I wasn't going to promote myself here but since Pete did it anyway, I'll gladly accept and say "thank you."
I wrote "Zarmina" because I got so frustrated with ordinary sci-fi in which everything is too perfect. In real life there is no gravity in space, the chances of encountering a Class-M (Earth standard) planet are between slim and none, and space aliens are highly unlikely to be either intelligent, hostile, or zombies. Specifically, I read a book by famed sci-fi author Stephen Baxter called "Proxima." That is a story of space colonization which starts out realistic and ultimately goes off the tracks when the colonists discover a "hatchway" in the planet (!) that is actually a wormhole to Earth. I read that and thought, "Rubbish!"
"Zarmina" is the opposite of the usual fantasy sci-fi. I went for realism from Day One. The planet Zarmina is real and tidally-locked with a real red dwarf star, Gliese 581. Because it's tidally-locked, one side of the planet always faces its star and is in perpetual light, much like Earth's moon always shows the same face to Earth. Scientists also believe that Zarmina is within the "habitability zone" of its star. All of this is factual - you can google it. However, what does "habitability zone" mean to human colonization? Nobody knows but my book speculates on it in the tradition of hard sci-fi. For example, I've dealt with issues such as the alien atmosphere, temperature, gravity, and the water cycle. There's even alien life, some of which is highly dangerous, but it's the kind of alien life that might actually on a planet with no seasons or even night.
Into this setting, the starship "Turing" arrives with a load of 100 colonists, who soon discover that their spaceship (built by the low bidder) doesn't have everything they need. For example, what do you mean, there are no power tools? They only have hand tools because power tools are heavy to carry aboard the spaceship, they cost more and would wear out long before the colonists could build a factory to make more of them. Then the colonists discover that the planet is lacking one thing necessary to human life. So what do they do about that? The "Turing" colonists also brought with them human error, emotions and drives. In the beginning, they have to come together to survive but as time passes, conflicts start to arise. Anger over mistakes. Sexual tensions. Greed. Murders occur, there's a grab for power and by the end of the book the colonists have been pitted against one another in outright warfare ... with a twist to that, too.
The book is about 385 pages with two maps and a list of characters and includes the science necessary to support my speculation. It's the work of over two years and has been professionally edited. You can get a sample by clicking on the link Pete provided. If this sounds intriguing to you, PM me and I will send you a FREE copy for Kindle (and there is a free Kindle app for PC if you don't own a Kindle, BTW). There's also a sequel in the works, "Battle for Zarmina" which deals with first contact -- although it's the opposite of what you might expect. That one is in draft form and will be released in the Fall.
You betcha!
