Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Down to Dirt: Dirt and Stars, #1
Down to Dirt: Dirt and Stars, #1
Down to Dirt: Dirt and Stars, #1
Ebook357 pages4 hours

Down to Dirt: Dirt and Stars, #1

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Dirt is for losers.

"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

It's 2021, and humanity has been in space for half a century. Giant space stations are hubs of scientific and industrial research, colonies are spreading across the moon and Mars, and sixteen-year-old Mara Duval, born and raised on Tombaugh Station, is training to be part of humanity's first mission to the moons of Jupiter.

Life is full of possibilities—opportunities denied those deemed unfit for life in space. The unintelligent, the diseased, the mentally unstable, and the criminal—all who have been rejected by the Space Service—are condemned to live their lives on dirt, a planet everyone knows but no one mentions. Every spacer has relatives on dirt, family members who failed to qualify for space. Some are remembered, some are forgotten; but all are left behind.

To Mara's horror, her parents have mandated she understand her past before she can pursue her future. If she wants to follow her dream to Jupiter, she must leave the safety of space and get to know her uncle, aunt, and cousin confined to dirt. Given no choice, she submits to medical procedures and intense physical training—bracing herself to survive weeks of exile amid violence, disease, and dangers she can only imagine.

But nothing could prepare Mara for what she discovers when she goes down to dirt.

EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS the first book in this critically acclaimed, timely, young adult science fiction adventure that's sure to keep you riveted.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 21, 2016
ISBN9781622533459
Down to Dirt: Dirt and Stars, #1
Author

Kevin Killiany

I was raised in the heart of Florida in the 1950s and ’60s, growing up in a pink cinderblock house in a community hemmed by orange groves against the edge of a swamp and the shore of a lake. I didn’t read anything not assigned by a teacher until the summer of 1967, when an injury—the outcome of an idea that looked good at the time—laid me up for several weeks. In an effort to keep me sane my mother brought me armloads of books from the library, which I used to build forts… until the red-and-yellow cover of Have Space Suit, Will Travel lured me into looking inside. To my surprise, I read it—twice—and was hooked. In later years, I read and loved mysteries, fantasies, and historicals, but my reader’s heart first imprinted on YA science fiction. I left Florida for California in 1973, and wandered a bit before settling on North Carolina’s coast. Along the way I became a husband, a father (three times), and in 2013 a grandfather. I’ve had a half-dozen careers in those forty years, working in education or mental health. These days, when I’m not writing I’m teaching English at a community college. Oh, did I not mention writing? I began in 1967, right after I started reading, and—if you overlook thousands of rejections and thirty-three years of practice—was an immediate success. Since my first sale in 2000 I’ve sold three novels, a half-dozen novellas, and thirty-one short stories. I’ve also co-written or co-edited nineteen role-players’ resource and rule books. My writing is fueled by two questions: “What happened?” and “What if?” The first motivates my exploration of lesser-known history, and the second drives my speculations about how our world would be changed if we had chosen differently. From those two streams my stories flow.

Related to Down to Dirt

Titles in the series (3)

View More

Related ebooks

YA Technology For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Down to Dirt

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Down to Dirt - Kevin Killiany

    cbook_preview_excerpt.html|۲ƕ`TAdۭQHQd%KUm-I$IH zp??cdZ{'~Ps_־姧>4Cꏟ}^}_UtX}GO>UyW|_Wr柟ڵjjں )LJOg>٧~T:zӀʷcs!ch2o)xjrOsrK344HӈsKNS_cjl׃mR]b|wOẩp*CSaH]ҀY_6}hs2ޮ~?45b՘@$v#}N! ZWTxݵq1[k> |؏Y*m8hC I^\!u3lʠk[sb_i8M8ach֮1 XVK)܌\v6}-[9MVi`c s?B X5Va8pCjxd78cg"}HK4ZqmNKhF-7 W^K}P6ls ~U03uvX(0> `4l@Ä/m08K=jSz—m+~dgJȮ yوw<Ĝaؐ ,y]vi$P r6!b uu ,X)utN>=8ujgF.>eMh#>?NC*`4Ȅ5@[]/˟`qP67?WԎ Nu! 9kX2(h:Q%qi &!fCB#A<㈨ ؇Y]\I$Y s > ;>%s@R]CU>rpRu%b ssZmFXcMS$~lt `lXg'U}Z6ZnS2E)u@ifzWNRJ0ds4f " % lȫ99d #40j)iZ z-^jn;X7{|!_|Rz8AS]0O4- 1݀;`n~@^g<2esA{8$8 qq,kuF߮^\l -SOeA.M= d}5y&3D];WA4rr!ͣ P6_#&ϪT`6AE(4E[Ƚ _v+4ĸiô"4QY|1 2P2"ա(oa)+j1u9L!"O@xz I^?ŋpqUߧs DiUqKĽ 'L'jo ͨ:jea|oCA] \gmTHJxƕM5^*j)Flg~\fl9[_L>p4 kz+caBD0YܗDd=d_hir0؇ϡѱ\dMd5jQtGLb hŷvi<=A.Etp|'LH]qkn _ɆP1~yHP:kARaF&?`_ CGL)go5ݓ X1 x M|%ȣuEl He} >Aoʳ$[(-O57U:̛y4)Bʠ :~Caq=ߦ]?}{7J ڰRs)p|O _|ˍL; QB;q`؇2; | ;ќ8 MgS Cz:h'u5刱aRzd3IY!4ħqZv4+O%J+׎mDj`yƷ|i~ƾx('W-CSy!G`/&!pm5 _bjw b[`Ԧvh܈ Sb Q+ K JoD%@3Ysd P|N$lZMrLIsڎ}vOGJ=w{ oĹo"}A}l)lATCXդjZ##0#&~#.wI|JK(`>|/;ʅ>@ґ NJTlVz Yb7cLnjD>Dyyj$pC:^mN˺+!ܜVMzؼm5kΎi'e-6v=a9w} WZ iֺO |OXݣ;xˣ~o~ V,|^'Py{ l',02 0nqNFh7&Yb&F?clU88 s5 jԢ4|*BWkdTM[?vr$yCx!AoX)ڍpZ5&TvҼMGŊv;tHMjo%9ܪW`O¯gCvX+Y$ȋbGQSd=-5#2ޟ'UC00u13A6mZnڟ֡I+*@va?/"İO&@zC˳6 A<2-[03NGl([ B6tgݥ%[q>+..9 -YtQ0Dc-pKY\ lzׄaRS]tP@Xy7rxpTr^T'wZ CO^)i߈`~r u54q {FSz4鬈-);n.ԽY.H5VQ" aR^K"va״Cfݧ>I\wYy9}fygrOh. _zq r?I3QUӿuU!^К1Mth围1&/tf;M%!O"$0TT2(nɈU1µ5b:17199b$a( N1ONNt+l׊63$O9(qp;fIhNHnP#g{'$=3h0HaOڑ?Z(4 U4sH%^* X`=KQ0'.@fHc\RJǚ+)ZHn0R)@XZLZT ][bSl Ux_4*04'dPyF]iTKXN U|!\tl~?L~Ϩ:x*XHUa]2N;6JT_2*āJjZtV[kzczυ)4G %B&9R}$ ~.T㠲P8S t ߑ*8^\2z:U=nƫt/7ZB ~%oA(Zd%E *%^qg8AOghk1b*u{mgګ%1p{r-ÏAm[`9퓢J\:#`8By$O,a1!@riImk0:L0xIhZQ*w*%-~Kj\DШe'աX:`!<@N4'a"-ZLXiFlrc%4WR^ tWZVU\TLp:T3d`& cpZ4b&SJ>`BsxJZdfaN͓<PDO|k~ljb x\WP٭ A$Epr͍`~Wa^ȝ'e6<?5d:8_~" Kb\"aATAb4?b a +E Ǧt*HYɂVdE5{rxic@6RWxoom6gvR+j31`̫"%5ʹ$GǛVမf&MB)WPJd/_R k~Y_"hKدp}tCcxN&J/,g1As5P U as/2{բsowWwx ^]ƕڙE.u^=€B[@x?imz ʘ)H§>{]cǭkUߩ4vLc!Xqm}h^wT7ի~$] X+{;i 2ҹI\y}\,0e՚ʤ"(]R8@E},Oсa:}PR WÊ7/ak+TˠvS|g]pJlPm*-.rz.QX%(RIv^{%Jyuk!ar,IY"кD:QFSf3!XUT(iOm6;Oa>X ^njgQ?3[D! P~M'P^̖Jh).p0ۓf~MN4ރ;:`D޽=ӚD2=AE}Vs<Ϋݤ \ڴ3+V֪q 3-Z[hI7z :6C)a-َ{G/%fINSA@PX`o=ؚ.扴+[y==R V1a:=»?45۬©!~F6}>5B:7N ڹXJ+5Pă6K}a0J~ f0M?2>#]ym OywTn`xʟ64e9kSu_}=^NpiLXf'n;snwOf+ SrUJLX0]uH{2 TqU6R+ 4T5ƽCe? 5hiN& XtȬNYǯdc褏d%SŪ!&1i2U2JVjZhNd1ox]*6X44Þ7QQUBlƂMkUC4:E}ڥtlj: h a-c˪Ĵ=C3 ՙnsk% `R]â<7߅,Ta?uԒ畖0gI ?$K8Xgpl0qS.)O)3;V4h '􁟠X1[)xfn\'MrLNy9 3o?J˚lALSG)[H.Oƹ?U*o╨=`b{^sVݥE@;@Uv`!s/~妨߮h_v(wţ6M$N'sb4@1keI^<e:]M`,DՒv$瑠oi;9+h~K3Ő@Y; Eû?녅¯Kwqhʆ~1g-igsZy7RkuqFcg\fj"Praڣ,:K5Qn^JdtĭSLfMR Ϲe1oyN 957R;-a¨U Njy9te&_zV@K*8igeD+^?d3 ŔO71ܤ/Vmmj=*0 16 U5ڨ BЧ~f Q*ђVU!Vf3?$uC?GeR#kgZ]%DUkEpCEP{$f _Et+ okG/U<闫'E,]=H,G`ܱ3uP"+-OSlӋUX܄}xJROE/nٙ [jؒ^#X1j2-Ή s1!fT2YH dLJ>6uFJM:OJ[PXyOqqǷn#¸ ;7i,>qp{2Q},ǣ:a/ẙuwKaV1t%})Wdt\\V}V`HX*]. V phБ9T\/ƛr/߇&HgEnKod4-5]} s){\Qv Jr$dv"u4^EtZ z^~i#'13fbE{2Ho^`!4K>tWH+]| IA|+o::f?+7*j &&VQ.^M3YA剋gVjRJqW%8+-@S{lVA'EtDLV Q*M>+e>^7[TJ:l+ jضYvFf\=m ]6A)̹ "q rL 1AM9,oؠUU'crԿh־5nH K1!['7J7Acҕ xa<ռTX1{}uˀ~ ]tz1"HA0@=~*5y]r Dv Ғ8%/M>=EZ 魍 pH-Hx=}U[TI%k$*(VyQn{Ut5y{lQ'8n58fφ}x3غ8w;GPc00JWeM.61!/&G&i6h(&+V̗h[86(AI`.Y<{߂r7{r|TXMZ#W& .] ^Y2a}Q &CO_.^?$$Dׄe $03+i7ʎ}vШ H1 c=F$S64ۼkbrǼJTK/'i4_߉DZ8 Nv)  w%xP/9`HynV[\1Rǰá:K8ߩxUvw)j8v:URN@Oֽencnc;; 1-,d<rIf?࿔xIot[kDgO6g߷f(htl>~*e0>=P{?XÛF5MGOLW>"f7DPa= sdf ˅iw:O@n<;vp0( -f. hxhZl,Wv?kVT];"Q_@m1F pSltW%Tahj@JZO@5 Bw6]-K-Ձt}ߵnj-O҅W$Mk?R1,Vî\!dVLzf6߸\ާ:S˯۫Ǝ]FBφ[e{xqu?z"݀Ur^Q *OE")8_2Cdh-kku+SB.#b<\'nuqgLTWG ly{^N]8YbK g]fQ|FalwvkSvr3p6^M_*fH,npT݇;_-NJ;vu'nyugumLiDk'}vghKȞu`OCq^T)+vڐyyX2q0Jec7E8DeiB4165YXH)x68>]PN|IeƇ]E1Қ|/dtWR#~ϯ#\pNV0Iwde9ִz;VQVR2)`^:r{ki ~袻K]/{=nf{fKYzT"Ս%iZ4RHIr#1m+Ƞ~*zO }#ϛdž]zXM5)9y\1%9:LUr9m)ޕe"ts fZ,wȓ Dc
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1