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Molting of a Queen: A sci-fi novella Kindle Edition
Can a new world heal an old wound?
Nina Carson is a part of a health & safety team and wants nothing more than to curl up with a bottle of wine to drown out the voice of her long-dead twin brother.
But when the team’s helicopter hits a mysterious storm and falls through a hole in the sky, it crashes on an alien world ruled by insects, and everything changes.
Survival in this alien world requires more than finding water & shelter. It also means Nina must learn to trust her own instincts — even when they go against all she’s ever learned. Because something in this strange world is trying to make a mental connection with her, and its intent is unknown.
If you like lost worlds, daring adventure, and unique aliens, you’ll love Molting of a Queen, the latest sci-fi adventure from author Peter J. Foote
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateDecember 1, 2021
- ISBN-13978-1777583705
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Product details
- ASIN : B09D59JWTL
- Publisher : Peter J. Foote
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : December 1, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 4.1 MB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 133 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1777583705
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Reading age : 12 - 18 years
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,201,467 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Peter got locked in a bookstore as a child and has been reading his way to freedom ever since.
As a blue-collar sci-fi author, Peter tells gritty and personal sci-fi and fantasy stories of ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations that resonate with readers and provide much-needed escapism.
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this sci-fi novella to be a great little read with well-developed characters. They appreciate the pacing, with one customer noting how the story flows at just the right pace.
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Customers find the book easy to read, with one describing it as a simple and fun short novel, while another notes it has a satisfying conclusion.
"A great little read with engaging characters." Read more
"This was a solid adventure of a young woman cast into an alien world and finding her confidence to overcome an over bearing boss but also her own..." Read more
"...And then they meet the natives.... This was a quick and enjoyable read. A definite "alternate worlds" feel without the usual scifi tropes...." Read more
"Molting Queen was an incredibly creative story...." Read more
Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one specifically noting the strong female protagonist.
"Foote packs a lot into this novella. Well developed characters, a new alien world complete with novel communication techniques, and a desire for the..." Read more
"...Despite this being a novella, the characters are so well developed that it feels like a much longer book...." Read more
"A great little read with engaging characters." Read more
"...Foote tells the story while maintaining a strong female protagonist and a satisfying conclusion that, without giving too much away, doesn't resort..." Read more
Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, with one noting that the story flows at just the right pace and another mentioning their desire for the narrative to continue.
"...world complete with novel communication techniques, and a desire for the story to continue." Read more
"...Overall, I enjoyed this. The editing is well done and the story flows at just the right pace. 5/5*" Read more
"...And then they meet the natives.... This was a quick and enjoyable read. A definite "alternate worlds" feel without the usual scifi tropes...." Read more
Reviews with images

Solid Read
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2023Format: KindleVerified PurchaseFoote packs a lot into this novella. Well developed characters, a new alien world complete with novel communication techniques, and a desire for the story to continue.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2023Format: KindleVerified PurchaseThis is the first thing that I've read by this author.
Nina is the long-suffering assistant of Mr. Harrison, a health and safety inspector who takes his job far too seriously. A storm is brewing but he insists on leaving anyway, and Nina doesn't have the backbone to say no to him. They get in the copter piloted by Al and take off.
It doesn't go well.
Despite this being a novella, the characters are so well developed that it feels like a much longer book. Nina has a past that has held her down, and it turns out she's not the only one. It's the characters that kept me reading more than the sci-fi elements, which were very light.
I won't spoil what happens next, but I really enjoyed it. Near the end the book takes on a warm feeling similar to Haley and Nana, but in this book that warm feeling is rooted very much in reality. I'm not sure Haley or Nana ever were, at least not 100%.
Overall, I enjoyed this. The editing is well done and the story flows at just the right pace. 5/5*
- Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2022Format: KindleVerified PurchaseA great little read with engaging characters.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2021Format: KindleVerified PurchaseThis was a solid adventure of a young woman cast into an alien world and finding her confidence to overcome an over bearing boss but also her own guilt. Its always fun to see non-humanoid aliens and I hope Foote writes another story where we get to explore this alien world further. I especially loved the sensory language he used to explain the way the aliens communicated.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2022Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI am not much of a Science Fiction reader, but the author's world-building pulled me in. A helicopter pulled through a portal during a violent storm to another planet, strands Nina, her boss Harrington and their pilot Al in a world that at first looks like a desert island on earth, but very soon, the threesome find they are no longer on their planet. The portal they've come through is getting smaller by the hour. We look into Nina and her boss Harrington's shaky relationship due to their past life experiences. The "Bants" are intelligent, hardworking, and protective of their world. To fix the helicopter so they can get through the portal before it disappears, the three embark on a strange world, journeying into the unknown to save themselves. Not all will make it out alive.
I am not much of a Science Fiction reader, but the author's world-building pulled me in. A helicopter pulled through a portal during a violent storm to another planet, strands Nina, her boss Harrington and their pilot Al in a world that at first looks like a desert island on earth, but very soon, the threesome find they are no longer on their planet. The portal they've come through is getting smaller by the hour. We look into Nina and her boss Harrington's shaky relationship due to their past life experiences. The "Bants" are intelligent, hardworking, and protective of their world. To fix the helicopter so they can get through the portal before it disappears, the three embark on a strange world, journeying into the unknown to save themselves. Not all will make it out alive.
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2022Format: KindleVerified PurchaseNina, along with her boss and a helicopter pilot, flies through a portal during a oceanic storm and winds up crash-landed on an alternate world. They have to navigate an alien landscape to find a way back to Earth. Nina also navigates her own internal "landscape" and angst over her dead twin, as well as come to grips with her boss, a man who is standoffish and difficult to interact with. And then they meet the natives....
This was a quick and enjoyable read. A definite "alternate worlds" feel without the usual scifi tropes. Don't expect spaceships, militant violence, or damsels in distress. Foote tells the story while maintaining a strong female protagonist and a satisfying conclusion that, without giving too much away, doesn't resort to violent conquest.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2022Format: KindleVerified PurchaseMolting Queen was an incredibly creative story. I loved the author's vivid descriptions of the fascinating place that our characters found themselves in. Reading the book felt like a mini-vacation. A great escape and an even better read.
Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon customerReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseReally enjoyed this. Highly recommend
- Corinne LewandowskiReviewed in Canada on July 8, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read . . . I didn't want it to end!
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI love getting paper copies of books from independent authors. I read eBook, too, but there is something special about the feel of paper and print. When I received Molting Queen, it was truly stunning to see the cover in print and the book. The cover design is fantastic. And goes so well with the story.
I was rivetted with the story and intrigue from the start. The story starts in the midst of action and delivers it throughout the story.. The feel of the story is very much like the old style of Pulp SF but with a modern way. We have a great female protagonist in Nina Carson.
You can give me all the Laura Croft movies or anything with The Rock and I'd take joy in watching those films. But this character of Nina has far more depth and challenges that mean something to her in this story. It took travelling through a portal and meeting aliens for Nina's humanity to be reflected (and those of the other characters) and challenged her to do something about it.
The best SF gets us to look at ourselves and study our own humanity. Peter did this very well and I cannot wait to read more stories. I hope more come soon set in the same world as it's ever so fascinating and I wanted more. So I took a long time to read it so it would not end so quickly for me. : )
- JSReviewed in Canada on December 12, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars thoroughly enjoyable read
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseIn this sci-fi adventure, three people find themselves crashed on the far side of a portal. They soon figure out that they've crashed into an alien world with strange technologies and stranger footprints in the soil, with few visible animals.
The story's protagonist is Nina, a surviving twin suffering from the trauma of witnessing her brother's tragic death in their childhood. She's cut herself off from the positives of life, but the crash gives her a jolt and the strange chemistry of the world she's stumbled into begins to soothe her demons. Her arc in the story is somewhat paralleled by Harrison, her fellow crashee who she sees the darker parts of herself reflected in.
A thoroughly enjoyable read and stress-free escape from our own troubled times. I highly recommend this novella as a bookend to your day.
- Dee BeeReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2023
4.0 out of 5 stars Alien benevolence
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseInteresting concept with small cast of characters. Easy reading but proof reading errors jarred in the early part. Developed good flow so became enjoyable.
- Christopher WalshReviewed in Canada on November 5, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Foote is the man!
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseYou won't regret picking up this book. A solid read from start to finish. Keep an eye on this guy, he's a writer on the rise.