{"id":6106,"date":"2026-04-17T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6106"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:11:00","slug":"first-step-by-randy-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6106","title":{"rendered":"First Step by Randy Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"

A historic feat on an extrasolar planet soon turns chaotic in this conspiracy-fueled sci-fi page-turner<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

Randy Brown\u2019s First Step<\/em> is the much-awaited sequel to his earlier work, First<\/em>, which begins with a SpaceFirst astronaut, Eve, about to become the first human to step on Primis, an extrasolar planet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remembering Neil Armstrong, of course she is fretting over what her first words should be. This moment of triumph is however short-lived due to a sudden, violent electrical storm that forces her to order an emergency jump for her ship and those of her crewmates, Colt and Guion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the lightning surge causes a catastrophic malfunction, and instead of jumping to a safe orbit, the three ships materialize deep in an ocean on Primis. Somehow Guion\u2019s EMD (Electromagnetic Drive) is the only one still functioning, which allows him to jump back to Earth for help, leaving Eve and Colt stranded.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is happening, Ray\u2014the AI who accompanied astronaut Lewis on the mission to Proxima Centauri in the previous book\u2014is tasked by SpaceFirst\u2019s billionaire founder, Chris, to investigate why another AI, Ares, turned rogue and tried to kill Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given unrestricted access to global networks, he tries to connect to the dormant Ares to get the answers he needs when he is ambushed and turned into a new vessel for Ares\u2019s consciousness. Meanwhile, the federal government acting on a dubious court order from an environmental group, grounds all SpaceFirst flights, stalling Guion\u2019s efforts to rescue his crewmates.<\/p>\n

Pivoting from a survival thriller on an alien planet to a multi-layered conspiracy thriller back on Earth, Brown expands the universe of near-future space exploration. The book alternates between Eve\u2019s perspective and Ray\u2019s while balancing the physical struggle for survival with a mental battle against political and corporate corruption. Eve\u2019s physical and mental fortitude is well-established early on, \u201cThe moment had hit me hard, even though I\u2019d tried to downplay it in my head. No human had ever set foot on a surface other than Earth, except for the Moon and Mars. The initial step onto the soil of an alien world light years from home belonged to me,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> while Ray is portrayed as distinctive and witty in a way that feels authentic.<\/p>\n

With nearly every chapter ending on a hook or a cliffhanger, First Step<\/em> not only grabs your attention with its consistently developing narrative but keeps it. Even though it can occasionally feel formulaic, this structure works well in harkening a reader\u2019s return to the page and keeping their interest piqued as the plot builds on itself.<\/p>\n

There are times when things are over-explained, though, particularly regarding technology, and characters often tell each other things they should already know for the benefit of the reader. This happens repeatedly with Eve\u2019s AI telling her things she should already know as a trained astronaut.<\/p>\n

Though the conspiracy plot is built on familiar tropes and some supporting characters, such as those from the environmental group, remain underdeveloped, the novel\u2019s dual protagonists are strong and combine with the structure to make for a sci-fi I\u2019ll be happy to recommend to those drawn to intergalactic drama.<\/p>\n

Grounding its far-future concepts in deeply human struggles, Randy Brown\u2019s sci-fi thriller First Step <\/em>is as entertaining as it is ambitious.<\/p>\n

The post First Step by Randy Brown<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A historic feat on an extrasolar planet soon turns chaotic in this conspiracy-fueled sci-fi page-turner. Randy Brown\u2019s First Step is the much-awaited sequel to his earlier work, First, which begins with a SpaceFirst astronaut, Eve, about to become the first human to step on Primis, an extrasolar planet.\u00a0 Remembering Neil Armstrong, of course she is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}