Titles for novels often cause authors a good deal of soul-searching. Ideally, we want to give potential readers clues about content, theme, style, and storyline. Not easy with so few words to play with. But the best titles are revealed as obvious choices once a book’s been read, so this series is largely for those who’ve yet to read the books featured.
Why is this book titled ‘Blood Red Dust’?

‘Blood Red Dust’ is Book 1 of the trilogy ‘Generation Mars’. Published by Fantastic Books Publishing, the series follows a small group of genetically ‘enhanced’ people, the Chosen, sent to Mars to colonise the planet as insurance against our species’ imminent extinction due to the climate catastrophe under way as the first book opens. This group consists of men and women designed to breed the ‘best’ humans possible. The first book is set in 2074 and takes the form of a student’s record of the history of the earlier settlement in the form of reports from many sources. She, Acacia, a second-generation descendant of the Chosen, is effectively writing her PhD from a historical point of view while at the Mars University. However, she quickly realises she can’t restrict herself to the 10,000 words usually allowed and turns her thesis into a historical account full of detail, passion, information, and the intimate thoughts of those who produced the various reports as first-person records. The statements, whilst mostly from the Chosen, include accounts and insights from other individuals with a vested interest in the experiment. Among these are TV stations, news outlets, a group of religious extremist terrorists, individuals from a later commercial group set up to exploit mineral deposits present on Mars, and individuals from a colony on the Moon.
As is the way with humanity, factions develop, commerce overrides concerns for lives, and conflict turns to violence, shedding blood. Mars has been known as the ‘red planet’ for a long time. Recent exploration informs us its surface is a singularly dusty layer. Hence, ‘Blood Red Dust’.
If I’ve whetted your curiosity, you can find a little more detail here. Or, if you’re intrigued enough to plunge into reading the book straight away, you’ll find it here. Enjoy! Oh, and if you do, please consider writing a brief review so other potential readers have a clue about what you think of it. Thank you.