The world is over-populated, grossly polluted and resources are running out. It’s a doomsday scenario, set in the late twenty-first century, and it’s not one that forecasts a happy ending. But some brilliant minds have come together to create a means to leave the planet, to launch a mission into deep space to a newly discovered earth-like planet and to start human life all over again. Is it possible? Will they formulate the perfect team to see the task to a successful conclusion? And what will they find on this earth-like planet? More human life forms? So many questions, so few answers. The Committee, a group of forward-thinking, brilliant minds (and money), recruit Grant Wickham and his former girlfriend, Alexis Lambert, to secretly put together a team and train them. It’s an awesome prospect, one full of eager anticipation and excitement. But it is also full of danger, as the unexpected becomes the team’s new reality.

Donald M. Edwards’s science fiction, dystopian novel, Destiny: Quest for a New World (Book 1), will intrigue sci-fi fans. The plot is thick with tension and multiple ‘what if’ scenarios that lead the reader through a maze of conflicts and challenging situations. Told mostly in the first person, but not always the same person, this adds some confusion to the story’s flow. However, once the reader comprehends the new narrator’s voice, the story moves along smoothly with ample descriptive narrative, character development, and dialogue to carry it along. Overall, Destiny: Quest for a New World by Donald M. Edwards makes for an interesting read.

Destiny by Donald M. Edwards is the first book in the Quest for a New World series. The resources of Earth are rapidly depleting. The environmentalists (EA) have one solution while the clandestine group known as “The Committee” has a plan of their own to ensure the future of humanity. The Committee, using the wealth they obtain, develops a covert plan to explore and colonize a planet outside Earth’s solar system. They recruit Grant Wickham to head up the selection team. Grant’s mission is to find and train an expedition team consisting of four men and four women. Grant convinces The Committee to allow him to bring on board his former college girlfriend, Alexis Lambert, as his co-advisor. Together, Grant and Alex begin to interview and screen possible candidates for the team. The closer they come to accomplishing their goals, the more challenging the mission becomes. With the future uncertain, no one could foresee where Destiny would take them.

Donald M. Edwards uses his knowledge of science to portray a story of survival in Destiny. Edwards methodically sets the stage of the plot as he introduces his main characters. The pace of the action in the beginning is rather slow. However, as the story develops and the characters find their purpose and place, the action picks up. Relationships form quickly and time lunges forward. The setting changes often and with each change of location, vivid and creative descriptions written. Although there is ample scientific terminology, it isn’t overly “sciencey.” There are elements of mystery, romance, family, and friendship weaved into the narrative. I especially appreciated the forethought in developing a future community; many fields of scientific study were included, as well as the need for a code of conduct, morality, and faith. As the leadership of the main character changes, so does the point of view of the story. This is an unexpected writing technique. As the narrative’s action rises and then falls, inevitable events take place, yet so do the unpredictable and the surprising. As the narrative comes to its suspenseful conclusion, Donald M. Edwards leaves you hanging in the balance, wondering what is going to happen next to the crew of the Destiny.

Destiny: Quest for a New World by Donald M. Edwards is the first installment in a new exciting science fiction series that effectively mixes romance, politics, adventure, and drama set in the waning years of the twenty-first century. In a stark, prophetic vision of the future, mankind is depleting Earth’s natural resources and can no longer sustain the demands of an uncontrolled population. Adding to the predicament is the world’s hopeless struggle to recover from an economic downturn in the aftermath of a costly world war. Mankind’s fate is left in the hands of a powerful financial entity covertly operating and firm in their resolve to ensure the survival of the human species. Their solution is to delegate Grant Wickham to assemble a team of brilliant men and women to embark on a historical mission: to discover a new colony outside the solar system. Along the way, they will encounter obstacles and conflicts. Will they discover a new colony and will mankind be able to live on a new planet are questions that make this book a feasibility study on living in a different world.

Themes dealing with interplanetary diaspora are nothing new to science fiction, but Donald M. Edwards gives a brilliant examination of existential dilemmas that can occur in the process of the journey. Destiny: Quest for a New World has a distinct structure that allows the reader to inhabit the first-person point of view experience. The explicit goal is to find a suitable place for the human population to thrive, and we are led to believe that the chances for the protagonist and his team to succeed are nil on account of the insurmountable odds they encounter in space. Yet this is part of the story’s appeal. Even more appealing is the thought that the theme in this novel is now beginning to happen, considering that SpaceX wants to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars and Blue Origin wants to build a road to space that may result in floating colonies. Destiny: Quest for a New World brilliantly upholds the idea of colonization by celebrating human intelligence as well as its flaws. Can we expand our presence into space? Perhaps this new series will attempt to answer that question.