Young Amishman Jedidiah Troyer is now a traveler. He's signed up for an emigration program that is colonizing the planet of New Pennsylvania. He just wants to start a farm and homestead on affordable land in a new Amish community. Space pioneering isn't as easy as it sounds when you're "plain." Jedidiah and his new friend Dawn arrive on New Pennsylvania in the middle of a rebel uprising, and TRACE, the resistance group that is rising up against TRANSPORT, has taken on the mission of getting Jed from the City to the Amish Zone. Being a stranger in the old world doesn't even compare to being a stranger in a new world... a world that is at war and where nothing is what it seems.

Jedidiah Troyer is an eighteen year old who lives in the Amish Country of Pennsylvania on Earth. Promised cheap land and the prospect of starting a life on his own, he travels to New Pennsylvania, far outside our galaxy, in search of new opportunities, much like the settlers of old. Leaving behind everything and everyone he knows, he will hibernate for nine years until he reaches his new home planet. From there, he will then travel to the Amish Zone to begin his new life.

If only it could be that easy.

However, once he lands and comes out of hibernation, his life is put in immediate danger! Helped by mysterious allies, he learns that there is something sinister going on here as he is drawn into a conflict between opposing forces and is in way over his head in more ways than one.

For reasons unknown to show more Jed, and to the reader, the resistance is putting everything on the line to help him reach The Amish Zone. On the run from the Transport Authority, he realizes several things on the road to reaching The Amish Zone that forces him to question everything he thought he knew about this journey he has embarked on.

As the story progresses, we begin to understand why Jed is viewed as important to both the Transport Authority and to TRACE, the resistance. We discover along with Jed how the fight for freedom is being fought on multiple fronts, both literal and figurative, as well as the role he will play in the entire conflict, whether he wants to or not.

This story drew me into its mysteries very quickly & deeply, fleshing out this world with interesting sci-fi concepts and intriguing technology. The Amish Zone & its culture play a significant part of the larger stage this entire story plays out on, making for a unique tale contrasting technology with the simpler lifestyle of the Amish. This culture gives Jed a rich heritage and personality that makes him no ordinary protagonist and an intriguing character as well. With his non-violent Amish beliefs, he stands as an island of idealistic calm amidst a turbulent conflict, illustrating how he truly is a stranger in a strange land.

This story has plenty of rich ingredients in it, as it's full of suspense, features innovative uses of technology, fascinating surprises and unpredictable twists & turns. The mystery of where and when Jed is adds another layer to the mystery, as concepts of time and space also factor into the conflict. All of this and more are deftly incorporated into an engaging and engrossing story of a not-so-simple farmer who adapts to his circumstances while remaining true to himself.

By the end, many battles have been fought, we get answers to most of our questions, but also leaves room for the next tale in this tantalizing saga. This is the first part of a three part epic chronicle in the making, leaving room for the second in a planned three part trilogy, to be titled “Oklahoma”. I'm eager to see how the author expands upon the ideas that he established here in the next adventure!

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About the Author

Michael Bunker is a USA Today Bestselling author, off-gridder, husband, and father of four children. He lives with his family in a "plain" community in Central Texas, where he reads and writes books...and occasionally tilts at windmills. In November of 2015, Variety Magazine announced that Michael had sold a film/tv option for his bestselling novel Pennsylvania to Jorgensen Pictures. JP is currently developing Pennsylvania for production into a feature film or Television series. Michael is writing the first draft of the screenplay.

Michael's latest (and best rated) novel is Brother, Frankenstein which was released in late April of 2015.

Michael has been called the "father" of the Amish/Scifi genre but that isn't all that he writes. He is the author of several popular and acclaimed works of dystopian sci-fi, including the Amazon top 20 bestselling Amish Sci-fi thriller the Pennsylvania Omnibus, the groundbreaking dystopian vision Hugh Howey called "a brilliant tale of extra-planetary colonization." He also has written the epic post-apocalyptic WICK series, The Silo Archipelago (set in Hugh Howey's World of WOOL,) as well as many nonfiction works, including the non-fiction Amazon overall top 30 bestseller Surviving Off Off-Grid. Michael was commissioned by Amazon.com through their Kindle Worlds and Kindle Serials programs to write the first ever commissioned novel set in the World of Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. That book is entitled Osage Two Diamonds, and it debuted on Dec. 17, 2013.

In late April of 2015, Michael released his novel Brother, Frankenstein to fantastic reviews.

Michael has been featured on NPR, HuffPost Live, and Ozy.com and was recently interviewed in a Medium.com article that will give you more background and insight into his life and works... http://bit.ly/17YbE63.

On November 21st, 2014 Tales From Pennsylvania, a fanfic short story anthology featuring 10 top speculative fiction authors writing fanfic short stories in the world of Michael Bunker's Pennsylvania, was released in paperback and e-book format. More than twenty authors have been (or will be) writing fanfic in the world of MB's Pennsylvania.

Readers who subscribe to Michael's newsletter get free copies of his books, usually before they're published: http://michaelbunker.com/newsletter

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Batman Eternal #1 kicks off this new weekly series with a bang or rather two. The first is a flash forward to a Gotham in flames and what follows will lead us in 52 issues to that scene. Who is behind Gotham in flames? And who knows who Batman really is? What follows is a great study in duality (an important theme in Batman); new recruit to GCPD (and making his new 52 debut quite unheralded) is a young cop from Detroit named Jason Bard. In pre new 52 continuity Bard was a one time love interest of Barbara Gordon, an associate of Dinah Lance and her family, a former GCPD cop and a PI who assisted Batman once in awhile. Never a major player, he is getting great treatment here as we follow his arrival in Gotham and meets the major players in the GCPD (Maggie Sawyer, Harvey Bullock, Jim Gordon, and Forbes-who you know right away isn't any good at all). This is fouled with Batman and Gordon rescuing a group of kids from Professor Pyg and his dollotrons. These two stories come together at the end and show us why Scott Synder is the best Batman writer working today. There is a stand out scene where Bard and Gordon come face to face and there are some great striking similarities, as if Jim Gordon is looking into a mirror of his you herself, which makes me wonder if they aren't foreshadowing a re visitation of the Bard/Barbara romance. More than any other panel, that one stood out to me. Great start to what promises to be an exciting 52 weeks of reads.

A young girl is the only person to escape the raid on her underground home. Alone and lost on the surface for the first time in her life, she falls into a desperate plan. Pretending to be a boy, she takes refuge in the Legion headquarters, the very group that raided her home.

For me, this book had a rocky start. I found it a little hard to accept the premise that the main character could so easily pull off her deception. There was no actual physical examination done by the doctor when she entered the Legion. That seems pretty basic upon entering any military organization. Also, it was strange that the government supposedly had more advanced technology than we do but they seemed to have trouble detecting an underground compound that could house hundreds of people. Finally, distances seemed to be fairly small. The Legion was just a few hours walk from the compound, the city and the rebels.Despite this closeness, the government seemed oblivious to them, even though they had been to some of the places before hand.

Once I got beyond these problems, the story was quite good. I enjoyed the different characters. They all seemed developed nicely, even if you don't get their backgrounds immediately. They still seem to be fleshed out and just waiting to tell you their story. The action was nicely handled as well. The pacing was smooth and flowed well throughout the story.

I know some people don't like cliffhanger endings, so I will warn you that this book does end with a cliffhanger, show more Personally, I don't mind a cliffhanger as long as you get a full story. By this, I mean the cliffhanger acts more as a preview for what happens next instead of just a break where the author seems to have reached their page count and just stopped. You do have a good progression with this story and while the ending may leave the reader uncertain to the fates of several characters, it is not actually a bad place to end a contuining series. It will definitely leave you wanting more. show less

This book was an excellent finish to the Traveler series. It finished with a great ending and a real twist at the end. The showdown between Roof and Battle started in book 2 "Canyon" when Abrahams wrote about the events in Syria that steadily built up through book 3 titled "Wall". Do yourself a favor and give the Traveler Series trilogy a read. Tom Abrahams was an accidental discovery for me and I am glad I found him. However, I plan to go back and read his other works.

I can't see through the fog?!?!?

What can I tell you...Annelie Wendeberg is one mighty fine writer. I assume if you're reading this you have already begun the journey of Micka that began in the first book 1/2986. And I assume you might be wondering if this next chapter of her life will be as intense and absorbing as the last book...the answer is yes, and more yes. To tell you about the storyline would be robbing you of the thrill of discovery that happens as you turn each page. However I can tell you issues that face Micka in the future, are all too familiar in today's world, more terrifying and intense but fundamentally the same. This is a book that has you think and at the same time tear through the pages, eagerly awaiting the next twist and turn. I found it different and refreshing that such a fast paced book found the time to truly develop the characters to such a degree that I was stressing over the situations they found themselves in. As I said, What can I tell you Ms. Wendeberg IS one mighty fine writer, and I think you will really enjoy the ride she offers with FOG.

This is a collection of short stories. This was the first time I have been exposed to John Joseph Adams and I enjoyed the collection he put together, exposing me to other post apocalyptic authors. The stories however were quite different than one would expect out of the genre but none the less gave some very different views of the environment. It's a good book to pick up, read a short story if your pressed for time and want to get some reading in. Definitely an interesting new way to discover authors and different outlooks on the genre.

[a:Mark Tufo|2990843|Mark Tufo|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303757670p2/2990843.jpg] This author/dude is funny!

First and foremost, this book was FREE! With that being said, it is a great book. I laughed at all of the dialog and first person commentary, whether said out loud or internally. The primary first person thought process was hilarious and real. This is a great zombie book, that not only addresses the loss of community, loss of friends/family, choices and decisions (whether good or bad), but also throws in how people adjust to these changes. Some people freeze, some take charge; others crack emotionally and/or mentally, and some that capitalize on being sick and/or depraved; there are people who want to blame others, while others want to control others; there are leaders and then followers; there are characters you can't help but like and others you'd love to throw out for the zombies to feast on; but on top of it all there are those moments where we could become lost in our own thoughts, and yet those moments where a hilariously funny/sick thought might cross our minds. It's all in this story, which by the way, is a full size novel. It could be a stand alone, but would leave you wanting to know... did they all live happily ever after or what tragedy was awaiting them next. I loved the humor and my daughter had to know what was making her mom laugh so hard tears were streaming down my face. I would read her a clip and watch her start laughing just as hard. show more It's a zombie story that starts with a CDC rushed 'ooops,' in a plausible scenario. It evolves into community survival and family survival. You read about ideas for fortifications, food and ammunition concerns, and of course the what-ifs (when this happens what will we do), as well as WTF moments (Ryan Seacrest, really?!). We get to combine that with depraved humans and their need to be destructive or just an altogether mental sickness some have. Then there's that need to protect our children whether 3 years or 19 years old, they're still our babies. And of course, the love for a pet, that some of us just don't grasp, especially if it meant potentially sacrificing ourself to attempt to save a scared, hiding, useless pet. However, when you add in germaphobia, paranoia and laughable inner dialog, it can make for a very interesting twist on the now common doom and gloom, zombie apocalypse books. I'm greatful for this FREE book, because I found an author whom I might not have read otherwise. I am proud to say I have read every book in the series(all 10), and I think the tears of crying from laughter have been even greater. And yes, my daughter's tears of laughter have been flowing heavily too. Read the first book for free, if it's not your cup of tea, then no loss...BUT just maybe you'll find a book that makes you laugh just as much as it makes you think what-if. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read for the fun and enjoyment of reading. To the Author: Thank you for allowing me the privilege of reading this first book free. show less

What do a make-up girl and Rent-a-cop have in common ?

I absolutely tore through this book. This is the first time I have ever read this author even though I heard his name various times. This book was a quick read for me because of the character Darlene Bobich. The character development in regards to who she was and who she became made me truly care about what became of her. I would never have guessed a girl working at a mall as a make up artist to be such the survivor she became. I plan on reading books 2-6 next in the Dying Days series and hope the author keeps writing in the series.

How to make money in the blogosphere

Very helpful and informative read, good introduction to the world of blogs and very easy to understand. A quick read to get you blogging.