Kindle Price: $4.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

J. L. Stowers
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Cost of Survival: Book 1 of Genesis Rising Kindle Edition

by J. L. Stowers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 62 ratings
See all formats and editions

Survival isn’t about who’s right; it’s about who’s left.

Earth spirals into chaos.
World war ravages every border.
The human race teeters on the edge of extinction.
Survival hinges on the success of one colony located in a decimated valley.

Walt Marshall, government contractor, is no stranger to loss after the death of his wife and son. Now he’ll honor them by doing whatever it takes to ensure the survival of humankind.

Walt gets more than he bargained for when he uncovers a puzzling clue left behind by a mysterious woman. Details of an alien invasion come to light, written in a secret ancient language Walt hasn't seen for years. Destined to unveil the truth, he embarks down a dangerous path of espionage and treason.

He quickly learns the dark truth about both the past and the future in this daring dystopian science fiction novel.

Get your copy today and find out what you were never meant to know about The Cost of Survival.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 1
    Genesis Rising
  2. Print length
    258 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 1, 2017
  6. File size
    2657 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B074D98W5D
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sixth Moon Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 1, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2657 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 62 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
J. L. Stowers

J. L. Stowers

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

One of my fondest memories as a child is sitting on my grandmother’s doorstep with my great uncle and having him tell me all about space. That moment led to a lifelong obsession with the universe and an insatiable curiosity. Growing up in a small Idahoan town with not a lot to do required a lot of imagination. Outside was my playground and adventure blossomed everywhere I went, even if it was only in my head. The library was another of my havens and it was only a matter of time before I began developing my own ideas. To this day I have notebooks filled with questions and ideas that I still reference. That “What if” curiosity is still present, and now I explore my curiosity through my own writing.

Visit my website and sign up for my newsletter to stay in the loop with the latest updates, promotions, and fan pricing alerts.

https://jlstowers.com

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
62 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amy B
5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Great Series!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2017
Verified Purchase
The Cost of Survival is a wonderful depiction of starting over on a new planet, including the struggle with power, resources, and food. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists in plot which keep you guessing as to what will happen next. The characters are a good mix of complicated and personable which make you care about the outcome of their planetary relocation. If you’re looking for a great series, you’ve just discovered it in this book.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
spearfisher
4.0 out of 5 stars Great quick read
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
Too bad he never went back and finished the series. Series implied books. There’s just one. Unless you count the prequel. Hate I read the first one now.
Helpful
 Report
Margena Adams Holmes
5.0 out of 5 stars A real page-turner!
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book kept me turning the pages from start to finish--I hated to have to put it down to sleep at night! I loved the characters. They were well-written and made you feel for them and want to know more about them. It's not technical at all. I can't wait for the second book!
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
H. Grove (errantdreams)
3.0 out of 5 stars Slooooow start
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2021
For the first half of J.L. Stowers’s science fiction novel The Cost of Survival: Book 1 of Genesis Rising, I figured I’d be giving it a 2/5. Instead, by the ending I felt it had recovered enough to merit a 3/5. The first half is extremely slow and ponderous, with non-sympathetic characters and a ton of info-dumps. The second half ties things together, admits revelations, and even has some action to it. Not to mention, the characters grow and become sympathetic. If the first half of the book wasn’t so uninteresting (I very nearly stopped reading the book several times), this would have gotten a much better score. The author isn’t clear at first whether we’re on Earth or not, whether we’re in the past or future, whether a journal’s events take place recently or a long time ago, etc. The author was so intent on keeping everything a secret–whether it was warranted or not–that instead the book was just confusing. The result is that instead of these tiny “secrets” feeling like nifty reveals, they just brought a small feeling of relief and “about time!”

Walt Marshall has been sent to another planet. Earth is having problems, and his job is to figure out how to get food crops growing so that a colony can be started. He’s startled to find remnants of a civilization when he’s been told that the planet’s primitive residents died off long ago. He even finds a journal written in a language that looks oddly familiar to him. As he does his work and secretly translates what turns out to be a very disturbing journal, things build to a very dangerous conclusion.

At first I totally disliked Walt. He sneers in nearly every paragraph. The military man in charge, Jacobs, confiscates most of the artifacts Walt finds, although Walt manages to hide the journal. The two of them don’t exactly get along, and frankly neither of them seems like a particularly nice character. When Caitlyn is brought in to be Walt’s assistant, we start to see slightly better sides of Jacobs and Walt, but Walt doesn’t yet know if she can be trusted with the knowledge imparted by the journal. There are whole sections about things like Walt and his dead wife’s attempts to have a child, and how the fertility and birth rates on Earth have dropped like a stone. This does eventually become relevant, so try to hang on through it. What really changes the pace and makes things interesting is when a colony ship arrives from Earth, well ahead of schedule.

I’m mildly turned off by the obvious cliche of men becoming their better selves when there’s a pretty woman around. That said, I really did feel like Walt and Jacobs grew throughout the story and genuinely became better people. I enjoyed seeing that–it was one of the highlights of the book. I also appreciated the fact that there’s some genuine action in the second half of the book–it improved the pacing immeasurably.

There is a section where some decisions seem to be made just to further the plot. For example, the captain of the colony ship leaves Walt and Cait alone near a restricted area of the ship when she gets an urgent call, rather than doing anything at all to prevent them from finding it. And when Walt and Cait find the restricted area, Walt’s response is a remarkably blase decision that even though it was clearly marked, it didn’t have a locked door, so it must not be that restricted. I was also disappointed that Walt started to develop romantic feelings for Cait. I wanted to be able to just enjoy the blossoming friendship between the two, and it was starting to feel like her only meaningful role in the book was her effect on Jacobs and Walt.

If you like lots of world-building and don’t mind very slow background material, you’ll almost certainly like the first half better than I did. The second half really brought everything together in a fascinating manner, though, so if you have the patience to get through the first half, the second makes it worthwhile.

Content note for death, stillbirth, and forced pregnancy.
Helpful
 Report
Russ
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
It was a page Turner, action packed!
I would recommend this book to all who enjoy reading a good book. I look forward to the next in the series!
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Colonizing an alien world!
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018
First book of a series. Looking forward to reading the next in this series.
Don't know what I like reading most, science fiction, romance or historical novels but this was a good fit!
Helpful
 Report
mitzi
1.0 out of 5 stars There are glaciers with more action than this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is like watching paint dry. Stretching is what got it into a series. I’m 3/4 of the way through and virtually nothing has happened. I’ve got three characters, no geographical location, no temporal clues and no story line. Waste of paper. Maybe start with the second one because there’s no pertainent background in the first book.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
virginia
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
good story line. Can't wait for next book
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
Great read cant wait for next book in the series. Strong lead charictures with twists and turns you dissent see coming
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report