hard sci-fi

Dropnauts is arriving in just two more weeks, so I thought I’d tease you a bit with another excerpt. 🙂 This one starts a century after The Stark Divide, and reveals what happened back on Earth. This week, Ally and Aidan: Ally and Aidan followed the yellow stripes of the old, crumbling two-lane highway through what had once been the Central Valley of California. Aidan imagined it full of cars, commuters rushing back and forth across the now-empty valley. The land here was mostly open, with small stands of the sky trees here and there. Grass had taken over the … Read more

Dropnauts is arriving in just two more weeks, so I thought I’d tease you a bit with another excerpt. 🙂 This one starts a century after The Stark Divide, and reveals what happened back on Earth. This week, Chen Tien, the medic: Her family was been enjoying a picnic on the Chinese side of Riverside Park. Tai had climbed up onto the bright red rail of the bridge. She perched on top, watching the clear water flow over the round pebbles below. It glistened and sparkled, murmuring its secrets to her. “Tai, get down from there!” Her mother’s strong arms … Read more

Dropnauts is arriving in just three weeks, so I thought I’d tease you a bit with another excerpt. 🙂 This one starts a century after The Stark Divide, and reveals what happened back on Earth. This week, Hera the pilot: The ending strains of Thus Spoke Zarathustra faded into the background as the Zhenyi settled into her new course. The ship would be on autopilot for two days as they hurtled toward the Launchpad. There was nothing more for Hera to do for a while. She pressed the releases on her biframe, pulling off the metal braces and tucking them … Read more

Dropnauts is, um, dropping in four weeks, so I thought I’d tease you a bit with an excerpt. 🙂 This one starts a century after The Stark Divide, and reveals what happened back on Earth: Chapter OneLaunch: 6.15.2282 O Earth! dost thou too sorrow for the pastLike man thy offspring? Do I hear thee mournThy childhood’s unreturning hours, thy springsGone with their genial airs and melodies,The gentle generations of thy flowers,And thy majestic groves of olden time,Perished with all their dwellers?—“Earth,” by William Cullen Bryant, from Poems From a Distant Earth, by Chen Tien We’re going home. Rai sweated inside his … Read more