Some "The Terran Colonies" Reviews:
A good book, very well written, --John Terrel, Retired DOD Police Officer
"Death Of A Dragon" is right up there with Tom Clancy, a totally different subject and theme but extremely entertaining and well written. --Dan Long, Mathematics Professor
"The Freestakers" I hated it, because it ended way too soon, I wanted more. --David Clinton Klinge, Journeyman Electrician
"The Freestakers" Fascinating and entertaining, I loved the reality of how they staked their claims on a new planet. --Bonnie, retired real estate agent
All of his stories are good and fun to read, some are better than others but I enjoyed them all. --Linda, RN
An Excerpt of the book:
Though the planet has been mapped and surveyed from space and a ground survey crew did the preliminary work here it is still a brand new planet to humans and a very good sized one at that. All of the flora and fauna have not even been discovered or categorized, much less named and a lot of it is very strange indeed. One dangerous animal was discovered very quickly as it is very aggressive and attacked the first human it ever saw.
This is the Gore Cat, which strongly resembles the fabled Saber Tooth Tiger with the exception of forward pointing horns, which it uses to gore its victims or prey. Another problem, which was discovered quickly is the Mole Snake, which tunnels its way into nearly anything and is omnivorous, eating anything it can tear to sheds with its very nasty teeth. While it is nonpoisonous, it can still leave a nasty bite wound.
Some of the other more common 'new' representatives of native flora and fauna range from harmless, to very edible, to beautiful and some things fall in between. The Flash Bugs are harmless and pretty, when you get used to them, they resemble the lightning bug of Earth except they flash like miniature flash camera and can be very startling at first. Also harmless is the Slime Grass, it looks like a beautiful green grass carpet but you do not want to lie down on it to daydream and look at the sky. It slowly begins to excrete a noxious green slime, which is a little hard to wipe or wash off.
Wave trees are harmless and the bark can be ground fine and used to make a passable coffee, they can also be beautiful as they have large brushy tops which sway as if in a stiff breeze, even when there is no breeze. When there is a large group or forest of them, we call it a surf forest, because they all seem to wave in the same direction and resemble waves rolling up on a beach.
Then come the Near Deer, they are very tasty, like Earth venison with the difference that both bucks and does have horns and unless it is a small herd, they would rather use their horns to fight than run away. They are not nearly as meek as their Earth cousins. The pronged beaver, called that because it has a rounded flat tail, with which it pounds the ground in warning like a beaver, but this animal also has horns, does not live in water, build dams or chew on trees. It is a grazing animal and has a very marked similarity in taste to chicken.
Aquatic life has two species important to the colonists, though I am sure there are many more. These two are the whale fish, so called because of its massive size, easily as big as a humped backed whale but not mammalian, being a true fish. It is delicious and has fast become a mainstay in our colonist's diet.
The other is a fresh water variety, though it has a close relative that is of the saltwater variety it is not nearly as tasty as the fresh water fish. We called it the Thomas Cattus fish because it looks like a catfish. It is not a bottom feeder though and in fact is very aggressive, similar to a bass or a walleye or like a Tomcat. A Banshee Frog is similar in size and appearance to an Earth frog except for the large throat bladder and is harmless, unless it scares you to death. It's mating call sounds like the wail of a banshee or from a certain distance, like a woman screaming.
Another scary one, at least the first time you hear it, is the sound of a Bang pod hitting the ground. A Bang Pod tree grows its seedpods about the same size as a coconut and when the time arrives, these start dropping off and falling to the ground. When a bang pod hits the ground it literally explodes, sending its seeds far and wide to promulgate the species. It sounds nearly like a hand grenade going off. It really isn't dangerous though, unless maybe you are unfortunate enough to get hit in the eye, as the pod shell and the seeds are even softer than cotton.
Though there are many more strange varieties of flora and fauna I will only mention one more. It is kind of a blessing and a danger at the same time. We call it the Numb Thorn plant it is a small but prickly bush of thorns. It's defense mechanism against browsers like the Pronged Beaver and the Near Deer is its thorns. When stuck, the area becomes numb and if stuck by several thorns it can actually numb one into unconsciousness. The plant, although slow, actually moves to wrap around its victim and bring more thorns into range. If not pulled away from the plant, it can keep a full sized man or animal unconscious until the victim dies of thirst or starves to death. We now, carefully, harvest the plant for medicinal usage, as when boiled, purified and then diluted, the sap is an excellent local painkiller for cuts and abrasions.
Four years worth of experiments have proven some terrestrial life does well here on Farpoint, while others wan and die. Corn, potatoes, wheat rye, a variety of peppers, and most of the bean types, including soybeans thrive. Tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and many others won't germinate and grow at all or die out before reaching maturity. An interesting note is that there is a native Red Plant, which grows well, in season, and similar enough to the terrestrial tomato as to make little difference to the colonists and replaces it in the terran diet.
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