Echelon's End: Last Generation [Paperback]

E. Dunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 2002

The year is 6752, A.T. and Earth is but a memory to its space faring descendants. The urbane beings of The System embark on a test-colonization mission to a far off solar group called Mira. The AST [Aidennia-System Transport] Saarien’s flight path is ended abruptly and the colonizing supership explodes under a hail from Tauron Starhounds; a century of peace with the Tauron Empire is fractured. Six Aidennian survivors jettison in a terra-forming conestoga Pioneer Pod. Now, a young male echelon couple and their fellow crewmembers must deal with a reality in which their peaceful reality is shattered by war and prejudice. The only solace appears in the form of an unknown, arid planet in a ternary star group. Upon the Pioneer Pod Four’s descent into the planet’s atmosphere, a defense planetary shield is activated and causes the Pod 4 to crash land in an ancient, dried-up seabed. This sets the Aidennians on a jarring adventure where survival is a game of chance with the life forces of the Universe.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Originally from the Midwest, transplanted to the Northeast, and now residing in the Southeast, E. Robert Dunn has been involved in the writing arena since the tender age of 14. First submitting storyline ideas to such science fiction shows as Space: 1999, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. E. Robert now has his own science fiction thriller series entitled Echelon’s End; he has also co-written a situation melo-comedic play entitled: LipSync (participant in the 2002 Spotlight Theater Festival in Manhattan). E. Robert’s writing talents also stretch into the fields of Health & Fitness as well, having been published in several clinical newletters, newspapers, and magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: Writers Club Press (July 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595224687
• ISBN-13: 978-0595224685
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,139,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in the Midwest, raised in the Northeast, E. Robert Dunn began writing at the age of 14 and continued through his higher education in the Southeast where he currently resides. In addition to penning the science fiction series "Echelon's End", E. Robert has also written two off-Broadway plays, "LipSync" and "A Dragged Out Haunting", and penned a local play entitled "VOiCES". Just last year, E. Robert was a contributing writer to the online STAR TREK: Odyssey's Season One Finale webisode [featured in STARLOG Magazine, January 2008, "Beyond Hidden Frontiers", p.89]. Besides being a produced playwright and published author, E. Robert has had articles printed in local newspapers as well as medical newsletters. He has also graced many a stage by his given name: Eston Dunn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lost in Space meets Star Trek, June 25, 2005

By 

Kernos (Terra) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Echelon's End: Last Generation (Paperback)

with a dash of Battlestar Gallactica... This novel reads like a TV series novelization and one wonders if it were re-worked from screen plays. There are certainly some interesting ideas to be explored, such as the concept of The Echelon and Ka-Tela (Pon Farr). But, much of the concepts have been borrowed from TV Sci-Fi. A family crash-lands on an inhospitable planet, in a saucer-shaped space craft after encountering a number of 'un-survivable' disasters, helped along by a robot. All that is missing is a Dr. Smith. It is filled with technospeak much borrowed directly from Star Trek, with shield mutations, replicators, nucleogenic particles, compact computer triosolinear chips, an Outer Rim Barrier and techcoders (tricorders for the uninitiated). When Moela is in her Menstruation Coma (capitals sic), last resort measures to save her life include, "Synaptic response falling, BP dropping," she [Dara her mom which I kept reading as Data] called out in frustration. "The inoprovaline wasn't effective." Nor was direct synaptic stimulation. That drug was lifted directly from the Star Trek Universe, even spelled the same and its use a death sentence. Only her brother, Retho, could save her by what could only have been a Vulcan mind meld. I wonder if he had pointed ears? I could forgive all this if the book had been constructed as a novel rather than a screenplay, properly edited and proof-read (numerous typos make reading difficult, as do scene switches without warning). I find all this unfortunate for a clearly pro-Gay 'novel. (Though I would object to the concept of active-passive roles as being stereoypical, as I find most of us to be versatile) Try "Dryland's End" instead, it is a far superior.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will not put it down..., September 27, 2002

By 

Nathan Klarfeld (Wilton Manors, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echelon's End: Last Generation (Paperback)

Robert Dunn leaves other science fiction writers in the dust with this first novel. What sets this apart from the ho-hum galactic jargon of usual sci-fi is that this thriller is truly character driven. The reader really wants to know what is happening to the people, on an emotional level, not just what death ray or explosion will occur next. This is done by Dunn's creation of a world, which is fantasy, but in some ways plausible. On that platform the reader is taken on a journey by the author that keeps you turning the page and finally hoping there is a sequel to find out what happens to our gallant space heroes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a scifi book about "real" people in the future!, December 23, 2003

By 

Bob King (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echelon's End: Last Generation (Paperback)

I've been a science fiction fan since my adolescence and through it all, the "reality" of all people in the future hasn't been addressed. E. Robert Dunn has courageously "gone where no other mainstream scifi author has gone" -- into the realm of having gay/lesbian [Echelon]characters presented in a non-erotic storyline. Book 1: Last Generation portrays the lives of all peoples in a "realistic" future where human development has reached a level where an individual's merit(s) rank their role in society and not their sexuality. Of course, this Utopia created by the Echelon caste isn't without drama, enter the Tauron -- a saurian, procreation-driven race bent on taking the Echelon's paradise by force by ambushing the colony probeship AST Saarien on its madien voyage out-System with a terra-forming settler crew. The battle begins and the survivors' ride only gets bumper and more thrilling as the pages turn! Looking forward to seeing how Book 2 handles a lot of the mysteries and situations Book 1 initiates!