What do you think?
Rate this book
Project Emergence #1
Emergence
An ancient Hopi myth says people arrived on tiny silver pods that fell from the sky.
But the truth is far more terrifying.
Two-hundred fifty-eight teens are sent from a dying Earth to a terraformed Mars as part of the Emergence Program, mankind’s last hope before solar flares finish off their planet and species. Among the brave pioneers are sixteen-year-old Joey Westen and her twin brother, Jesse.
After only minutes in space, something triggers a total ship lock down.
With the help of their roommates, the Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), Joey and Jesse stumble onto an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program.
But Joey and Jesse didn’t travel to the deepest pits of space and leave their mother behind to be picked off in a high-tech tin can. They’ll lie, hack, and even kill to survive the voyage and make it to Mars.
But the truth is far more terrifying.
Two-hundred fifty-eight teens are sent from a dying Earth to a terraformed Mars as part of the Emergence Program, mankind’s last hope before solar flares finish off their planet and species. Among the brave pioneers are sixteen-year-old Joey Westen and her twin brother, Jesse.
After only minutes in space, something triggers a total ship lock down.
With the help of their roommates, the Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), Joey and Jesse stumble onto an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program.
But Joey and Jesse didn’t travel to the deepest pits of space and leave their mother behind to be picked off in a high-tech tin can. They’ll lie, hack, and even kill to survive the voyage and make it to Mars.
300 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2017
3 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 23, 2017
I'll just be honest, I went into my reading with pretty low expectations. I mean end-of-the-world stories seem to be a dime a dozen these days.
Then I started reading.
I read the book in two days. (More than two sittings because I have a toddler and a full time job...) I could barely put it down. I was hooked and wanted to know more from page one. Some books start off so slow, you try to give them the benefit of the doubt because you know they have to do some back story and introduce the characters but Zakian does it with pizzazz!
Not only was the story fast paced and fun, with a few emotional moments mixed in for good measure, the characters seemed well developed to me. I'm not a literary expert by any means, but I wasn't bored. I connected with the characters. I liked some, but not all. There was just enough back story to keep the present interesting but leave you wanting to know more about the past.
There is a little bit of romance, but no more than you'd expect in a YA novel. Some flirting, an innocent kiss or two, and teenage angst overthinking every little action. Just the right balance. The romance doesn't over take the story... ever.
Another plus for the story was that it kept me guessing. Just when I thought I knew what would happen next another branch of the plot popped up and knocked me back into uncertainty.
Now, I'm a nerd. I love science fiction and fantasy but this story didn't have too much of either. Obviously due to the space travel and science-y stuff it fits into the science fiction category but I think any lover of good fiction would enjoy this, even if sci-fi isn't their thing.
*I received an ARC ebook copy of this title to facilitate an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Then I started reading.
I read the book in two days. (More than two sittings because I have a toddler and a full time job...) I could barely put it down. I was hooked and wanted to know more from page one. Some books start off so slow, you try to give them the benefit of the doubt because you know they have to do some back story and introduce the characters but Zakian does it with pizzazz!
Not only was the story fast paced and fun, with a few emotional moments mixed in for good measure, the characters seemed well developed to me. I'm not a literary expert by any means, but I wasn't bored. I connected with the characters. I liked some, but not all. There was just enough back story to keep the present interesting but leave you wanting to know more about the past.
There is a little bit of romance, but no more than you'd expect in a YA novel. Some flirting, an innocent kiss or two, and teenage angst overthinking every little action. Just the right balance. The romance doesn't over take the story... ever.
Another plus for the story was that it kept me guessing. Just when I thought I knew what would happen next another branch of the plot popped up and knocked me back into uncertainty.
Now, I'm a nerd. I love science fiction and fantasy but this story didn't have too much of either. Obviously due to the space travel and science-y stuff it fits into the science fiction category but I think any lover of good fiction would enjoy this, even if sci-fi isn't their thing.
*I received an ARC ebook copy of this title to facilitate an honest review. All opinions are my own.
July 11, 2017
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
I love Ms. Zakian’s work, that’s no secret, her Ashby Holler series is one of my all time favorite sets of books.
As for Project Emergence, even though it’s coming out after the Ashby series, I have a feeling it’s an earlier work. It isn’t as nuanced as her other books but that fits the story line quite well.
One of Ms. Zakian’s gifts in writing YA is that she writes teens like they really are. It’s not adult thought patterns put into supposedly teenaged heads like a lot of the YA on the market.
Project Emergence is an easy, fast read and I think it’s a great set-up story for what I feel will be a fascinating book two.
Unfortunately, I caught a number of editing errors, so feel it could’ve been edited more thoroughly, but that’s not on the author. No author can ever can catch everything in their own work, we become blind to our own words. Just part of the business of writing. You need external editors and Project Emergence needed one. Regardless of that, it’s quite a fun read with a light, enjoyable plot.
I most strongly identified with Sabrina in the book. The young adult characters are written in a way that evokes the feeling of being a youth, which is exactly what one wants when writing YA. I think teenagers and new adults are going to enjoy the story quite a bit.
The two different styles of voice in the book are each unique and well defined (Sabrina/Adult, the YA voices, all are exactly as they should be, and it’s a hard thing for an author to do, to have two such different voices in one book.)
The characters and world definitely have promise, and I look forward to book two.
I love Ms. Zakian’s work, that’s no secret, her Ashby Holler series is one of my all time favorite sets of books.
As for Project Emergence, even though it’s coming out after the Ashby series, I have a feeling it’s an earlier work. It isn’t as nuanced as her other books but that fits the story line quite well.
One of Ms. Zakian’s gifts in writing YA is that she writes teens like they really are. It’s not adult thought patterns put into supposedly teenaged heads like a lot of the YA on the market.
Project Emergence is an easy, fast read and I think it’s a great set-up story for what I feel will be a fascinating book two.
Unfortunately, I caught a number of editing errors, so feel it could’ve been edited more thoroughly, but that’s not on the author. No author can ever can catch everything in their own work, we become blind to our own words. Just part of the business of writing. You need external editors and Project Emergence needed one. Regardless of that, it’s quite a fun read with a light, enjoyable plot.
I most strongly identified with Sabrina in the book. The young adult characters are written in a way that evokes the feeling of being a youth, which is exactly what one wants when writing YA. I think teenagers and new adults are going to enjoy the story quite a bit.
The two different styles of voice in the book are each unique and well defined (Sabrina/Adult, the YA voices, all are exactly as they should be, and it’s a hard thing for an author to do, to have two such different voices in one book.)
The characters and world definitely have promise, and I look forward to book two.
March 15, 2017
I received a copy of Project Emergence from Month9Books in return for an honest review. I would say 3 1/2 stars.
This story is set in the future when solar flares are destroying the earth and causing high radiation levels. A group of 258 teenagers, all twins, are sent on a spaceship to colonize Mars. A small group of adults accompany them. There is danger on the ship as there is a faction of religious extremists who think everyone should stay on Earth. The story focuses on two sets of twins and two of the security people. The story shifts from a YA to an adult point of view which is good. It was a fast paced read and there was a lot of action and violence in the last half. I would have liked to see more world building in terms of the society on earth and involvement of more of the other young adult characters. It was in some ways reminiscent of The 100 but the story took place almost entirely on the ship. There is the potential for more promise in a second book as this one felt a bit like a lead in for a book two.
This story is set in the future when solar flares are destroying the earth and causing high radiation levels. A group of 258 teenagers, all twins, are sent on a spaceship to colonize Mars. A small group of adults accompany them. There is danger on the ship as there is a faction of religious extremists who think everyone should stay on Earth. The story focuses on two sets of twins and two of the security people. The story shifts from a YA to an adult point of view which is good. It was a fast paced read and there was a lot of action and violence in the last half. I would have liked to see more world building in terms of the society on earth and involvement of more of the other young adult characters. It was in some ways reminiscent of The 100 but the story took place almost entirely on the ship. There is the potential for more promise in a second book as this one felt a bit like a lead in for a book two.
February 23, 2022
🇨🇿
Po tom, co jsem dočetla Auroru, jsem byla na scifi vlně a tahle kniha mi padla do oka ... A byl to bohužel průser. Sice to byla samá akce, furt se tam něco dělo, ale z nějakého důvodu jsem se při čtení nehorázně nudila. Bohužel ani postavy nepřidaly knize na čtivosti. Jako většina byla zralá na odbornou pomoct, to jejich chování a jednání bylo místy až moc...
Je to takový zvláštní čtivo, snad se mi ještě nestalo, abych napsala, že to bylo akční a nepředvídatelýé a přesto jsme se nudila....
🇺🇸
I was really looking forward to reading this sci-fi adventure... But after finishing it, I was kind of disappointed in the whole book. There was not a time without some action or important discovery and it wasn't even predictable, but for some reason, I was so bored. I didn't like what was happening most of the time mine face expression was like this 🤨. Also, I didn't like the characters. They were all weird and most of them probably needed professional help, their actions were questionable at best...
Po tom, co jsem dočetla Auroru, jsem byla na scifi vlně a tahle kniha mi padla do oka ... A byl to bohužel průser. Sice to byla samá akce, furt se tam něco dělo, ale z nějakého důvodu jsem se při čtení nehorázně nudila. Bohužel ani postavy nepřidaly knize na čtivosti. Jako většina byla zralá na odbornou pomoct, to jejich chování a jednání bylo místy až moc...
Je to takový zvláštní čtivo, snad se mi ještě nestalo, abych napsala, že to bylo akční a nepředvídatelýé a přesto jsme se nudila....
🇺🇸
I was really looking forward to reading this sci-fi adventure... But after finishing it, I was kind of disappointed in the whole book. There was not a time without some action or important discovery and it wasn't even predictable, but for some reason, I was so bored. I didn't like what was happening most of the time mine face expression was like this 🤨. Also, I didn't like the characters. They were all weird and most of them probably needed professional help, their actions were questionable at best...
March 6, 2017
Two and a half stars rather than 3. "Project Emergence" by Jamie Zakian has promise. It's easy to read story with potential for the Young Adult market. It has some plot twists but over all the story is a little clunky and really could do with a good edit. The ending was a little disappointing. It's okay.
July 14, 2017
Decent. I'll say 3.5 stars. There'll probably be a sequel or two, but it didn't leave you on a huge cliffhanger at least.
February 26, 2017
[Nota: ho ricevuto questo ebook con il LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program]
L'idea alla base di questo libro è interessante: un'astronave che si dirige verso un terraformato Marte portando quasi trecento adolescenti. Probabilmente un buon editor riuscirebbe a tirarne fuori un bel libro. Ma almeno la versione che ho letto io l'editor non ce l'ha avuto, e la trama è davvero esile. Tenete conto che anche se il background del libro è fantascientifico io lo definirei più per young adults (una volta si diceva juvenile, ma poi sembra che non fosse carino...), cosa che di per sé non è nulla di male. Ma tanto per mostrare qualche buco nella trama: perché tutto il gruppo di pilotaggio ha scelto di seguire il movimento Earthisum? Come mai Sally, che è partita come un personaggio forte, man mano si perde, senza nemmeno diventare una macchietta ma proprio rimanendo monodimensionale? Com'è possibile che non ci siano comunicazioni con la Terra, almeno fino a quando Rai ne tira su una come hacker? Com'è possibile che le scialuppe possano viaggiare senza pilota, ma l'astronave no?
Oltre a tutto questo, non mi è piaciuto lo stile di scrittura di Zakian. Le rare volte in cui un paragrafo superava le quattro righe era grande festa: il testo è infatti composto quasi completamente da dialoghi, e le descrizioni sono ridotte davvero ai minimi termini. Infine il libro termina in maniera incomprensibile. Capirei un testo che lascia aperta la strada a un sequel, ma in questo caso manca proprio la fine di alcune sottotrame, e non c'è traccia del fatto. In definitiva, se il libro uscirà così non credo avrà un grande successo.
L'idea alla base di questo libro è interessante: un'astronave che si dirige verso un terraformato Marte portando quasi trecento adolescenti. Probabilmente un buon editor riuscirebbe a tirarne fuori un bel libro. Ma almeno la versione che ho letto io l'editor non ce l'ha avuto, e la trama è davvero esile. Tenete conto che anche se il background del libro è fantascientifico io lo definirei più per young adults (una volta si diceva juvenile, ma poi sembra che non fosse carino...), cosa che di per sé non è nulla di male. Ma tanto per mostrare qualche buco nella trama: perché tutto il gruppo di pilotaggio ha scelto di seguire il movimento Earthisum? Come mai Sally, che è partita come un personaggio forte, man mano si perde, senza nemmeno diventare una macchietta ma proprio rimanendo monodimensionale? Com'è possibile che non ci siano comunicazioni con la Terra, almeno fino a quando Rai ne tira su una come hacker? Com'è possibile che le scialuppe possano viaggiare senza pilota, ma l'astronave no?
Oltre a tutto questo, non mi è piaciuto lo stile di scrittura di Zakian. Le rare volte in cui un paragrafo superava le quattro righe era grande festa: il testo è infatti composto quasi completamente da dialoghi, e le descrizioni sono ridotte davvero ai minimi termini. Infine il libro termina in maniera incomprensibile. Capirei un testo che lascia aperta la strada a un sequel, ma in questo caso manca proprio la fine di alcune sottotrame, e non c'è traccia del fatto. In definitiva, se il libro uscirà così non credo avrà un grande successo.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews