This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
R.A. Clarke is an author/illustrator living in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. When not writing, she's enjoying family time, acting in community theatre, or relaxing at the lake. Her multi-genre short fiction has won international short story competitions including The Writer's Workout: Writer’s Games, Writers Weekly 24-Hour Contest, and Red Penguin Books’ Humour Contest. Along with being a Futurescapes Award finalist (2021) and a Dark Sire Awards finalist (2022), R.A.'s story Becoming Grace won the 2023 Write Fighters 3-Day Novella challenge, and her tales have been featured in various publications. To learn more, please visit: www.rachaelclarkewrites.com.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Race To Novus by R. A. Clarke is a science fiction adventure that revolves around an ultra-high-stakes race on the newly colonized planet Joya, where Finn Rucker and other competitors navigate a dangerous forest using ground vehicles. The race, organized by Governus Corporation, promises land and financial rewards to the top finishers. Finn and her team face numerous obstacles—including sabotage, dangerous creatures, malfunctioning technology, and interference from the local environment. As they face a massive swarm of creatures, members of the group are hurt and lost, and their journey leads to a critical encounter with the indigenous Venanti people, who possess a sacred Heart Stone with transformative powers. As the survivors struggle with their race's difficulties and potential exploitation by Governus, as well as others in the race who are after the stones the Venanti possess, they explore alliances with the Venanti and confront the corporation’s true motives.
Race to Novus by R. A. Clarke is so brilliantly rich and detailed that it took me about four pages to become fully immersed in the alien world. Clarke goes beyond standard environmental descriptors and delivers textured sensory details, blending the familiar with the distinctly otherworldly. Even surrounded by alien flora, I can almost smell the petrichor in the line, "Sticks, mud, and saturated leaves covered the forest floor, spliced with mossy patches that made the ground compress like a sponge beneath us.” I loved the integration of technology. Finn's ridiculously amazing horse, Herc, has bio-linked leg prosthetics, and Finn's digicuff turns out to have some off-label uses in a battle. There are loads of different species and glimpses into creative customs, physiology, and attitudes between the species, and Clarke leans into themes of identity and belonging perfectly. Overall, this is a cinematically visual and well-written work with a little romance, a lot of adventure, and buckets of imagination. Very highly recommended.
