I am working on my first book here is a link to my prologue. Let me know if this has you wanting more?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LAT7lauiFWPgaMzfwmv6QJ1wcquxpjCHfBOBwpqKzy8/edit?usp=drivesdk
Hey everyone — I’m currently writing my first sci-fi horror novel, Stranded On Eridan, and wanted to share the premise because I’d genuinely love feedback from other writers and readers.
The story follows the surviving crew of the survey vessel Asteria after a catastrophic incident causes a crash-landing on an uncharted planet they were sent to check out, they quickly realize the world isn’t natural.
The ecosystem feels engineered.
The wildlife behaves with terrifying coordination.
And something beneath the surface may still be alive.
I’m aiming for a mix of survival horror, psychological tension, and slow-burn cosmic mystery inspired by the feeling of being completely isolated somewhere humanity was never meant to reach.
As a first-time author, one thing I’m trying to balance is revealing enough to hook readers without exposing too much too early.
For people who read or write sci-fi horror:
What tends to pull you into a story like this fastest — the mystery, the characters, the survival aspect, or the horror elements?
I’d honestly appreciate any thoughts.
A catastrophic navigation failure throws the survey vessel Asteria light-years off course, forcing its surviving crew to crash-land on an uncharted world beyond known space.
At first, survival is the only concern.
But the planet’s ecosystem isn’t natural.
Something engineered it.
And somewhere beneath the surface, something may still be alive.
I’m building a sci-fi horror world where a stranded crew crash-lands on a planet filled with massive engineered predator species.
The ecosystem looks natural at first, but over time the survivors realize the creatures are responding to signals beneath the ground, almost like the entire planet is being coordinated by something unseen.
I’m trying to make the world itself feel unsettling instead of just “monster dangerous.”
What’s one thing that instantly makes an alien world feel truly unnatural or disturbing to you?