I thought the book was entertaining, though it did have more potential than it lived up to, which I guess is the writer's fault. I'd still read the sequels. I like the inventive flora and fauna and am curious to see what he comes up with next. My favorites were the tall stick creatures that ate the light. Seriously, who thinks of that? So perhaps his strength is off the wall ideas but not so much putting them together in an elegant way.
I'd say the writing was somewhat raw and underdeveloped. Where he did develop it, I was, as several of you have mentioned, disappointed. John, oh John. So flawed. But is he a more realistic character because of it? Of course we want our heroes to be the strong and untainted leaders that the highlights of history describe, but in reality, they weren't without faults either, so John's relentless focus on the one thing he's good at makes him more human to my mind. In fact, everyone is flawed. That's probably the most Earthling-like quality they have. Tina bases her personality on her relationships with men rather than herself, though I like that she is at least strong enough to stand up to John when he wants to be monogamous. It's not exactly practical. And she's nothing if not practical. The characters were disappointing in that they were pretty one dimensional, having one main flaw and one main strength to define them. I am hoping perhaps in the sequels they might be developed more. Jeff is definitely my favorite! His flaws are mostly physical. Personally, I don't think thinking on a different plane than others is a flaw, though the characters in the book thought he was a weirdo for a long time. He didn't let anyone's opinions fluster him and stood up for his ideas. I guess I think he was probably the strongest character.
I know there have been many comments made on the double speak word emphasis, and I agree that I'm not sure where it would have come from except perhaps popped up randomly during childhood and adopted. However, the rest of the language is adapted from Earth, and I don't see why they would have dropped very, either. It was a nice attempt at an evolution of a distinct separation in language, but I don't think it worked. Why would the earliest people there just stop saying very? It's such a common word in our vocabulary that it doesn't make sense. Then again, they stop teaching the kids to read and write in order for them to gather food. I think there's a huge connection to reading and language, so perhaps the language is becoming more simplistic and warped in relation to the lack of literacy in the newest generations. It's not like anyone is sitting around writing books for them.
I'm kind of surprised that they didn't have more or mention more and different birth defects. That kind of inbreeding seems like it would create all sorts of problems beyond cleft palates and club feet. Sure, they mention maybe one baby dying from a severe cleft palate, but come on. Look at all the interesting examples from history we have. Mental weakness, physical deformities, sterility, hemophilia, elongated skulls...I'm not looking for a bunch of gruesome babies or anything, but I wonder why he limited things just to two major deformities. I think it would have been interesting to see what kind of response there would have been to blood conditions where you don't stop bleeding even from a small cut, or weird elongated skulls, or men/women who were unable to have babies. It seems like EVERY woman was able to reproduce! There's so much material there.
I really enjoyed the setting. The planet was so unique. Trees that produce light? Even when you cut the branch of, the flowers continue to produce light. I wonder if they last as long as blossoms in a vase and then fade in the same way? I can't imagine a planet in complete darkness, dependent on the heat of the core and the life that supports. What is the planet orbiting? Is it a black hole? Is that even a thing that happens? Is it a rogue planet just zooming through the universe? So many questions. The creatures were great. I enjoyed every one he described. I loved that they created "horses."
I could say so much more but I think I've rambled enough
When will you have it?
I am intrigued and will probably read the sequels, something about the story is sticking to me...
This is a proud, controlling, miserable man in the making. I could see him killing someone very easily (I was worried he was going to kill Jeff 
) for questioning his authority or getting in his way. Because of this, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to follow him. It was a bit of a stretch that suddenly all these disgruntled teenagers would throw their lives away to march into the unknown cold and risk their lives, with John as a leader. 
That was both fascinating and really hard to read about. 
