"ENGROSSING AND ADDICTIVE . . . Unquestionably solid.

Well-crafted prose, deft characterization, and a precise eye for details mark Birdgenaw's debut installment in The Antunite Chronicles series.

A wormhole appears out of nowhere in Earth's atmosphere, transporting several Earth insects to an alien planet, Poo-ponic. Little Antuna, a young ant, finds herself at the brink of death but is saved by a tiny spider Spifry. But that's just the beginning of the problem for Antuna as well as others: Poo-ponic is barren, and it seems nothing grows on it. The insects must unite and come out with a solution if they want to stay alive. Antuna, with her resilience and plucky determination makes for a compelling protagonist. The secondary cast engage readers' sympathies as they struggle with their fears, self-doubts, insecurities, grief, complex motivations, and conflicting agendas.  The characters' interpersonal dynamic is rooted in reality, and layer upon layer is added to the story with a deft examination of discrimination, gender roles, solidarity, and colonization.

Beautifully written and meticulously detailed, this thoroughly engrossing SF tale combines insect encyclopedia with unity, resistance, resilience, love, trust, and adventure. A definite winner." - The Prairies Book Review
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"A GOLD BADGE WINNER - SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!

Birdgenaw combines riveting adventure and masterful world-building in his debut, the first book in The Antunite Chronicles.

When a sudden apocalyptic event transports Antuna, a tiny ant, and a few other species of insects to a far-off planet, survival becomes a priority. There is only one way that the survivors can stay alive: Make a team and work together to find food and shelter. In the face of distrust for other species, it's up to Antuna to bring everyone together and begin the work. Birdgenaw crafts an elaborate apocalyptic tale from a deceptively simple plot.  Antuna is a spirited, intelligent, and driven ant whose passion for hard work and helping others makes her a worthy protagonist. Supporting characters are fascinating—beautifully drawn and compelling as they endure loss and pain, hard work and success, bravery and triumph, and terror. Their hard-won victory towards the middle is clearly only a brief respite before they must unite against their formidable enemies.

The pacing is measured, the storyline intriguing, and the desolate Poo-ponic provides the perfect backdrop for an apocalyptic setting. This charming, engrossing tale set in a vividly realized apocalyptic world is a thorough page-turner and will appeal to fans of finely constructed SF stories."  - BookView Review
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"A GREAT READ!  Fresh and interesting, a 5-Star Seal Winner.

Antuna's Story: The Antunite Chronicles Book One is a sci-fi novel by Terry Birdgenaw. What a read. At first glance, I thought this would be a mildly entertaining book as it's about insects and I believed that having bugs as the characters would lose its uniqueness and get boring. I was wrong as the characters were written, dare I say, better than characters of the human variety. There's just much more at stake for them and Terry Birdgenaw demonstrated that in their development and his writing. The character Spifry may have proven himself to be trustworthy, but other characters still have their innate fear of the arachnid despite their newfound friendship. The plot also cleverly weaves in the typical behavior of these insects and that made the whole book more immersive and grounded for me. The pacing was just right and I loved how their civilization steadily grew as I read, as opposed to major changes between chapters. The steady pacing really drove home the impact of the book's final acts.
Overall, a great read. It's fresh and interesting. I wholeheartedly recommend Antuna's Story: The Antunite Chronicles Book One to fans of the sci-fi genre." Reviewed by Nicholus Schroeder for Readers' Favorite