Compass & Codex

Bracket shows Max how the exiles really talk to the people still trapped inside Brickhaven — hollow bricks, coded loaves, and a flag system run from the astronomer's tower. 

But the rebels won't trust a stranger claiming to be the Builder, so Max has to prove it: by revealing the hidden flaws he built into their own town, secrets no one else could know. 

One by one, a teacher, a baker, and a guard's daughter come to believe him — and then a runner arrives at nightfall with word that Krag has sealed the town with a curfew, doubled the patrols, and started breaking down doors.

Brickhaven is a serialized LEGO adventure story for kids 8-14 — a ten-year-old wakes up shrunk to minifig size inside the LEGO town he built, where the champion he designed now rules as a tyrant.

Perfect for kids 8-14 who love building, puzzles, and adventure. For fans of The LEGO Movie, a kids' edition of Ready Player One, and classic portal-fantasy stories where an ordinary kid is the only one who can save the world.

📚 Grab your copy of Brickhaven: The Fall (Book 1) — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Monday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — A hollow brick clicks open in the firelight
00:02:15 — "Three channels" — the secret ways messages move inside the walls
00:05:30 — Lensa wants proof — Max writes a secret only the Builder could know
00:08:45 — The contacts arrive: the teacher and the granary's hidden gap
00:12:15 — The baker's tunnel — and a warning not to fix it
00:14:45 — The guard's daughter and the weak fourth step
00:18:15 — Nightfall, and a runner arrives at a dead sprint
00:19:45 — Curfew, searches, and patrols that close the seven-minute gap
00:22:00 — A door broken off its hinge in the south quarter
00:24:45 — "He's noticed" — and the second bell rings
00:26:00 — CH 8 — What Comes Next

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I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

Madame Frost's intelligence lands on Gunnar's workbench at dusk: six Syndicate operatives are already at the High Pass trestle with explosives in place. The supply train from Millston — carrying medicine for the influenza outbreak in Coalridge, seed grain for spring planting in Hawk's Nest, and winter provisions for the families of Upper Blackwell — is scheduled to arrive at 10:43 tomorrow morning. 

Gunnar calculates everything: distance, speed, margin, probability. He gets 76.4% odds if they leave by 7 a.m. Dutch objects — this is direct confrontation with Syndicate operatives. 

Vesper objects harder — the Rail Marshals have spent months building a case and a single intervention could unravel all of it. 

Gunnar's answer is three sentences: these aren't abstractions. These are people with names and faces. 

His father delivered supplies to these towns for fifteen years. 

By 7 a.m., the Widow-Maker is moving.

---

Iron Rails & Ruin is a steampunk Wild West fantasy adventure for boys 8–14. A fourteen-year-old engineer in 1882 Montana finds out his father is alive — and the Syndicate has fourteen days to take every locomotive in the territory. New chapters every Friday.

For fans of Mortal Engines, steampunk classics, and Wild West adventure. Perfect for reluctant readers who want mystery, machines, and something supernatural on the frontier.

📚 Grab your copy of Iron Rails & Ruin: Smoke & Suspicion, Book 1 — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Friday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — Six saboteurs at the High Pass trestle — and a supply train full of medicine
00:00:45 — Frost's intelligence — Gunnar runs the numbers
00:03:45 — Dutch objects. Vesper objects harder.
00:07:30 — "Seed grain and medicine" — Gunnar makes his case
00:09:40 — The Widow-Maker climbs into the blizzard
00:15:50 — High Pass in sight — the saboteurs are already there
00:18:00 — The valve his father said never to use
00:19:05 — The valve turns — the Widow-Maker wakes
00:20:50 — Gunfire on the bridge
00:23:50 — Throttle forward — the crossing and the failed detonators
00:27:50 — Turning the valve back — the supply train comes through safe
00:33:45 — The cost — the syndicate will know within days
00:37:30 — The whistle and the descent
00:39:10 — CH 7 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

CORRECTED EPISODE: This is an updated version of Chapter 6. The original
release named the wrong battle — it referred to Marcus's first fight as "the
Sabis," against the Nervii. His actual first battle is the Arar, against the
Helvetii, in 58 BC. The Sabis is a real battle too, but it comes later in
Marcus's story (Chapter 8). We've corrected the chapter and re-recorded it.
Getting the history right matters to us — thanks for your patience.

The blood won't come off. Hours after the slaughter at the Arar, Marcus sits
apart from the celebrating camp, cleaning a sword that's already spotless —
oil, cloth, wipe, inspect, repeat — while Lucius tries everything he knows to
reach him: bread, his mother's lentil stew, stories of Petronius's perfect
thrust. None of it works. Only when Petronius himself sits down in the dark,
saying nothing for a long while, does Marcus hear the five words that
actually help: "It doesn't get easier. You get faster at deciding." Not a
promise that the fear will fade — just the truth that he'll carry it better
next time.

Eagle's Edge is a Roman adventure story for kids 8-14 — a sixteen-year-old
recruit takes the oath, marches into Gaul under Caesar, and learns what war
actually is.

Perfect for kids 8-14 who love history, battles, and adventure. For fans of
Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth, the action of Percy Jackson, and
classic stories of ancient Rome.

📚 Grab your copy of Eagle's Edge: The Making of a Soldier (Book 1) —
available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Thursday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — Marcus scrubs a spotless sword, four hours after the Arar
00:02:45 — Lucius arrives, talking, while Marcus stays silent
00:06:00 — "You should eat" — Lucius leaves the bread untouched
00:10:00 — Night falls — eight men went into the Arar, eight came back
00:11:45 — Counting chainmail rings until memory breaks through
00:13:45 — The line dissolving — a spear, a shield, Petronius's save
00:14:15 — The boy with the knife, and the hesitation Lucius finished
00:17:30 — True fear: a world with no order, no command, no guidance
00:18:00 — Petronius sits down beside him in silence
00:20:15 — "It doesn't get easier. You get faster at deciding."
00:23:00 — The truth beneath the words — chaos will come again
00:23:30 — Marcus packs away his gear, no longer obsessive but purposeful
00:25:00 — CH 7 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

Weeks into the voyage, Jim has found his sea legs and his place aboard the Hispaniola — and an unlikely friendship with Long John Silver, who teaches him knots and reads the stars with him and fills his days with warmth and easy praise. 

On a hot evening looking for one quiet moment alone, Jim climbs inside an empty apple barrel near the mainmast. He's nearly asleep when Silver arrives with Israel Hands and a young sailor named Dick. 

What Jim hears from inside the barrel changes everything: Silver is the mastermind of a full mutiny, every man he recruited is Captain Flint's pirate, and the plan is to wait until the honest men find the treasure — then kill every one of them. Nineteen pirates against five honest men. 

And Jim, alone in the dark with cramping legs and a hand pressed over his own mouth, now knows every name on both lists.

Treasure Island is the classic pirate adventure retold for boys 8–14. Robert Louis Stevenson's original — retold for modern readers who deserve the real story. New chapters every Wednesday.

For fans of the original Stevenson, Peter Pan, and classic pirate adventure retellings. Perfect for homeschool classics units and reluctant readers ready for the real thing.

📚 Grab your copy of Treasure Island: The Map, Book 1 — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Wednesday. Follow us now!

00:00:30 — Weeks at sea — Jim has found his footing aboard the Hispaniola
00:03:30 — An unlikely friendship — Silver teaches Jim knots and stars
00:04:45 — Restless for a moment alone, Jim goes topside at sunset
00:05:30 — The empty apple barrel by the mainmast
00:07:00 — Hidden inside, Jim drifts toward sleep — footsteps approach
00:09:00 — Jim wakes to voices — and Silver's tone is all wrong
00:09:45 — The name that freezes his blood: Flint
00:12:15 — The plan revealed — not one of them gets back alive
00:13:15 — Nineteen pirates against five honest men
00:17:45 — Silver dismantles the captain — calm, calculating, ruthless
00:19:00 — The barrel creaks — Jim freezes as Silver falls silent
00:22:30 — "Captain Silver" — the cabin boy was only ever a pawn
00:23:30 — Eight bells — the watch changes, the conspirators scatter
00:25:00 — Alone in the dark with a truth that changes everything
00:26:30 — CH 7 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

Cinder, Blaze, and Thistle move in at dawn to spy on Thane Reed's pill bug colony — and find something worse than they imagined. 

Three hundred soldiers run in perfect military precision, loading stolen food in organized relay columns, three shifts, every tunnel guarded. On the main platform, Thane Reed stands above it all directing every movement with brutal efficiency. 

But the worst discovery is the prisoner pit below the main mound: Harper Blackwood and Dovey — Cinder's own crew, left for dead — are alive inside a mud-lined cage. 

Then Thane Reed announces it from the scaffold: Stage Two begins tonight. The schedule has moved up. And then a pebble rolls out from under Blaze's elbow, strikes a stone, and every antenna on the surface locks toward the sound.

Colony in Danger is an ant colony adventure series for boys 8–14. Cinder Marlowe and his fire ant scout team race through a deadly meadow mystery — real fire ant science, real stakes. New chapters every Tuesday.

For fans of Watership Down, Warriors, and Empires of the Undergrowth. Perfect for curious kids who want real biology woven into every chapter of their adventure.

📚 Grab your copy of Colony in Danger: The Fire Ant Kingdom, Book 1 — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Tuesday. Follow us now!

00:00:45 — Scouts approach the pill bug colony at dawn
00:03:30 — Thane Reed — spotted on the platform
00:10:30 — Stage Two begins tonight — the schedule is advanced
00:12:30 — Harper and Dovey — alive in the prisoner pit
00:16:00 — The pebble drops — every antenna snaps
00:18:45 — Up and out — the escape begins, the alarm sounds
00:23:00 — We warn everyone — not just our queen
00:24:30 — CH 15 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

At dawn, Max and Pip leave the exile camp to explore the world outside Brickhaven's walls. The six decorative trees Max placed for visual interest are now a real old-growth forest blocking out the sky. The flat blue tiles he called a stream are cold, fast-moving water that requires careful navigation to cross. 

From a hilltop, Max sees his own town from the outside for the first time — the garrison has grown beyond his design, the twin hills to the east are darker than he remembers choosing, and everything he built looks exactly right and completely different at once. 

In a hidden valley between those twin hills, he and Pip discover translucent creatures living around still pools, quietly edging back from the shadow of the eastern hills as if they have always known what lives there. 

And at midnight, pressed into a gap between two boulders, they watch the East Gate: a sealed canvas cart, a 23-second entry, 43 minutes of silence, and an empty cart rolling back toward the eastern hills.

Brickhaven is a LEGO fan fiction adventure for boys 8–14. A ten-year-old wakes up shrunk to minifig size inside the LEGO town he built — and the leader he designed no longer recognizes him. New chapters every Monday.

For fans of The LEGO Movie, Ready Player One (kids' edition), and portal fantasy. Perfect for boys who build worlds and wonder what's really inside them.

📚 Grab your copy of Brickhaven: The Fall, Book 1 — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Monday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — Max and Pip leave camp at dawn — heading east into the unknown
00:02:00 — Six decorative trees. Thirty feet of real old-growth forest.
00:06:00 — The stream that was flat blue tiles — cold, fast, and real
00:11:00 — The hilltop view — Brickhaven seen from the outside for the first time
00:14:45 — The hidden valley — translucent creatures at the still pools
00:18:30 — The East Gate watch — the sealed cart emerges from the hills
00:19:45 — Twenty-three seconds to enter. Forty-three minutes of silence. Empty cart.
00:21:45 — CH 7 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

In Chapter 5, Vesper leads Gunnar through a door he didn't know was there: a black train on an unmarked spur, running without registry or markings, carrying a black market for everything the Syndicate has systematically erased from legitimate supply chains. The Ember Market.

Inside, the picture finally comes together. A two-year-old ordinance buried in a legislative package nobody read. A northward pattern of Veilstone ore seizures hidden under falsified cargo manifests. A map of territory that has been quietly harvested in plain sight for over a year.

Then a man comes through the door at the back of the car. His name is Calloway — the most wanted outlaw in four territories. His father built the finest engine on any line. The Syndicate bought it at forced auction for pennies, stripped the Veilstone bond from the housing, and replaced it with a standardized component. She still runs. She just doesn't know him anymore.

Gunnar extends his hand.

Iron Rails & Ruin is a steampunk adventure set in 1882 Montana, following Gunnar Harlan — fourteen years old, the best engineer on a line being systematically erased — as he builds the case that could change the territory, one forged manifest at a time.

Each chapter runs 25–35 minutes of narrated steampunk adventure — built for boys who want a story that doesn't talk down to them. Perfect for boys 10–16, homeschool curriculum, and anyone drawn to action-first adventure with real ideas at its center. For fans of Mortal Engines, Wild West classics, and stories where the smartest person in the room wins.

📚 Grab your copy of Iron Rails & Ruin: Smoke & Suspicion (Book 1) on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Friday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — An unmarked train in the abandoned railyards
00:00:45 — Vesper returns — three taps on the door, no explanation
00:03:00 — The black train materializes from the dark
00:04:30 — The knock code — the door opens
00:05:15 — Inside the Ember Market
00:06:15 — A veilstone mounted in brass — something that shouldn't be possible
00:09:00 — The woman with the mechanical eye
00:12:30 — The cargo revealed — veilstone ore moved north under false manifests
00:14:00 — The ordinance — a legal trap with no exit
00:17:00 — The Syndicate hadn't been expanding — they had been harvesting
00:17:45 — A stranger fills the doorway
00:21:00 — Callaway — the most wanted man in four territories
00:22:00 — The Iron Duchess — what the Syndicate stripped from her
00:25:45 — The handshake
00:27:00 — CH 6 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

In Chapter 5, Caesar drops his hand and the Arar River turns red. The Helvetii are crossing the ford when five thousand Romans step out of the dawn mist. Marcus has trained for weeks — but nothing prepared him for what happens when the pila fly, the line surges forward, and a bearded Gallic warrior puts himself between Rome and his son. Petronius finds him on the far bank, shaking, unable to release the gladius. "The shaking stops eventually," Petronius tells him. "The dreams don't."

Eagle's Edge is a Roman military adventure novel — Marcus Corvus, a sixteen-year-old recruit, marches from oath-taking to battle in Caesar's Gallic campaigns. Real history. Real tactics. Real cost.

Each chapter runs 20–30 minutes of narrated military adventure — historically grounded and built for boys who want a story that doesn't talk down to them. Perfect for boys 8–14, homeschool history curriculum, students studying Ancient Rome and the Gallic Wars, and reluctant readers who connect with action-first historical fiction. For fans of Eagle of the Ninth, Percy Jackson, and classical military adventure.

📚 Grab your copy of Eagle's Edge: The Making of a Soldier (Book 1): https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Thursday. Follow us everywhere you listen!

00:00:00 — Caesar drops his hand — five thousand men advance
00:00:45 — Marcus in formation at dawn on the Arar River
00:04:00 — The formation enters the water
00:05:30 — The Helvetii horn sounds
00:07:00 — "Release pila" — the river battle begins
00:11:00 — The line breaks — close combat in the current
00:13:30 — "I've killed a man"
00:16:00 — A Helvetii woman attacks — Marcus loses his gladius
00:20:30 — The Helvetii break — reaching the western bank
00:22:00 — The shaking begins on dry ground
00:27:00 — Petronius: "The shaking stops eventually. The dreams don't."
00:27:45 — Lucius: "You didn't run."
00:29:30 — Eight men reform and march
00:33:15 — CH 6 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

In Chapter 5, Jim boards the Hispaniola for the first time. The ship is alive with sailors, strange smells, and the barely controlled chaos of a vessel preparing to cross an ocean. Long John Silver takes him under his wing — teaching knots, sharing sea stories, calling him "matey" like they've sailed together for years. But Billy Bones warned Jim about a one-legged sailor. And Silver only has one leg.

Treasure Island is the classic Robert Louis Stevenson pirate adventure — retold. Perfect for boys 8–14, homeschool read-alouds, road trips, and reluctant readers who connect with action-driven chapter books about pirates, treasure, and the open sea. 

For fans of the original Stevenson, Peter Pan, and classic pirate retellings.

📚 Grab your copy of Reed Sterling's latest books on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Wednesday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — Jim Boards the Hispaniola
00:02:30 — The Deck Is Controlled Chaos
00:08:30 — Summoned to the Great Cabin
00:10:45 — Captain Smollett's Three Concerns
00:19:15 — Setting Sail at Dawn
00:19:45 — All Hands Weigh Anchor
00:21:45 — The Last Lines to England Drop
00:24:15 — Silver Teaches Jim the Ropes
00:28:15 — Nowhere to Run on the Open Sea
00:30:00 — CH 6 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.

In Chapter 13, the team makes their most dangerous crossing yet — an open field at night, nothing but moonlight and Thistle’s star map to guide them. Halfway across, a shrew takes Silas. Cinder goes after the predator with nothing but a seed husk. The fight is short, brutal, and only one of them walks away breathing.

Colony in Danger is a fire ant survival adventure — Cinder Marlowe and his scout team fight their way through a meadow where the predators are real, the stakes are mortal, and one wrong step ends everything.

Each chapter runs 20–30 minutes of serialized adventure fiction — cliffhanger-driven and built for boys who want the real thing. Perfect for boys 8–14, reluctant readers who connect with action-first stories, and homeschool families looking for substantive adventure fiction. For fans of Watership Down, the Warriors series, and Empires of the Undergrowth.

Grab your copy of Colony in Danger: The Fire Ant Kingdom (Book 1) — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

New chapters every Tuesday. Follow us now!

00:00:00 — Cinder Leads the Crossing at Night
00:03:30 — On Three, We Run
00:04:00 — The Shrew Strikes
00:05:45 — Cinder Fights Back
00:08:00 — Still Alive
00:11:30 — The Hard Choice
00:14:15 — The Pill Bug Mounds
00:18:15 — Silas Was Already Gone
00:20:00 — CH 14 — What Comes Next

Send us Fan Mail

I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including:

- Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure

- Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure

- Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier

- Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation

- Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory

📚 All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ

📖 Wanna check out all five series for yourself?  Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group

Thank you for listening!  This is Reed Sterling.  Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.