Adam lived an idyllic life, growing up in the rural United States. He showed promise as a student and held a fleeting dream throughout his existence that he would one day prove himself enough to travel to the stars, see the universe, leave footprints on the Martian soil and solve the greatest mysteries ever presented to mankind.
But every breath of his life has been a lie.
Adam has been grown in a machine on board a research station orbiting Saturn and designed to be its perfect operator. Had the experiment succeeded, he would have thought he launched from Earth as an astronaut and woken up on the far side never the wiser. Thanks to a catastrophic accident, he has arisen years early, without the training and development that would have allowed him to thrive and accept the calling.
Adam has been provided the opportunity to live his greatest dream, although the circumstances are merely an illusion. As the arbiter of humanity's most ambitious research mission in history, will Adam accept his fate, strive against those who stole his early years of innocence, or fail in a fleeting attempt at survival, unprepared and alone in the crushing unforgiving wilderness of deep space?
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Acclaim for Adam's Rings
Christian Sia for Reader's Favorite: 5 Stars!
I just discovered this author and he surprised me in many ways. Matthew D. White’s novel can make someone who doesn’t love science fiction develop a love for it. The story starts with a powerful premise and a predicament that becomes a crisis for the young protagonist. The reader immediately develops an attachment for the young man because his loneliness is aching and his confusion so strong. The prose is simple and exquisitely beautiful. The vividness in description allows readers clear and beautiful images of the setting, plunging them into the mindscapes of the characters, and the clear and focused capturing of scenes sets this novel apart. Adam's Rings is filled with unusual twists and the plot points are designed to keep the reader moving from one gripping page to the next. This is a page-turner well worth five stars.
Peggy Jo Wipf for Reader's Favorite: 5 Stars!
Matthew D. White gives an amazing amount of detail of space life. His love for space and in-depth study is clear in Adam’s Rings. This novel will teach the average reader much about the planet Saturn. Through genetically triggered gestation, the author offers a solution to the problems of too many years in space and putting astronauts to sleep until they reach their destination. He is very detailed and original in his writing. Science fiction readers will love this novel. I am sure others would love to see this in a movie since it presents a solution for space travel, but also of forming life in space colonies. I loved the ending. It began with an insecure youth and ended with a confident captain doing what was right for the people.
Caitlin Lyle Farley for Reader's Favorite: 5 Stars!
The hostile environment of space is inescapable in Adam's Rings by Matthew D. White. The concept of being alone on a space station is nerve-wracking enough but when things go wrong, they go very wrong. This is partly what makes the opening of Adam’s Rings so gripping as he struggles to escape from danger with nothing but the Draco AI’s voice to guide him. This makes for a subtler form of tension than the presence of hostile aliens, but I found it far more heart-racing. It’s also satisfying to read about a character encountering danger in the pursuit of scientific exploration. White presents an interesting philosophical concept in terms of how our experiences shape us, and what that means when those memories are contrived. The mental stresses of loneliness and trauma also feature strongly in this novel.
