Customer Reviews

Offworld

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Two years into a mission to Mars, and some 60-days before their scheduled return to Earth, the crew on Ares loses contact with Houston. After a near fatal landing, the four member team steps out of the shuttle to find there is no one on Earth. No one-including animals-have inhabited Earth since the very day Ares lost contact with ground control.

What should be a celebration turns into a pulse quickening adventure as they try to find the source of the disappearances. Chris, the Commander of the mission remains in charge as he leads Terry, the youngest and most dramatic astronaut, Owen, the smartest and most level-headed of the bunch, and Trisha, the only woman who is the fiesty mother hen on board. They encounter Mae-a homeless teenager-who appears to be the only one left on Earth. And what's up with the flash backs Chris keeps having related to a blackout he encountered during their mission on Mars? What of the hovering black hole the crew sees periodically that temporarily transports them to odd places? What about the fact that they all harbor secrets? The answers prove to be far more complex than the questions.

Don't be lulled when the pace slows for a page or two. That is when the action takes off like a rock catapulted from a sling shot and you will be back to chewing your nails and reading at break neck speed. I have never been a fan of Sci-Fi. The storylines are typically unbelievable-eye rolling drama at best. OffWorld has single handedly piqued my interest in Christian Sci-Fi as it could never fall into the same category as its predecessors. Believable action with a backdrop of non-stop suspense, you will understand why I state that OffWorld does for novels what The Fugitive did for the silver screen.

The biggest surprise being that I was spellbound and in tears as the pages dwindled down. There are no outright conversations about Christianity but the implied twist of circumstances leaves the reader knowing beyond a shadow of doubt what Parrish wants you to know. And what that is......will leave you contemplating long after you close the cover. A book like this doesn't cross your path often.

OffWorld is a journey for everyone. Spiritual insights can be subtle yet strong. And when you get it, you will be left with a sense that the pieces fit together in an almost poetic fashion. As for Parrish, well, I'll have to admit to really liking the guy. Between the tone of his acknowledgements, his unique writing style and imagination, he presents his work as a modern Steven Spielberg.


Cliché? No. OffWorld really does keep you on the edge of your seat and well worth your time. Although don't be surprised if once you've read the first page, life goes on hold until you close the back cover.

Robin Parrish has created another masterpiece with Offworld.

As the product description says, what do you do when you return from Mars and discover everyone is missing?

Is it The Rapture? Alien abductions? Is it all a dream?

Parrish's love of TV's LOST comes out in this novel. Not because the show is referenced by name but because there's a big question (Where is everyone?) that must be resolved and there are the characters who each have their own history which are revealed chapter-by-chapter.

Robin Parrish takes you on the hair-turning ride from the first sentence. You can't put the book down because you just have to find the answers - where in (or out of) the world did society vanish to, and what seems to be following the four surviving astronauts?

Questions abound until about halfway through. And even when you get the answers, you desperately turn the pages to find out how everything will resolve...maybe it won't.

Great book. 4 out of 5 stars!

Robin Parrish constructs a believable sci-fi adventure in his new book Offworld. Strap yourself in along with the crew of the Ares, the first astronauts to go to the planet Mars and return to Earth in the year 2033. But hang on tight as all communication with Houston is suddenly and inexplicably lost and the crew barely manages a crash landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

After that ordeal, Commander Chris Burke and his squad are badly shaken. But mangled space craft and exhausted bodies turn out to be mere hang nails as they begin to uncover why they had lost communication with Ground Control in the first place. Seems there no longer is a Ground Control. In fact, there isn't any sort of any body left on the planet! All life forms have vanished; gone without a trace. Video feed from security cameras confirm that one moment everyone is going about business as usual, and the next they have absolutely disappeared.

The only inkling of hope is that there may be an answer waiting for them in Houston, where a bright radiating light gleams on satellite maps. Thus begins a heart pounding, wide-eyed trip, more dangerous than anything outer space can dish up! I could barely catch my breath as one disaster after another overtakes this bedraggled yet very brave crew of four (plus one...I won't divulge more than that).

Mr. Parrish plows this tale through in a very straightforward manner, not needing layers from different angles of stratagem to pull it off; although there are occasional flashbacks that happen in real time. No doubt it would make a wild movie with some fantastic special effects... I had no problem seeing it as such in my minds eye. The characters are believable and heroic, causing you to care about them and cheer them on. Even the chapter names, names such as "The Smoke and Stir of this Dim Spot", and "The Equivocation of the Fiend" poetically and intriguingly urge the reader to keep turning pages.

Though not overtly Christian in substance, the plot just screams that something bigger is at stake and Someone else is ultimately in control. In the end, the Christian worldview is clarified and the reader is given resounding and thought provoking ideas to ponder. Though most of the circumstances encountered are in no way realistic (at least not in such a non-stop, let-me-come-up-for-air sequence), remember, this is science fiction and in that realm, just about anything can and does happen. You'll just be really thankful that it happens to these poor, fictional souls and not your own!

I grew up on Star Trek and the King James Version. I love Sci-fi, but most science fiction - nearly all - was anti-religion/God/Christianity and was like watching an R-rated movie written on paper. Parrish is able to spin a good science fiction tale while not falling into either the trap of being anti-Christianity or Christian campy. While his book does include a few violent acts, they are necessary to move the story along, it does not waste time on vulgarity of any sort.

The book is well written, and finely detailed. It was as if the author had traced the pathway of the book himself. He creates warm characters, and even a few unlikeable ones, while leaving few clues to what was coming. It was refreshing not to know what would happen at the end of the book after the first chapter.

Further, while the book is clean, it does not disappoint on the action. Nor does it give to the campiness that is usually associated with Christian fiction. It allows the story to be told, with God in the far distant, but does not diminish Him. As a matter of fact, a portion of the book is deeply theological - sneaking up on you in a most unexpected way.

For the science fiction fans among us, I would recommend this book.

Fresh off of his ground-breaking Dominion Trilogy, in which he tackled Comic Book styled heroes, Robin Parrish moves his thrilling action packed fiction to a more hard science fiction realm.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't Harlan Ellison or Isaac Asimov, Parrish is too pop-culture savvy to be called truly hard sci-fi, but that takes nothing away from the story.

Imagine the first manned Mission to Mars returning to Earth after years cooped up in atmospheric gear of one sort or another, with only 3 other human faces to gaze upon. These folks are ready to get back to Earth and as tight a team as they are, they're ready for some time apart. Only one problem. When hit the Terran atmosphere, they find themselves in wrapped up in an unusually spooky crash landing - one that may have ties to something that happened (or didn't?) on the red planet - and they discover that they are the only living beings on Earth.

Thus the psychological thriller begins. Forced to continue their team existence with nerves already frayed, only held together this long by the light at the end of the tunnel - the end of their journey.

Not surprisingly, the team finds themselves at odds with each other and as they fight to determine just what happened to the rest of the 6-Billion population, situations force them to learn more about themselves and each other than they garnered from the Mars Mission.

Parrish writes with a dramatic flair and a cinematic sense unrivaled in speculative fiction these days - reminiscent of his love of comics, movies and TV, Parrish manages to plot out, in startling detail, fight, chase and action scenes worthy of John Woo or the Wachowski (Matrix) Brothers. This is the alternate universe to ABC's short-lived Defying Gravity - with better writing. It's no wonder producers are sniffing around the book - here's hoping Parrish won't let them ruin it the way they did with Dekker's Thr3e.

Although there were a couple times where the exposition bogged down the action - most significantly, the explanation of what did happen - and a couple of convenient character twists, Parrish keeps things moving throughout the book and readers will be hard-pressed to stop enjoying escape of the well-told story to get back to their "real" lives. And probably the best part of this story - it's all told in one shot - no waiting 12-14 months for the next part of the trilogy.

All told, Parrish makes the transition from comic storytelling to science fiction storytelling virtually seamlessly and Offworld is another book to treasure on your shelf (when you're not rereading it to discover something you may have missed)

Offworld has a great premise which drew me into buying it: A group of Astronaughts come home to every living thing missing.
I thought I was getting a great Sci-Fi-Mystery story, which I did until the last chapters. The story progressed well and the character develpoment was good. But the ending was cheap.

This is not a spoiler but I cannot like nor accept a Sci-Fi book with a evangelical ending! I though I was getting a true Sci-Fi book but instead I got a lame ending involving the authors religious beliefs. This is the precise reason I dont read the Twilight series, I dont want someone pushing his or her religion in my face through story telling.

I would like to say that Robin Parrish is my new favorite author. The Dominion Trilogy was fantastic, to say the least, and this latest story proves that Parrish is here to stay. I don't know how this guy is not better-known.

I'm not going to rehash the plot as I see that others have already outlined it pretty well. When I first started reading it, I thought, "Oh, no, not another 'space gone wrong' book". That idea was quickly dispelled and I was immersed in the tale of these astronauts, their hidden secrets, and the surprising twist on the mass-disappearance idea. I was completely riveted to every page, and I thought the entire book was flawless. The ending was perfect. I almost wish there were some loose ends so there could be a sequel, but this book was so perfect that to add on to it may diminish it somehow. I'm not usually a sci-fi fan, so I think that whether you are or not you will still enjoy this gripping story.

As for those who would say this book isn't "Christian" enough, I would say that only reading "Christian" books is like only having "Christian" friends. I don't read books with sex or foul language in them, and there's none of that in here, but if you feel the need to be evangelized with every book you read, you might want to stick to the Bible.

When I first picked this book up, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. It's a self-declared "sci-fi" book, and I'm not too keen on "sci-fi". But one chapter into it, and I was hooked.

Parrish has an incredible talent for writing and drawing the reader into the story. Without over-writing, Parrish manages to make it possible for the reader to "be there", taking part of the story as it unfolds.

I found myself thinking multiple times that this book should be made into a movie. It holds the reader on the edge of his/her seat from the opening chapter to the last page.

Excerpt from the back of the book: "Commander Christopher Burke and his crew are humanity's greatest explorers. They've finished their mission on the red dirt of Mars and now they just want to get back to Earth. To see friends, family, and loved ones. To be home. But even with communication to ground control cut and a perilous landing, nothing could prepare the crew for what they discover when they step foot back on planet Earth."

A great story with great writing. This is a must read for all suspense lovers!

A team of four people take a trip to Mars in the year 2031, they arrive back to earth in the year 2033.

One problem...

Everyone and everything on earth has disappeared. Where have they gone?

This is the premise of Robin Parrish's book "Offworld". The book is jam packed with suspense, science, and lots of thrill rides and action. I could see the scenes in my mind rolling as if watching a film.
It was that good!

There were some themes in the book that reminded me of what Christ has done for us. The beauty of this work is that the book was straight action, and built upon the elasticity of friendships- without being overtly obvious that it is a Christian work. Yet, in my opinion the issue of sacrifice and evil was present all throughout and I recommend this book for everyone.

I will definitely read more of Parrish's works. He is a gifted writer.

Offworld by Robin Parrish is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller that simply begs for big screen treatment. A group of four astronauts: Chris, Trisha, Terry, and Owen have been on a mission to Mars for the past twenty-nine months. Two months before they are due to return home, they lose contact with NASA, and end up returning home blind, hoping that it is simply a problem with their equipment. They are shocked by what they find on the return home: the earth is empty, all humans and animals are gone and have been since that fateful day two months ago. Determining that their mission is not at an end, they set out to discover the cause of a mysterious light radiating from Houston and find that they may not be the only ones left alive after all. Hollywood, listen up! Transformers 2, we did not need;Offworld NEEDS to be made into a movie! Parrish writes so cinematically , every scene comes to life. The action rips across the pages, and the characters would make stars of the actors in the roles. Parrish keeps the suspense taut by giving more questions than answers and keeping the characters constantly on the run for their lives. The chase scenes are phenomenal, especially Trisha's leap with two jeeps across the sky into a skyscraper. On the screen, it's the kind of scene that would earn a cheer of awe from the crowd, on the page, it made my jaw drop and I wanted to share it with someone else. Parrish is a writer I will definitely be keeping my eye on in the future!