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Willow Thomson
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Seeds of Change (Aride Universe Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Willow Thomson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 133 ratings
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Introverted, intuitive healer, Jada "Jey" Grey has nothing left to lose. After all, her skills and knowledge couldn’t save her mother from a manmade virus. Set in 2071, with the heat index reaching crippling levels on Earth, Jey is barely coping. But when she stumbles upon an opportunity to launch from Earth, she feels compelled to go.

The mission—to create a new colony on an unexplored exoplanet—fits right in with Jey’s dreams. Her friendship with a clairvoyant child onboard the ship, her growing empathic abilities, and her attempts at love spark an unfamiliar hope.

But when a rival corporation sabotages their ship, and their target planet is a wasteland, Jey must set aside her old self-destructive patterns and take a leap into a new way of being—and seeing. Her connection to the seeds and plants changes everything. Can she convince the other colonists that her clairvoyant vision is exactly what they need?

“Engaging, positive, uplifting with a good story. The kind of book I like to read but is so difficult to find.” —Andrew, Goodreads

“I loved this story of Jey and her journey out to the stars and in to her self at the same time... I particularly like the writing style, the language, and how the dialogue felt true to the characters who were speaking. As a first novel it was outstanding.” — Elissa Matthews, author of Where the River Bends

“I loved this book from the instant I began reading it... Seeds of Change features a solid narrative arc, tiptoes between genres of fantasy, dystopian fiction, and sci-fi, clean smooth-flowing language that drew me in from start to finish, and, ultimately, some really nice feel-good vibes. A very enjoyable read!” — Angela Panayotopulos, author of The Wake Up

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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 2
    Aride Universe
  2. Print length
    269 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    February 12, 2019
  6. File size
    1164 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07NPZDCQB
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zenergy LLC; 2nd edition (February 12, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 12, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1164 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 133 ratings

About the author

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Willow Thomson

Willow Thomson

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Willow Thomson lives among the rolling hills and tall trees of a small hamlet with her husband of many years and children who come and go. While spending a lifetime “finding” herself, only to discover that she was there all along, she has pursued several pastimes: typesetting, weaving, glass bead making, energy healing, homeopathy, and writing.

She loves a good morality tale about the struggle between the dark and the light. She trusts that at rock bottom most people are good but she suspects that some people are not. She is sure that life is more mysterious and magical than we know in these days of selfies, venti double shot lattes, and working overtime to make ends meet.

She always roots for the underdog and hangs on tightly to the belief that good will triumph over evil in the end and that some things are worth fighting for—nature, equality, common sense, beauty, and truth. And some things make life worth living—family, friends, trees, flowers, oceans, streams and lakes, French pastries, and fresh baked bread.

Willow writes stories to try to understand all these things and more.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
133 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A story with heart
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2019
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I've been looking for 'softer' science fiction, the kind of sic-fi that follows the characters more than the science itself, and this fit the bill. There was something very intimate about the writing. I can't put my finger on it, but it felt very much like the story had *heart* in a way that a lot of more plot-driven stories don't. I believe the heart of this story, which can be summed up by the idea that we are all interconnected, probably is a deeply held belief of the author. Because reading this book felt so much like I was spending time with Willow Thompson and her world view, and because her world view is one of healing and empowerment, I loved this story.

Additionally, from a technical standpoint, the novel is great. I was never jarred out of the story by typos or grammatical issues--which again, I appreciate because you can't always assume that will be the case.... The formatting is good. The balance of white space, and clarity of the font. It's an attractive novel.

The pacing is even and gentle. I suppose if I had to name something that was not five stars, to give you a sense of where a weakness might lie, it would be in the size of the story's cast. I could usually keep track of who was who, but not always.

But that is a minor point. The main characters were distinct and easy to be with and easy to follow. Good book.
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Elliot Jackman
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, little conflict
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2020
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This is a great story about a pair that are doing their best to survive on Earth as homeopathic healers. Jada is the main protagonist, of sorts, who sees an add looking for volunteers for a colony ship and decides she wants to participate. She is able to, with very little effort, to convince her colleague and friend, Celie, to join her.

A short period later, they embark on a bus journey to the colony ship. After arrival at the ship, the story revolves around their preparations and getting to know a few new characters. The ship eventually launches and during their trip, there is some trouble that arises due to Celie’s daughter, Talleh. She is empathic and feels that there is a negativity among some of the passengers. They find that there are some on the ship that aren’t there for an altruistic fresh start for the humans aboard.

The ship arrives at the destination planet and they find that there is very little negative about the situation. The atmosphere is close to Earth, but not really directly breathable for long periods of time. They begin setting up their colony after dealing with the few people aboard the ship that didn’t seem to be going along with the other passenger’s plans.

They get a colony setup on the planet and much of the story revolves around the two healers, and the empathic daughter, Talleh. Soon they find that there is more sentience around them than would be readily apparent by the naked eye.

They are joined by another colony ship that is related to their miscreants aboard their own ship. This group is there more to begin mining operations etc. than to colonize. The remainder of the story generally revolves around the interactions between these two colonies and how they try to work out their difference in agendas.
I did enjoy the story. I was interested to find out what was going to happen next as they progressed in their adventure. I’ll admit that I was thrown a little by the lack of conflict and adversity.

During their long bus trip, the description of things around was very depressing, yet there were no resulting issues to come from it. At one stop, an important member of the crew did not show up and they were waiting for hours after their appointed time. Then, she just shows up and they leave. It seemed very anticlimactic.

This type of theme prevailed in the story. Anything that came up as adversity was relatively quickly overcome and everybody was happy and moved on. This gives the story a very upbeat theme and gives a view of how this type of activity may progress if everything goes according to plan with only a few glitches.
While I know this story was not meant to be Hard SciFi, I could not help but notice that the colony ship only had about three hundred members. As most people interested in colony ship type stories probably know, that is not enough for genetic diversity in a new colony. There would start to be genetic effects due to inbreeding several generations in the future. While carrying frozen embryos etc. can help with that number, it is still a very small number to start with. It’s just something that popped into my mind while reading…

I feel that if you enjoy SciFi and some Fantasy then you’ll enjoy this story. They story does not have episodes that result in fighting or military type battles, so it revolves mainly around the characters and their adventure. My only hope is that more people follow their lead and the colony receives more people to insure their long term survival. I guess I’ll see in future installment of the adventure!
2 people found this helpful
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Jessica Cox
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story, amazing concept!
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2019
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With all the discussion of climate change, humans’ impact on the planet, and a renewed public interest in space exploration, the story concept was spot on. The world building and explanation behind energy & empathy was easy to understand. The world Willow Thompson created felt like an answer to “What will happen if we can’t fix our climate crisis?” It was easy to enter the world of Jey and her friends and get aboard the Two by Two ship.

I enjoyed all the characters and their relationships with each other. Everyone felt real and accessible, so although the cast grew in size, I felt I knew most of the characters intimately. I loved the burgeoning romances, just the right amount. It took some time to warm up to Jey, because she read less broken than she claimed to be. This made her growth more believable and less like a super-hero.

Hints of something bad waiting to happen were peppered through the book and my biggest disappointment was that I was waiting for something terrible to happen, and before it did, everything got resolved and the book ended.

Overall it was well written and a fun and mystical journey to a new planet that I enjoyed!
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Mary Jane Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good sci-fi
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2019
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I love sci-fi fantasy, usually the YA ones and this is one of the best. Gentle love stories, bad guys getting therapist and of the stick, and a happy ending.
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JCU
3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant little sci-fi tale with romance
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020
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I honestly wanted to give this book 5 stars and would have been OK with 4 stars, but it just doesn't fully satisfy me. The symbolism between good and evil is pretty clear.
The New Sparta colony comes a very long way to be unprepared to do anything but maintain the greed-lust that apparently is representative of the greed-lust of Earth's fossil fuel industry. There are some empty parts here and I don't truly like any of the characters beyond recognizing the traits that I'd choose to admire or reject in any social group.
Still, it's an interesting story about the holistic universe and one worth pondering. It's a pleasant read and part of a more robust and stimulating conversation about where we go when there's no 'there' left on our planet.
2 people found this helpful
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louise
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2019
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I really enjoyed this book! The characters and the worlds they lived in were well developed. I wish the book had been longer, and I am now waiting for the next novel!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kristian Joseph
5.0 out of 5 stars A fun space opera; spirituality, femininity and nature
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2020
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I really enjoyed the escapism of venturing into the unknown with Jey, the characters journey and the world. The writing style was easy to follow and the world brought to life in fun and interesting ways.

Its more on the spare opera side of science fiction than heavy action, drama focussed and its unique in that way, it surprised me. The focus is on spirituality, nature and conservation. As a fellow author, i dont review to critique, and I try not to box myself in to my own genre. I put myself in the audiences shoes, and an audience here who loves spirituality, femininity, nature and light space adventures youre in for a treat.
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J Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
Reviewed in Australia on January 20, 2021
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What a book should do,take you away when you have to stay in.I found this book well written,beleivable and i like the characters.
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Mr. F. Parker
4.0 out of 5 stars In Praise of Flower Power
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2020
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I'm old enough to remember the 'flower power' movement of the 1970s. There was an iconic image of youthful protesters inserting flower stems into the barrels of the guns being wielded by riot police in San Francisco. And there was great music: "If you are going to San Francisco be sure to wear a flower in your hair."

I doubt that Ms Thomson is old enough to remember those times but she has certainly been inspired by them. Her tale begins exactly 200 years after the events of Height Ashbury, in 2170, when Earth's civilisation has collapsed. Two disparate groups are planning to set out on a mission to colonise a planet 20 light years away. A couple of women who practice alternative healing sign up to the group whose motives reflect the ideology of 1970s 'flower children'.
It should be no surprise that the colony they found is named Fleur. It's inhabitants are determined to live in harmony with the planet and its environment. The other crowd, motivated by greed and the desire to exploit the resources of the new world, is called New Sparta. Inevitably the two come in to conflict.
Along the way there are a couple of love stories and people learn to live with their memories of bad things that happened to them back on Earth.
I would describe this book as very feminine in tone. I imagine the intended readership to be young adults, especially young women. The book is also overtly political, showing the 'hippy' philosophy of co-operation and empathy succeeding, whilst the elites in charge of the exploitative colony suffer and large numbers of their followers choose to move over to Fleur. There is even a debate about the benefits and drawbacks of such immigration.
Readers of a conservative bent will give up on it early on and condemn it as a simplistic fantasy. I'm not and I won't, but at times I did find it difficult to suspend disbelieve.
Whilst the book is a complete story with an ending, it is the first in a series of books about the continuing fortunes of the two communities so, if you enjoy reading about them, you don't have to wonder what happens to the diverse cast of characters. Ms Thomson has it all worked out for you.
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