CONTINUUM paperbacks are now in stock! Get your personalized, signed paperback of Continuum (or any of my books) at gsjennsen.com/store.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Musings on Alex and Heroism
Alex isn't your typical SFF heroine. Miriam and Mia are better leaders. Caleb and Malcolm are better warriors. Eren is a better antihero.
She doesn't give rousing, inspirational speeches to the troops who adore her before leading them into battle on her mighty metaphorical steed. She's introverted, cranky, impatient, dismissive, often exasperated and at times disagreeable.
But she's magnificent. Saving everyone with a grumble and a curse and damn well doing it her own way.
Why am I waxing poetic about Alex this particular morning? Because hidden deep down in the comments on the giant spiral galaxy thread, Sue Dorton gave Alex one of the best compliments she's ever received, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of you: 🥰💞
"I have read thousands of books. Met many characters that have stayed with me, but never before developed such an in-depth relationship with one that I know what her reactions would be. Alex has truly taken on a life of her own that is far beyond fleshing out her character. Now, before your new readers think I’m crazy all I can say is you just have to meet Alex💕"
*
Originally posted on Facebook.
Is This the Biggest Spiral Galaxy in the Universe?
We're probably not in a position to judge on the UNIVERSE scale, granted. But it's definitely BIG. 4x wider than the Milky Way, in fact.
One thing that caught my eye about this article is how it brings home the scale of the universe. In Amaranthe, the Asterions' Gennisi Galaxy (aka Messier 94) is 5 megaparsecs from the Milky Way, and that feels like a long way away. Using superluminal (but not wormhole) propulsion, it took the Asterions 200 years to reach it.
UGC 2885, though, is SEVENTY megaparsecs away, and it's referred to in the article as "close by." Which, when you're talking about the universe, it is. #boggle 😱
It also strikes me as a decent location for the Rasu homeworld...🤔
Download a giant high-res version of the image here.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Raymond Chandler on Science Fiction
I give you the inestimable master Raymond Chandler on Science Fiction: 🤨😂🤣
#itsfunnybecauseitsalmostsortoftrue #sometimes
Note: This is absolutely NOT an excerpt from CONTINUUM, I promise.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/they-pay-brisk-money-for-this-crap.html?m=1
New Year / New Decade
I know I'm a few days late with the whole new year/new decade thing, sorry about that. I had book stuff to do.😎 But now we're in the 2020s, and this had damn well better be the decade where some mind-blowing technological advances happen. With that in mind--
Which of the following do you think we are MOST LIKELY to have in 2030:
⚡️(1) A fully functioning lunar base, where astronauts live and work on the surface for 6+ months at a time and (rich) tourists visit.
⚡️(2) Boots on Mars, and not the robotic kind.
⚡️(3) Effective anti-aging/life-extension medication or treatments - not to make us immortal (yet), but to extend our *healthy* lifespan well into the 100s.
⚡️(4) Practical brain-computer interfaces - chips in our brains, or at least subcutaneous/on-skin hardware that communicates with our brains.
⚡️(5) Discovery of microbial alien life in our solar system and/or confirmation of a clear technological signature (advanced alien life) out there.
Let me know your answer in the comments, and feel free to expound!
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Originally posted on Facebook.
Ad Astra Review
I very rarely post critical takes on entertainment fare. If I don't care for an offering, I just don't mention it. But this movie evoked so much dismay, bewilderment and frustration, I simply have to vent somewhere.
Spoilers for Ad Astra follow, I guess. ¯\_(?)_/¯
The first act of the film consisted primarily of Brad Pitt trying to out-stoic Ryan Gosling in First Man (a mistake, because no one wil EVER out-stoic Ryan Gosling in First Man), accompanied by a Blade Runner-esque voiceover that, despite being delivered by Brad Pitt, managed to be both dull and depressing.
The film spent the next hour hodgepodging all the films it wanted to be but didn't have the energy to commit to. One part Gravity, one part The Expanse, two parts Interstellar, and a disturbingly three parts Blade Runner 2049 (again with the Gosling worship). I honestly would not have been surprised if the big twist was that Pitt's character was a replicant
The first time the film got interesting was when Pitt's stoic shell cracked and he showed an iota of emotion on Mars - then it was immediately disrupted by a bizarre Bruce Lee kung fu sequence in space.🤨
Then we're briefly back to Interstellar, except Pitt got cranky because he didn't have one of those 'long nap' pods like Mcconaughey did.
For the final act, the film chose the cinematic masterpiece Event Horizon as its primary inspiration.🥺 Thankfully, a river of blood never swept through the ship passageways, but I kept expecting it to right up until the credits rolled.
Every time Tommy Lee Jones came on screen, #MrJennsen started quoting Marlon Brando...something about 'being an errand boy sent by grocery clerks.'🙄
Finally, we were treated to a couple of lovely shots of Neptune and some stoic family drama. Then Pitt returned home to be reunited with Liv Tyler like this was Armageddon or something, except without the rousing Aerosmith soundtrack to make it feel poignant.
Maybe the film is just a B-grade attempt at an Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness retelling in space, and that's all there is to it. I just know I suddenly have the urge to watch the many films that it strove and failed to be. In fact, I think I hear #MrJennsen putting on Apocalypse Now in the other room as we speak.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Happy Holidays
CHEOPS Away
ESA's CHEOPS spacecraft launched this week. We're about to learn a LOT more about exoplanets.
CHEOPS stands for the Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite. It’s a partnership between ESA and Switzerland, with 10 other EU states contributing. Its mission is not to find more exoplanets, but to study the ones we already know of.
It’ll watch as these exoplanets transit in front of the star, the same way we’ve found most of the exoplanets we’ve discovered to date. But CHEOPS will be focusing on the dips in starlight with a specific intent: to find the planets’ size.
Originally posted on Twitter.
The Expanse Season 4 Musings
I finished watching The Expanse Season 4 Tuesday night. A few SPOILER-FREE random and whimsical thoughts:
Every scene is 10x better when Miller is in it. Thomas Jane is an underrated actor, and Miller might be his seminal role.
Amos, am I right? Who knew the asshole sociopath would worm his way into our hearts?
I often felt like I was in Mass Effect Andromeda, only purple instead of blue.
Politics...too long to go a few centimeters. I mean, I'm all about a mutli-book arc (seriously), but...sigh.
It turns out that sometimes, friendship IS more important than sex!
Delusional narcissism is the most base form of crazy. But it is an effective form.
Bobbie Draper is really, REALLY tall. (Legitimately so, as apparently Frankie Adams is also really, really tall.)
Alex: Quiet all season, until BOOM. CONVERSATION.
Chrisjen Avasarala is a masterpiece character. Even when handed a weak, meandering storyline, the character remains extraordinary. Uncomfortable and layered in many curse-laden shades of gray, but extraordinary.
Redemption arcs. Redemption arcs everywhere!
Amazon clearly cut the show's budget. Too many dark landscapes and cramped interiors, too little majesty of space. Alas.
*
Originally posted on Facebook.
A Geek's Guide to Continuum
I told myself I wasn't going to do one of these for CONTINUUM. There are *so many* scenes, and I've already plumbed the depths of the Geek lexicon pretty thoroughly. But then I was sitting on the couch one evening, and the perfect title for one scene popped in my head unbidden. And here we are.😌
Yes, this one is heavy with Buffy and LOTR references. I am okay with this.
Color Key (listen carefully, as our menu options have changed):
DARK BLUE: Alex / Caleb / Nika
LIGHT BLUE: Humans
PURPLE: Asterions
GREEN: Anadens
PINK: Other Aliens
Originally posted on Facebook.
Poster Wall Reorg Redux
Time for another poster wall reorg!
...and now I once again have a whole bunch of empty wall space to fill....
#MrJennsen reminded me that back when I first told him of my plans for Amaranthe beyond Aurora Rhapsody, he commented (with only a trace of snark) that if I'd told him about those plans from the beginning, he could have arranged the wall correctly the first time and saved himself a lot of extra work.
Extra work he has now done anyway, because he ❤️ me. And ❤️ my books. 😊
Originally posted on Facebook.
Clouds Up Close
NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this impressive image revealing a band of swirling clouds in Jupiter's northern latitudes during Juno’s close flyby on Nov. 3, 2019. Small pop-up storms can also be seen rising above the lighter areas of the clouds, most noticeably on the right side of the image.
This view provides scientists with high-resolution details — the spacecraft skimmed approximately 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops at the time it was taken.
Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson created this enhanced color image using data from the JunoCam camera. It was taken on Nov. 3, 2019 at 2:13 p.m. PST (5:13 p.m. EST) at a latitude of about 38 degrees north.
Originally posted on Twitter.
How Huge?
You Cannot Conceive of the Hugeness of This Black Hole
I don't know, I can conceive of a lot....🤨
Still, 2.5% of the entire mass of the Milky Way IS pretty damn big. I am properly impressed. And just might write about it one day.
Originally posted on Facebook.
A Launch Sunrise
Sunrise behind the SpaceX Falcon 9 before its launch of the CRS-19 resupply mission to the ISS on Thursday. Shot by Ben Cooper: http://www.launchphotography.com/
Originally posted on Twitter.
Continuum Update
Told ya. 😎
And I'm not *quite* done adding words yet, which means so long as not too many end up on the cutting-room floor, CONTINUUM will in fact be the longest book since Starshine. 🎉🎉🍻
I just thought you'd like to know.😋
[EDITORIAL NOTE]: This is the reason for the sparse posting on Supermassive Black Holes of late. I’m eating, sleeping and breathing Continuum, and everything else has fallen by the wayside - including but definitely not limited to social media posts. Regular posting will resume soon…ish.
[EDITIORIAL NOTE #2]: The word count is now 136,210.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Victories
Aurora Rising - No, Not That One
When Random House released a YA sci-fi book titled "Aurora Rising" a few months ago to great fanfare and many press releases, I didn't make a big deal about it - I don't think I even mentioned it on social media. Titles are not copyrightable, so there was zero I could have done about it from a legal or public relations perspective. It wasn't even the first book titled "Aurora Rising" to come out in sci-fi since I completed the trilogy (that honor goes, I believe, to the renaming of Alastair Reynolds' "The Prefect" to "Aurora Rising" about 2 years ago).
I received the 1-star review posted on below on Vertigo a few days ago (just saw it this morning): https://www.amazon.com/…/R2IVQJYX…/ref=cm_cr_othr_d_rvw_ttl…. Now, authors are NOT supposed to publicly respond to reviews, negative or otherwise (as a matter of custom and propriety - there's no Amazon rule against it). But I did it anyway.
I Just. Couldn't. Help. Myself.
Note: since posting this on Facebook, the outpouring of support has been tremendous. In addition to people commenting on the review chiding the poster, readers have reported it for abuse dozens of times. I don’t know if Amazon will eventually will remove it, but the support everyone has shown has been worth so much more.
The Size of Space
Take 30 seconds and right-click until you feel suitably insignificant and overawed: https://neal.fun/size-of-space/
"A new website called “The Size of Space” illustrates how incomprehensibly vast the cosmos are.
As you scroll to the side, the site takes you on a journey from the size of an astronaut all the way up to the entire observable universe. As the scale ramps up, from spacecraft to moons to planets and onward, the smaller objects become tiny dots before vanishing altogether." Via Futurism.
Originally posted on Facebook.
Whoosh
To paraphrase Douglas Adams, I love the whooshing sound 100,000 words make as they fly by.💨😋
Originally posted on Facebook.
Jupiter In Motion
Astonishing. 😯😍🌟
Video created using images from the Juno spacecraft by Kevin Gill (https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1184860953587793920).
https://youtu.be/KhG5nXJLW4M