Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The God that Failed #1

The Patriots of Mars

Rate this book
In 2231, twenty-five billion people walk the Earth. Few lack basic food and shelter. Energy is cheap and abundant. A vast army of 'bots serves our every need. And those who can afford to do so might live forever. To some, it is a golden age.

But Earth is devoid of resources, now harvested on or around Mars. Nations are ruled from above by governments owned by enormous transnats, and from below by powerful street gangs who have largely usurped the police.

Quietly, the watchful Simulated Intelligence called MOM enables our very existence. But our utter dependence on her makes her widely feared.

This world is not for everyone. A fifth of the world's population has withdrawn into the drug Nirvana, while millions more have chosen Martian exile. And a phantom group called 'The Patriots of Mars' has committed an act of rebellion that stands the world on its ear.

Josh Reynolds, a Martian-born teen with a secret, is trying to change his life when he gets caught up in the wake of the Patriots' insurrection. As he struggles to both find and save himself, Josh encounters a discredited prophesy and begins to realize that the change he had hoped for could become something more far-reaching than anyone had imagined.

423 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2016

6 people are currently reading
21 people want to read

About the author

Jeff Faria

1 book28 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (20%)
4 stars
8 (32%)
3 stars
10 (40%)
2 stars
1 (4%)
1 star
1 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Dianne.
6,815 reviews632 followers
October 11, 2016
It isn’t that far off, a day when the inhabitants of Earth universally enjoy the luxury of good food, shelter and have an almost endless supply of affordable energy. Is it possible that all of the rhetoric we have heard for decades has come to pass? Is it possible that the doom and gloom predicted for Earth’s future will not come to pass? Sound almost Utopian? You know what they say, if it sounds too good to be true…it probably is. Truth is, Earth HAS been sucked dry by humanity and for those who toil night and day in the mines of Mars, those who live and die laboring to provide these amenities for Earth, it is only a dream.

Mars is a dangerous place, tis existence tenuous at best as corporations rule governments, and gangs rule the streets. The almighty dollar rules overall and profit is the great Messiah, meaning those Martian-born humans that work the mines are expendable and safety is a joke. It is here, after a cave in where few survived that one young man has the opportunity to become the name that launched a rebellion against the big machines of business. Names have power and change needs the power of hope.

Josh gets caught up in the insurrection of The Patriots of Mars, and here is where he will become a man with a mission to fulfill.

Jeff Faria’s The Patriots of Mars is more than a tale of science fiction or a Space Opera, it is a story of humans regaining human dignity at any cost. It is the story of a group of rebels thought to be myths who try to rise up against big business, bug government and the rules that hold them captive. Follow his story that begins deep under the soil of Mars and will reverberate to the very shallow roots of Earth. Intriguing, full of tension, this futuristic tale may hold more truth than fancy as Jeff Fariat draws his bleak world with bold strokes and populates it with unlikely heroes, power crazy villains and the human spirit that longs to be free.

I received this copy from Jeff Faria in exchange for my honest review.

Series: The God That Failed - Book 1
Publisher: Jeff Faria Communications (August 18, 2016)
Publication Date: August 18, 2016
Genre: Scifi | Space Opera
Print Length: 424 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Profile Image for Hobart.
2,732 reviews87 followers
November 22, 2016
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
"...All change, all worthwhile human change, comes from the common man. It is never handed down to us from our betters. My goal is to free the common man to effect that change. Sometimes that means enabling him to have a place of his own on Mars. Sometimes it means evening the odds between a nation that can afford War-bots and one that can’t. But as far as trying to figure out who the good guys are, I gave that up a long time ago. That’s a road to nowhere. Don’t go looking for heroes, Josh. You’ll never find one."


I distinctly remember looking at the progress meter on this at 15% and groaning -- it was well interesting, well-written, but I didn't care about any of the characters or the story, and by 15% I should at least have started to get invested in something. I don't say this to beat up on Faria, but to encourage patience in his readers. Because by somewhere in the 20-30% I was glad I stuck with it.

Basically, there's a pretty corrupt government on Earth and a few very powerful transnational corporations (and one that's even more so) who control a small population of miners and other laborers on Mars. Some of those on Mars start to get ideas about self-determination, self-government and whatnot. Throw in a kid who may or may not be having some religious visions that put him right in trouble's way. Tying all of these together is a combination Internet/Simulated Intelligence enabling and supporting communications, and just about everything else in their lives. At some point the kid and some of these people on Mars get together and work toward similar ends -- and that's when everything gets weird.

Faria spends a lot of time setting his dominoes up before knocking them over -- and you'll end up not seeing exactly all the designs he had in mind. Two of the biggest are pretty apparent, but I think he wants you to see those events coming, so that you're smarter than the characters who don't understand their circumstances. It's the ideas floating around these events -- both leading up to them and what comes up in reaction to the various events of the novel that got and kept me interested in this book.

The science fiction part of this is well-done: the mines (why does everyone mine Mars?); the various robots; the Mad Max-ish desert areas of Mars; the political/corporate powers -- even the detail about the ways they messed with the moons of mars to help land ships there -- I ate all that up.

My major criticism is the female characters -- there are 3 of them: Josh's mom, Emily, and Emily's mom (who really is just a name for most of the book until she finally shows up). Note that two of those are defined only in terms of their relation to someone (Josh's mom has a name, I'm pretty sure, but it didn't stick with me). You could make the case that Emily is really the only female in the cast, and that's just not right.

I'm not going to get deeper on any of the characters, because at this point, they really don't matter that much -- I think that may change, but let's let my lack of description of them sum up my lack of investment with them.

I'm not sure I cared that much about any of the characters in the end, really. But I want to know what happens to this world -- well, worlds: Earth and Mars -- and the societies represented next. It reminds me of the early Foundation novels that way, you don't get that invested in any of the people, but man, you've gotta find out what happens next. This feels like the beginning of a trilogy -- and I'm in for the long haul.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this novel by the author in exchange for this post. I really appreciate it.
Profile Image for Lynn Worton.
869 reviews31 followers
October 10, 2016
I received a complimentary book from the author in return for an honest review.

This is the first book in a new science fiction series.

Josh Reynolds is a wonderful character. He is a young man of seventeen who was born and lives in a colony on Mars, and works in one of the mines that supplies Earth with resources that have been long depleted on that planet. He was also born with a special ability: He has visions and speaks to the Guide, who is a deity or some kind of spirit that helps him when he's in danger or in need of assistance. When a mine accident is triggered by sabotage, Josh finds himself in the midst of an uprising by The Patriots of Mars, a group of rebels determined to break ties with Earth. Or are they? Things are not all they seem and Josh is thrown into a dangerous adventure that could change the face of Mars forever.

This is a book that I struggled to get into at first. However, as the story unraveled, I found myself completely hooked. The book is set in the future, where man has conquered the colonisation of Mars and are mining it for its resources. Everything is overseen (on Earth and on Mars) by MOM, an AI system that keeps things running smoothly. As I was reading this book I kept thinking of the movie I, Robot with Will Smith. Though this book has similarities, there are some major differences too. I was also intrigued with the different characters. I liked meeting Josh's friends: Emily, who is like a sister to Josh though they are not related, Kat is Josh's best friend and John is a big softy though most people are intimidated by his size. I think my favourite character has to be Elvis though, as he is very outgoing and quirky. There are also a few other characters that are brought in, though I struggled to figure out where they fit in with the tale. However, they all came alive on the page.

The story had several different plots and I was unsure as to where it was going. There's several different themes: friendship, politics (both Earthly and Martian) and robots seeking autonomous freedom for their own identity. However, by the time I reached the end, most of the sub plots had come together and I had a bit of an "A-ha!" moment. There are several twists that I didn't see coming and enjoyed the Bazaar scene where Josh and Lowrie meets a slave trader called Ugato, as well as the Steampunk Samurai fight scene with Elvis for an upcoming and brand new TV game show. Josh's destiny is still evolving by the end of the book and his character is growing, so there are several unanswered questions which, I hope, may be revealed in the second book, Rise Of The Technorati. I was, however, intrigued with the Guide aspect of the story as it gave it a spiritual feel. I am not sure what is in store for Josh in the future, but am looking forward to finding out. Although this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger as such, it is set up to begin the second story.

This is Jeff Faria's debut novel. I really enjoyed his writing style, which is fast paced and entertaining. However, I felt that there were too many things happening plot-wise and his story didn't flow as well as it could have done. Nevertheless, I will follow his career with interest.

Although there is no sexual content or bad language, I do not recommend this to younger readers (under 16) as I am not sure if they would understand it properly. I do, however, recommend this book to older teens and adults who love YA science fiction and/or space opera genres. - Lynn Worton
30 reviews21 followers
September 16, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. It is a creative and a wonderfully written book.. It was quite descriptive which gave a great sense of the layout.

The book follows a number of different characters after the Patriots rebellion. So it took a while to get to know them all. In the beginning it definitely felt like they were not connected but eventually showed how they were all connected. I really the sections with Josh and his friends and felt they had a great balance together.

This book had you guessing through the whole book, taking surprising turns. It had you guessing who are the Patriots, not revelling who they were until the end. While I thought in a couple of places I felt the pace was a little slow. Overall I really loved this book and cannot wait to read book 2!!
14 reviews
September 1, 2016
I just finished the book and loved it! It was creative, intelligent, engaging, and just good storytelling. At the moment my favorite quote is, 'Politics is about picking up the trash.', but I'm sure it will be something else on the second read. Jeff Faria really knocked it out of the park with this five-star book that, in my opinion, can hold it's own with "The Harry Potter" series. Introduce yourself to Josh Reynolds and his friends, both man and machine, TODAY. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
Profile Image for Vanessa Wester.
Author 20 books169 followers
January 3, 2017
SciFi and fun... Well written and descriptive, even though slightly confusing at times.

The end left me wanting. I would have preferred some kind of solid conclusion.

Either way, interesting plot with great characters.

*I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review*
Profile Image for E.R. Harding.
Author 3 books19 followers
March 21, 2017
Unusually good characters. I want more...
Profile Image for Jim.
1,229 reviews50 followers
November 21, 2016
This wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t very inspiring or interesting! The story is about Mars and it’s about a group of young kids who are trying to grow up and it’s about Androids who want to think for themselves. Ok, that’s the whole story. You can stop reading now.

Well, actually, there’s more to it than that, but I’m not so sure you’ll want to stick with the entire book. It’s got a lot of political stuff going on. Mostly it’s about who controls who. Mars has been settled. Mostly by criminals from Earth that Earth doesn’t want. They call their place New Australia and they mostly live underground. Then theirs the Outliers who live away from the normal Mars domes because they can’t stand government control. And then, there’s the Homesteaders, which seem to be very few, but one of the main characters, Lowrie, Is one. He lives on the surface of Mars outside the domes also. Living outside on the surface of Mars is against the law. But, no one care anyway, so they don’t do much about it.

Mars is ran by Earth. Earth sends all the needed supplies and stuff to Mars so Mars is heavily dependent on Earth. Earth on the other hand, is using Mars to get at it’s rich mineral deposits. Most workers on Mars work for the mines. The mines are not the safest places in the world and they have cave ins when Mars has earthquakes, er, ah, marsquakes. This is where you meet the group of kids, who are miners, and find out they are not exactly happy to be working the mines, but that’s how you’re supposed to get rich on Mars and go back to Earth wealthy. Josh is their reluctant leader. I don’t know how old these “kids” are, but they seem to be in their late teens, I think. Anyway, they just survived a mine collapse, trapping them and other miners in the mine. Josh finds a way out using something he calls the “Guide”. It comes to him in his dreams and tells him things that he should do. This was how he was able to find a way out of the collapsed mine; the “Guide” had shown him a way out in a dream.

How does this tie into the “Patriots of Mars”? Well, the Patriots seem to be a separate group that stage a demonstration by capturing on of the supply ships coming from Earth. They some how overpower the small crew and then dump all the cargo into space. It will eventually all fall to Mars, scattered everywhere. Their demands are to have a free Mars, with it’s own government and not be bound to Earth. It turns out the Patriots aren’t what they appear to be.

So this is some of the story. Most Mars born want to government themselves and so do those who have come from Earth for whatever reason. But, it doesn’t seem as though anyone wants to do anything about it. But when the Patriots show up, Earth has to do something or it could get out of control. They decided to send a ship with military aboard to refresh the Mars occupants about who is in charge. Those on Mars who want freedom, don’t want the military to land. How does Josh and his group get involved? Read the book. Just don’t get excited about it.

There seems to be another book coming, but I’m not sure I’ll read it. There doesn’t seem to any compelling reason to do so.
Profile Image for Z.A. Mackic.
207 reviews24 followers
October 17, 2016
I received a complimentary book from the author in return for an honest review.

(No spoilers)
I have to say that I liked the story. The author actually shares my views on world values, I like how he managed to avoid making his teenage character into Mary Sue. I like the plot twist he made to keep his teenage character normal.
So I liked the story when I was able to concentrate on following it. See, I'm a member of writers critique group for years, which makes easy for me to see mistakes in writing. If I got this book to review before author published it, I would end up pointing out instances of telling, especially in the beginning. And advised the author to fix it before publishing.
Sadly, all those telling instances make the story confusing. Particularly in the beginning, because I, as a reader, did not know most of the times what is going on, what is the setting, why the characters are doing what they are doing. Reading the beginning felt like this book is second or third in series, and that I'm missing necessary knowledge to follow the story. Honestly, I soldered through because I got a free book and wished to help an indie author.
The story later gets better, and the fast pace with telling is more appropriate, especially because finally I read some of the explanations of the abbreviations he used at the beginning. Although I have to repeat, I would like more showing, where an author is not telling me what is going on with the character, but showing it instead.
For the genre, yes, it is science fiction. However, there are few instances where an author is diverging from science and even introducing supernatural elements into the story.
2 reviews
September 17, 2016
I always like to find new scifi authors and the reviews were good so I was excited about this. But it was so bad, it was unreadable. Threads don't come together, the dystopia makes no sense, the writing is choppy AF. Next time I'll just bang two garbage can lids together next to my head. Kindle, I want my $2.99 back.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.