science fiction

Library 3.0

As promised, I give you a finished (for now) library! And the best part is...we found a home for the book cover posters (with lots of room to grow). As is so often the case, it was Mr. Jennsen’s idea, because he's awesome.

By the way, has anyone seen our hardbacks of 2001 and Rendezvous With Rama? Maybe on the side of the highway somewhere Those are literally the only 2 items that we lost in the move from Montana-with-a-layover-in-an-apartment-and-storage-unit. (We finally gave up searching and ordered replacements, so they're in the pics - but those aren't the *right* copies....)

NOW it's a home.

Since many of you have inquired, the last 3 photos are zoom-ins of (1) science fiction, (2) near future scifi/cyberpunk, (3) science, computers and other nerdy non-fiction. Caveat: I've leaned pretty heavily on my Kindle these last 10 years, so my physical scifi collection is no longer as representative as I'd like it to be; I'll be working on rectifying that.

The Universe Within Update

And the first draft of THE UNIVERSE WITHIN is complete!!

It clocks in at 64,451 words, which is a hefty chunk considering all the [skipped scenes] and [vague notes and instructions] and [half finished chapters], lol. *motions at Alex and Caleb and all those rich, fully formed worlds and stories that burst to life wherever they go*

I don't think a story has come together this quickly since Abysm, which is really saying something. But boy, do I have a ton of work ahead of me. I was flinging brackets left and right as fast as I could type them, just to get the plot out of my head and onto the page.

So, yeah. Time to grab the fire extinguisher..

The Results Are In

You guys rock (of course, I already knew this ). Despite only being out for 3 weeks, THE THIEF won 2nd place in Discover Scifi's Best Sci-Fi Books of 2024 (So Far)! I could not be more thrilled. I adore this book so much, and it makes me happy to know you all do, too.

You can see the Top 10 here: https://discoverscifi.com/the-best-sci-fi-releases-of-2024-so-far/

Forge of God

Wow. This book. (Forgive the ratty, beat-up mass-market paperback, but used bookstores are awesome.) Yes, it took me until now to read it, and I regret that delay.

Haunting, at times grim and depressing (so be warned - this is not high action/adventure), but also an achingly beautiful love letter to our precious blue marble and the equally precious humans who inhabit it.

The Best Sci-Fi Books of 2024 (So Far)

My readers are the absolute best. THE THIEF has only been out for 2 weeks, but you've spoken up so much that it's now in the running for The Best Sci-Fi Book of 2024 (So Far) over at Discover Sci-Fi. And hey, Eren deserves every bit of recognition he gets (he would agree, I think).

If you're so inclined, head over and vote! https://discoverscifi.com/time-to-vote-first-half-of-2024-best-scifi/

Alex, what have you done?

It’s time for the occasionally annual celebration of the unofficial theme of the Amaranthe series:

This year, it struck me that this excerpt from INVERSION between Alex and Nika is rather on point.

Miriam wasn't on scene to exclaim "what have you done?" when Alex did this on Portal Prime in VERTIGO, but I'm pretty sure Caleb *thought* it, lol.

Of course, the answer to the question, "what have you done?" was "save everyone, obviously."

I wonder what utterly audacious stunt she's going to pull off in THE UNIVERSE WITHIN?

MisCon 2024

That's a wrap on another amazing MISCON (https://www.miscon.org/)! A huge thanks to Katie J Cross, the best friend and booth collaborator I could ask for, to Justin Barba for pulling off the herculean task of organizing a crazy, entertaining celebration, and to Robert Olson for keeping us all endlessly caffeinated and entertained. It was awesome to spend the weekend meeting readers, writers and fans of all things geeky, and hanging out with Kristine Endsley, Thomas Gondolfi, Hunter Cowles Wallace, Sanan Kolva, C E Chester, Grant Theron, and Peter Jones (I'm definitely forgetting some lovely people).

NOW, how about we do a "The Thief" launch this week?

(FYI: links are to Facebook profiles)

GS Watches TV and Movies, May Edition

(1) All the rumors were true. The Fallout TV show was pretty great. Maybe a little weird for people who haven't played any of the games? Maybe not. Delightfully silly, absurd and fun. Violent, sure, but frankly not as much as I expected. Lucy was pitch-perfect, the Ghoul was the villain we all love to hate, until we just love him, and even Maximus grew on me by the end.

(2) Shogun was beautiful, heartbreaking and haunting, but also uplifting in the end. It pulled no punches about the culture and practices of historical Japan, yet somehow made you fall in love with the place anyway. It didn't try to "update" the story for our modern sensibilities. It's been a long, long time since I read the book, but my sense is, it stayed pretty close to the source material.

(3) Godzilla Minus One was...sweet! It felt like an homage to the old Japanese Godzilla movies in the best ways, and didn't let its cautionary themes about the toil war takes overwhelm its story of the importance of found family. And, you know, killing Godzilla.

(4) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, though? Possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life. And I say this is an unashamed lover of terrible disaster and monster movies. It wasn't just nonsensical and boring. It was BAD.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of these! We all love (and hate) what we love (and hate).

Extinguishing The Stars

While I was waiting for the edits for The Thief to come back, I dashed out a new short story! I can't tell you much about it right now, except that (a) it is a prequel of sorts to the third Cosmic Shores novel (the title of which you will discover at the end of The Thief), while also being a completely stand-alone story, (b) I LOVE it, and (c) you'll be able to read it this fall.

10th Anniversary Celebration

Mr. Jennsen took me out to a lovely dinner this weekend to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Starshine's publication and the start of this crazy book journey. (You can read all about that HERE, if you missed it in the newsletter).

The many wonderful thoughts you all shared about my books and the ways they've impacted you absolutely bowled me over - my heart is full. I truly have the best readers in the multiverse. Thank you all so much!

And So It Begins (Again)

Season 1 of Babylon 5 has held up remarkably well,* and far better than I expected! The last time I rewatched - quite a few years ago - I remember thinking it looked and felt horribly dated, so I believe the remaster has made a ton of subtle improvements that create a much more watchable experience from a visual perspective.

These recent remasters (Farscape and The Abyss, along with B5) don't make the product look like a "new" show, but they do enough so that (except when heavy special effects are in use) you don't notice that it's an "old" show. Then, it's all about the story and characters.

And my goodness, this story. JMS really did know where he was going from the very beginning; that wasn't just PR puffed up after the fact to make the show seem more important.

Now, onward to Season 2, where shit gets real - but it's okay, because "Captain Sunshine" is on the job! (#MrJennsen's nickname for Sheridan.)

*It held up far better than Farscape Season 1, I'm afraid, which took 3/4 of the season for the script and the actors to get their feet under them and figure out what they were making here. Mind you, once they did, it quickly became a wonderful, delightfully weird and unexpectedly heartfelt show. Ben Browder and Claudia Black are even more amazing than I remembered, and...but this is a B5 post, not a Farscape one!

Update on The Thief

Hey, you all remember that next book I'm writing? The one with Eren in it and...that's all that really matters, right? Well, it hit its word count this week!

Where are we? Late in the first big editing pass. Is this book taking too long to write? Yes! It's not Eren's fault (how could it be). Sometimes RealLife™ is a bully. But I've got the book on the run now.

Sunlit

Story time!

I finished "The Sunlit Man" by Brandon Sanderson yesterday. After reading a short story of his in the "Galactic Empires" anthology and enjoying it, I decided it was time at last to read one of Sanderson's books. I chose "The Sunlit Man" because it has sci-fi elements mixed in with the usual helping of fantasy.

It was good! Not 5 stars, but an entertaining read. So last night, #MrJennsen and I are chatting about it, as two book lovers do.

Me: "It's ostensibly a stand-alone novel set in his Cosmere universe, but for a while I was doubting that assertion, as the MC kept referencing previous events in the universe.

"When I got to the Author's Note, I learned that the MC was a minor character in one or more other Cosmere books, and this was a one-off tale featuring him. I guess all the references were Easter Eggs for fans of his series. So basically, it's a stand-alone novel the way Medusa Falling is a stand-alone novel."

Mr Jennsen: *nods sagely*

Then I start talking about the plot of the book.

Me: "The MC arrives on this strange, unfamiliar planet. He's only planning on staying there for a hot minute, but events conspire to trap him on the planet. He falls in with a ragtag group of rebels, and of necessity starts to help them with their cause as a way for him to get off the planet.

"But over time, he comes to care for these people and realizes their cause is a just one, so he ends up throwing all in with them in a risky plan they hope will win freedom for themselves and others."

Mr. Jennsen: *stares sagely*

Me: "What?"

Mr. Jennsen: ...

Mr. Jennsen: "...So it's Medusa Falling."

Me: ...

Me: "...Yes."

***

PS: Not really, for every detail is different. The moral of this tale? Something all writers have to internalize eventually if they want to write fearlessly: every story has already been told; it's all in how you tell it.

SciFi in 2024

Hey, it's a new year! What are you excited about in the world of science fiction this year? The theatrical release of Dune: Part Two is the 800-lb gorilla, of course (and I'm excited), but it's hardly the only game in town.

How about the 3 Body Problem show on Netflix, or new seasons of the growing number of quality scifi shows on Apple+ (For All Mankind, Foundation, Silo, Invasion and more)?

Or books (we love those)! On tap is the first book in a brand-new series from James S. A. Corey ("The Mercy of Gods"), as well as at least two new novels from Adrian Tchaikovsky (the man is prolific AF) and a new Bobiverse novel, to name just a few.

So what do you have your eye on?