Colton Samson is a regular college student who lives in the suburbs about an hour outside of New York City. While hanging out with his friends, an unearthly event occurs with alien spaceships appearing in the skies. When these craft begin aiming their weapons in the direction of his street, Colton rushes home to find his house has been bombed and a landing party of trophy hunting aliens are marauding through the wreckage. One of Colton’s friends is mortally wounded and in fighting off the attackers Colton discovers he has a hidden force within him that is able to repel their advances. Unbeknownst to Colton, he has the cosmic energy of Solara coursing through him, an ancient mystic wisdom known as “the power of the stars”. This is revealed to him by the mysterious Rizar who tells him how there are eleven different habitable planets where humans reside, spread amongst four solar systems. These planets worship ancient prophets who existed millennia ago and on all of these planets the inhabitants are able to harness Solara. All except for Earth which has lost its use of the star power and has been given the name “The Forsaken Planet”. That Colton is able to use Solara means he is a “son of the prophets”. His mission is to resist and reverse a prophecy that predicts the end of Earth. To do so he must train the power within himself and venture spacewards to enlist with the Army of the Universal Throne. Earth’s cosmic destiny is in his hands.

Bryan Wilson’s THE FORSAKEN PLANET is a thrilling sci-fi yarn blending elements of the space opera with fantasy fiction and a touch of ancient alien mythology. Though its hero is a college student, and the book certainly works as a YA novel, it can easily be enjoyed by those who are not regular YA readers. There’s a sophistication to Wilson’s world building and a skillful juggling of familiar tropes into something that seems quite vibrant and fresh. The opening sequence is terrific. An enigmatic prologue hints at cosmic mysteries ahead before cutting to the first chapter which introduces regular guy Colton. And within a few pages he is thrown into a high energy action sequence with invading spaceships and rampant axe wielding alien hunters. It’s a breathless beginning and, for the most part, the author manages to keep up the pace and the intrigue throughout. Some of the dialogue sequences are a little stilted, a few unnecessarily wordy where characters almost trip up on exposition, but for readers engrossed in the story this minor issue will be easily ignored.

An entertaining and sophisticated space yarn/coming-of-age story where a latent super power is revealed to an everyday Earthling, Bryan Wilson’s THE FORSAKEN PLANET is a fun read that lays a solid foundation for future adventures.

~Kent Lane for IndieReader