The Red Frontier

The Red Tomorrow, Book 1

By: Joseph Cruz

Narrated by: John Dzwonkowski

Raymond Redmin, a doctor from the 21st century, suddenly awakens aboard a malfunctioning spaceship. He has no recollection of how or why he ended up here, hundreds of years in the future, crashing down to the planet Mars. It has apparently been 185 years since the Earth went "silent." The colonists of Mars have since created their own society. After centuries of war, the planet is now ruled by the utopian Zeltan Kingdom, a race of genetically engineered superhumans. However, all of the disparate factions of the planet are coming to descend upon the crash site of Raymond's ship. Although his sudden appearance may yield some answers as to what has happened to Earth, war threatens to engulf the nearby peaceful settlement town of Remnant on the red deserts of the Frontier.

Raymond, along with a fearless young woman of the Frontier, noble Zeltan supersoldiers, benevolent androids, a quick-drawing cowboy, and faithful robotic fox companion, they set off on a harrowing journey to prevent the ship's technology from falling into the wrong hands. Encountering menacing cyborg pirates, experimental hordes of the undead, savage evolved beasts of a treacherous dark forest, and giant robotic humanoid battle suits called exo-mechs, these heroes are the last hope for the red tomorrow...

©2023 Joseph Cruz (P)2024 Joseph Cruz

Great sci fi adventure

I don't usually read sci-fi, but this sounded like an intriguing listen for me! It starts off with Raymond Redmin finding out he is dying from cancer in the present. His wife and he decide to start experimental treatments where he is frozen cryogenically. After longer and longer spans being frozen, he wakes up to what sounds like war but is put back to sleep. The next time he is woken, he is on a space ship over Mars and it has been 200 years. The spaceship is being shot at and it crashes taking them to the surface of Mars. There are several different storylines that all eventually diverge. Kira, from the frontier, goes in search of a legendary healer when she is abducted by the same group as Raymond. Meanwhile, soldiers from the city are sent out in search of a criminal hiding in the forest when they see the crash. Everyone wants to get their hands on the equipment from the crash site.
This book has a little bit of everything from a western type town on the frontier, cybernetic enhanced humans, genetically perfected humans and Raymond a man from the past. There is lots of action and adventure in this book. I like how the story is told from several perspectives and they all converge into one at the end. And just when I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore - I was!! I have to say I didn’t see what happened at the end coming on 2 different scenarios!
I listened to this on audible and the narrator was not my favorite (like listening to a cross between Casey Casum and George Carlin for those of us old enough to know those names), but after awhile I did get used to it and it didn’t take away from the story.

An enjoyable, unique 4 1/2 star read

The Red Frontier: Book 1 of The Red Tomorrow Series , my first read from author Joseph Cruz in I hope will be a fantastic series. A 14-hour 58-minute/465-page Colonization Science Fiction read. “I received an Audible copy and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. The blurb shows a somewhat unique storyline that fails to deliver in its uniqueness, never-the-less an excellent read/listen. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Great plot twist at the end. Just keep reading 😊

I don’t usually enjoy sci-fi and I had a hard time getting into the book at first because of that. Usually I listen to books while doing a million other things. It was hard to focus on at first while multitasking because once Raymond gets to Mars there’s a lot going on and it’s easy to miss things that may be important.
After diving back in (a few months later) I really enjoyed it. The world building was great. It had great characters with a lot of growth to the key characters. There’s betrayal, plot twists, fighting, and adventure all wrapped into a great story. I wish Voltaire hadn’t died because I love him. The ending left a lot to look forward to the next book.
As for narration- this type of narration isn’t something I’m used to but I enjoyed most of it. Some parts were difficult to hear over background music and didn’t care for the echo effects but overall it was great. Will be adding a physical copy for me to pretend like I’ll eventually have time to read it. 😊

Story ok

This story premise is interesting. I'd be interested to read it in book form. I found the narrator impossible to listen to. Definitely listen to the sample on this one. That voice never gets any easier to hear.

Good story

This is an interesting and enjoyable story that has some good characters but just doesn’t hit the spot for me but it was an enjoyable listen