use a handgun he finds in a cabinet.
From here on, it is spoiler time.

He is on a colony ship with most of the passengers in stasis. They land on a planet that looks ideal, but it is already inhabited by cave-dwelling sapients and man-eating dinosaurs. Al finds out that he is a human show more consciousness that has been uploaded into an android body. He is a natural security officer for the colony. But will the colonists consider him human?

Al is a likeable guy, but world-building could be better. We need to know more about the planet’s ecology and the spaceship’s engineering. The whole business has a generic, out-of-the-box quality. Meyer wrote a prequel in 2019. I don’t know what it contains, but I wish it had been worked into this first volume of the series. show less

During Earth's final days the spaceship Excalibur is the last vessel to take 1000 highly intelligent and skilled people to their new home, the planet Avalon in another galaxy. Due to its distance, all on board are put into a cryogenic state for thirty years and are scheduled to be awoken in time for planetfall. But Excalibur is wounded by meteors and asteroids and it is now forty years when the first being is awakened. Except he can't remember his life before waking up. Solitary exploration show more yields several clues: the ship has been in orbit for approximately ten years, one entire area of the ship has been destroyed by space satellites, and yet our survivor still has no clue to his identity. So he adopts the name he finds on the pod he emerged from and calls himself Al Clark.

As time goes on Al finds himself in the residential areas and claims a room for his own only to find there is one other space traveler alive. Chris is a young man who came awake about a year earlier and it thrilled to find another person alive. Together they explore Excalibur and work to wake the others. What follows is the story of exploration and settlement of a planet similar to Earth but with natives living in caves and dinosaurs that haven't been killed off by a cosmic attack on the planet.

The story starts out slow and gives the reader a sense of the vastness and loneliness of space as we follow both Al and Chris through the early stages of restoring Excalibur and its human cargo. Once our intrepid travelers make planetfall the action really starts. And through it all we wonder along with Al Clark just who he really is and why can't he remember anything from the past.

A terrific read for sci-fi fans of the old school it is appropriate for all ages. I certainly hope there is a sequel in the offing. show less

Al Clark book one by Jonathan Meyer is an outstanding sci-fi novel! I loved it from page one. Al wakes up from on a space sleep stasis when his sleep module malfunctions. He finds he can't remember who he is but he did get his by a piece of the meteor that messed up the space station that he was on. He figures out his name is Al Clark by the name above his module but can't remember anything else. He wanders around the ship and finds that one other person that is awake. Together they awaken a show more tech that can awaken others on board. Soon the ship is saved and they are off to the planet below that they thought was uninhabited. Boy were they wrong. Great plot, great characters, great wit and fun. Al finds he is not who he thought he was, the planet is not what they thought is was, and their is a saboteur on board trying to kill people. The action and wit alone is enough to enjoy this book. I loved it! Can't wait to read book 2! show less