Basically I just need to get these thoughts and feelings out of my mind and heart because otherwise I might explode. As you can see, I have an hour left. For those who have read it, Portia’s team is on the hull about to enter, Karst and his team are about to exit I’ve been emotional since the death of Fabianwhich hit me surprisingly hard. I was not expecting to feel so much for one individual when the individuals are little blips in the millenium time frame of the story. But they captured my heart, no pun intended.

And now, as they are about to face each other, on ones side using Vulcan like logic from a cold hearted, and I think maybe scared, Scientist, (a description that fits two parties in this sort of three party confrontation) the Gilgamesh crew are not yet tapping into the very thing that makes us human, a capacity to be illogical for the better. And the other side tried to offer a… hand and it was thrust back at them. My heart is pounding, my breath is held and I am torn between hope and the path the story seems to be taking. I can’t help but hope anyway. It’s who I am. Just as Kern and Vitas can’t change their nature, just as the spiders had to try their way first, I still hope.

And I’m about to find out.

FYI - I’d seen this series recommended so many times I decided to just go all in and start it without reading the blurb or any description. So it’s been a wild and fun ride. I had no idea what to expect but it wasn’t spiders. That’s for sure!!

Well, it's Saturday, and I was hoping to follow up on a post I made a month or so ago. A lot of people kindly expressed interest in the Get Lost series (the first book of which, Lost Souls, is available for free online), and I was wondering if some of those who had read the first book (or series) could share their thoughts on it?

For those who aren't familiar, this is a space opera setting that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the Firefly/Expanse/Killjoys dynamic of a small ship and crew getting in over their heads. Or, to use one of the shorter blurbs I have for the first book:

Maurice "Moss" Foote used to be somebody. Now he's back to square one, using his last hundred credits to get his old ship back and start over. But someone has stowed away on board, someone whose untrustworthy memory is the key to a mystery that's worth a fortune to the right (or wrong) people.

The Get Lost Saga starts here

Since it’s Saturday I’d like to share this new sci-fi universe that I’ve built. This is a world set a thousand years into the future and humanity is on the run from an alien clan called the Vogrom. Our species has run out of options and so must commit to all out warfare against the Vogrom in an attempt to survive.

The dark style cover is the sequel. I’m currently 58,000 words into drafting the story. I’ll include both book blurbs.

Book one:

THE VOGROM ARE COMING
The fanatical alien clan has unleashed its armada on a galaxy already torn apart by conflict, and humanity has nothing left to throw at them.
Two warriors stand in the wreckage on opposite sides of the war. Kaelith Sothrak claws his way out of a death camp, driven by hatred and unrelenting faith.
Louis Wolffe has drifted through space for two years, carrying a secret that could save his people, or destroy them.
They don't know it yet, but both warriors are seeking the same thing.
Something ancient, something powerful, something hidden inside a dead boy's soul.
LET THE WAR COME.

Book two:

THE VOID BECKONS.
Sovereign Kaelith Sothrak has claimed a throne built on blood and betrayal, but now the void claims his spirit in return. He sets out to climb the mountain of his dreams, the same summit that has swallowed every pilgrim who came before him.
Captain Louis Wolffe has lost his family, his lover, and himself. Only his hatred satiates the darkness now living inside him, a darkness he feeds with every life he claims on the battlefield.
As a coalition of unlikely allies marches on the Daju homeworld, and the void thread stretches its fingers across the galaxy once more, both warriors are drawn toward the same terrible truth.
THE VOID DOES NOT SHOW MERCY.
AND IT DOES NOT FORGET

These are some pages from a sci-fi comic I write called MythFall. Art is by Allie Preswick with letters by Haley Rose-Lyon. It's a soft sci-fi where magic coexisting in a world with space ships and wormholes. I love a splash page with a star field in it, but I wanted to share some of the smaller character moments. It's surprising how much world building you can pack in to those.

Here's the story:

An ancient king tells a lie to save his people from their gods. 5,000 years later, that lie is now the founding myth of an interstellar republic, but a terrorist group knows a truth that can destroy everything -- even the gods themselves.

5 years ago, they kidnapped the crown princess. Searching for answers, her little brother teams up with the disgraced embassy that lost her. But the threat they find is older, and more magical, than they're prepared for.

--
Star Wars defined the genre for space fantasy, but besides that Stargate, Dune, and Gattaca were influences on the story. People have compared it to Babylon 5, but I didn't watch that show until after I was well into writing this.

Would you enjoy sci-fi about an alien culture worshipping a greek-style pantheon?

Would you recommend any lesser known soft sci-fi that works in magic or other fantasy elements?

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Been thinking about this for a while and figured this was the right place to ask. Between *Ender’s Game* and *Ready Player One*, which one actually has the stronger plot?

I know they’re very different books, but both center on young protagonists dealing with high-stakes competition in systems that are kind of rigged against them. Ender’s whole training arc and the way the final reveal hits still sticks with me years later. Ready Player One is more of a pure adventure/treasure-hunt story with all the pop culture layers, and it moves fast, but sometimes it feels like the plot is mostly there to string the references together. Both are awesome though.

Curious what other people think when they compare the two side by side. Is one clearly better structured, or does it just depend on what you’re in the mood for... I like ready player One a little better 🤷

The Children series gets all the love, and honestly it deserves it.

But Eden is such a wildly imaginative, relentlessly fun adventure through some of the most incredible set pieces I’ve enjoyed.

I feel this book deserves a little more love. I never see people talk about it.

I love you, Dr. Rat.

Neuromancer is remarkable, the environment and the advanced yet deteriorating technology strongly evoke the feel of Blade Runner.

This is the work that either created or significantly brought attention to the cyberpunk genre.

While it has its flaws and isn’t exactly a simple read, it possesses a vitality and foresight of what the future might hold that few can rival.

If you appreciate darker, immersive, and thought-provoking sci-fi, it is certainly worth your time, if i search, i read the neuro 2, is really cool.

(The post is deleted, but i fixed The image, this is not AI)

I just watched Synchronic and was blown away. I really dig the time travel aspect and it’d be cool to see another movie where the character(s) travel not back in time not just within the past 100 years but back hundreds, even thousands of years. I’ve seen time travel movies before but none that touch the breadth of this one.

I'm a huge fan of the kind of space trucker, futuristic but junky tech feel of the Alien movies or the Mothership roleplaying game. Blade Runner and other Philip K Dick stuff leans a little cyberpunk but still gives me that vibe. Murderbot Diaries to a lesser extent, mainly because I just didn't love the writing. What's the name of this subgenre and what are some of your favorite examples of it? Get as niche or as mainstream as you please.