Asteria

By David Collins

The lunar colony, Asteria, offers hope to the desperate citizens of Earth. Overpopulation, war, famine and global warming have taken humankind to the brink of catastrophe. But as the lunar colony nears completion, Carla, a young technician, is faced with the hidden truth of Asteria... and the conspiracy runs deep.

"BRILLIANT." - ARC Reviewer

"OUTSTANDING." - ARC Reviewer

"I found myself swept away into an extraordinary tale of adventure that considers the true foundation of what it means to be human." - Morgan Wright (extract from Foreword).

**BONUS CONTENT:
- Alternative Ending
- A first look at David's upcoming book: "Dragon Planet"

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Collins
• Release date: Sep 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781005341473

David Collins

David Collins is one of the UK’s most respected investigative reporters. In 2011, he became the youngest journalist in the history of the British Press Awards to win News Reporter of the Year for helping police convict the serial killer Levi Bellfield for the murder of Milly Dowler. He joined the Sunday Times as an investigative reporter in 2015, joining the Insight team. He is currently northern correspondent for the Sunday Times based in Manchester.

Book preview

FOREWORD

TO START I SHOULD PROBABLY say that I was shocked as hell when David chose me to edit Asteria. Now some of you might be laughing at my deadpan and with good reason too but there’s actually a very logical explanation for it. Before Asteria, I had only edited fantasy stories. Since I’m a fantasy author myself it made complete sense to me to only edit works in my genre. It had never crossed my mind to consider editing others. So when David- who was and is one of my greatest friends- told me that he would be trusting me with editing an upcoming work of science fiction, a genre I had absolutely no familiarity with beyond my childhood obsession with Star Wars and the John Carter novels... well, that’s enough to make any person break into a cold, nervous sweat. Plus, there was the very small, oh-so grand issue that beyond my zero sci-fi reading background, the few snippets of science fiction works from modern authors I had caught up to then... well, they hadn’t exactly made me a fan of the genre.

So a few weeks passed after David broke me the news and then one morning, there it was, on a pile, atop of my desk. Asteria. I can still hear the ominous organ music playing in the back of my head as I approached the manuscript. So I sat down, I determined myself, I started reading... and I was a goner. A complete, hopeless goner.

From the first few lines, the story managed to hook its tentacles into my skin and hold on to me all the way through. I physically couldn’t stop myself from reading until I got to the end and knew what happened to the characters. And you guys are lucky. When I started reading Asteria, David had yet to finish the last chapter so when I got to what I first thought was the end, I was kept hanging... for two whole weeks! God, I can’t tell you the amount of times I beseeched him to just send the ending chapter already because I. Simply. Had. To. Know. That’s how deeply this story had managed to hook me.

What David had put into my hands wasn’t just a sci-fi story like any other. It wasn’t just a rehashing of a tale that had been covered dozens of times before by countless other authors. Instead I found myself swept away into an extraordinary tale of adventure that considers the true foundation of what it means to be human brought forth and framed by an incredible writing style that doesn’t let you down or falter for even a second throughout the entire narrative.

David turned something I never believed possible into a passion project for me. He changed my entire ideology about the meaning of science fiction with a single work of art and transformed a reluctant (and let’s say it, somewhat prejudiced) reader of science fiction into an avid reader of science fiction. This, together with turning a non-reader into a reader, is one of the greatest things you can accomplish as a writer because it’s extremely hard to do.

It was an immense privilege to have been granted the honour of editing such a fantastic piece of work and I have no doubt that as David’s career proceeds, we’ll be seeing many more such masterpieces.

So, dear reader, don’t make the same mistake I made by generalizing. If you’re in a bookstore (virtual or physical), you’re looking at this book right now and you’re hesitant about the genre, buy it now. You won’t regret it. I promise. All tales in a genre are not created equal and though you might have had a bad reading experience with one tale in a specific genre once, there will be stories that will shatter any sort of prejudice you might have given a moment’s chance. This is one of those stories.

So quit reading this foreword already because, let’s be honest, who in their right mind wants to waste their time reading a foreword anyway when they could be reading the magical story contained within these pages instead?

Without further ado, I give to you Asteria by Mr. David Collins.

David: Take it away.

Morgan Wright

www.morganwrightbooks.com

August 2019

Acknowledgements

ASTERIA IS THE FIRST of hopefully many novels that I will publish throughout my career but my writing counts for nothing without the support and inspiration of the people who nurture my passion.

My mum - a super-mum - raising six kids single-handedly (though I think there were times when she counted me thrice, and for good reason). I apologize unreservedly for the plethora of mayhem and mischief I caused and the grey hairs that undoubtedly sprouted in my name. Thank you for your love and the belief you instilled in me that I could achieve anything I set my mind to.

My wife of twenty years, Charmaine... how do you put up with me? Always there and always supporting my endeavors... I love you. Thanks for not killing me off just yet, it gave me time to write this book! Hopefully I can persuade you to hold off a little longer - I have plans for more books.

My children: Joshua, Ezra, Elliott, Amy & Ruby... you are my inspiration (when you’re not driving me crazy).

Morgan Wright... the hardest working person I’ve ever known, a true friend and writer extraordinaire. I cannot thank you