Author name: gardensofhansen@hotmail.com

Who was the first nova of science fiction? Early writers dedicated to science fiction generally started as pulp fiction writers. Some developed into talented authors. One of these writers was e.e. Doc Smith. I first became acquainted with Edward Elmer Smith (aka E.E. Smith or E.E. “Doc” Smith) while riding trains in Tokyo. I spent a couple of hours a day commuting on mass transit and discovered Kinokuniya’s, a large bookstore with hundreds of English novels from all sorts of genres. I reread books by Robert Heinlein but wanted something new. What I found was the Skylark Series written by e.e. Doc Smith. He started writing the first of the three books in 1919, but did not get it published until the late 1920s. It was a series of adventure yarns set in space. What I remember most about the books, other than their entertainment value, was the limited breadth of the plot. In the first novel the protagonist saves the Solar System, in the second he saves the Galaxy, and in the third he saves the Universe. Hard to go on from there 😊 In the 1930’s he started an even more popular series, the Lensman series. This series was again a fun adventure series with a space police force. He stopped focusing on scientific futurism and narrowed his target to adventures set in space. They were also fun to read, and better written. In fact, they came in second to the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov as the best science fiction series of all time. Interestingly, none of Smith’s novels have yet to be converted to the big or small screen. Ron Howard tried to develop a film as late as 2008, but plans were eventually scrapped. Too expensive.

Nostalgia is sweet. We generally remember only to good when reflecting on the past. That is not always the case, but more often than not we have positive memories of the past. As a science fiction nut my early memories of my pre-teen years tied strongly to Robert Heinlein and Edgar Rice Burroughs among others. Heinlein did a wonderful job of creating a universe focused on our own Solar System. It was alive with strange characters from Venus and Mars. Venus was a swampy world with non-fire breathing dragons who were much smarter than us, but also less mobile. Mars had strange characters that I always thought of as small garbage cans with extrusions for mobility and handling their ray guns that were more like octopus arms than actual arms and legs. Edgar Rice Burroughs did write a series of novels about Venus but his greatest science fiction series had to be John Carter of Mars. Mars was a dying world with its water canals drying up and ongoing wars between three factions. The movie John Carter of Mars did not really catch the vision, but movies rarely do. I was severely disappointed in my teenage years to learn that Venus had an environment that was totally toxic, and Mars had no water at all; dead worlds or rocks with all life limited to creative writers. Again, things change. Now there is a theory being advocated that there is a form of life on Venus, but alive in the swirling clouds of that world. And Mars? Mars has tremendous oceans of water. Much like Heinlein’s vision, most of the water is trapped underground, although he did have at least one surface river. He might have been wrong on that part. The challenge is accessing the water as it appears to be 7-15 miles under the surface. At a random spot, drilling would be challenging even on Earth, but getting the infrastructure to tap water on Mars might be problematic. But wait. Who says there aren’t some sort of caves and caverns that might bring access to the water much closer, and possible to access. That is an unknown for now. Just as science dashed my hopes for an adult life exploring the solar system, it now again brings hope of water and life back into the picture. The future for exploration and discovery is again in front of us. Rather than desolation and disappointment, the future can hold optimism and life beyond our own planet’s surface. I’m fascinated to see what science decides about our solar system in another 40 years. martian-landscape-two-SBV-305347535-HD

William Joshua Ryder, known throughout the series simply as Ryder is the protagonist of the Orion’s Spur series. We are introduced to Ryder at age 15. He is a fringe member of the school society or in this case a skater. The other main group introduced in what is really a preface to the story are the cowboys. Ryder has gained the eye of a cowboy and class bully, Barry Hales. Barry is a high school football star in the making, Ryder is more cerebral. At a school dance a confrontation goes awry and Ryder winds up in the hospital. The result of this incident is far reaching. First, Ryder is transferred to another school with his sister Debbie and his crush, Cynthia Flores. This leads to a trip to Europe, not not really, as they are kidnapped and taken to a world 100 light years from Earth, Demeter. Ryder starts to develop in Demeter where his assignment as a conscripted Earthling is to work in strategic gaming and planning. As he builds confidence, he also develops into a natural leader among his five friends who are also in Demeter. As the series progresses his coming of age journey continues to expand in a galaxy of conflicting parties (Sagittarius and Perseus arms of the galaxy) with Orion’s Spur caught in between. He unravels mysteries, threats, and attempts on his life. How does this character grow up? That is one of the major elements of the book series. One thing I was proud of in writing this series is that it also follows the growth of his sister, Cynthia, and his two friends Randy and Joel, as each has their own story. Ryder’s impact on those who want to do him harm is another interesting twist to the story, which in many ways is my favorite part of the book. The first three books are set in Demeter (the inside of an asteroid the size of Ceres, where an entire world exists). The books move on to Haumeah and finally into both the Perseus and Sagittarius arms of the galaxy.

Earlier I discussed the earliest(at least to me) science fiction writers who influenced how I think of writing. Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson were great writers for both science fiction and adventure. For me H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs are the next significant writers in the science fiction genre. H.G. Wells was an educator and futurist. His works often involved identifying and writing about future trends and concepts. When I think of his writing that I am most familiar with I think literature rather than pulp writing. Some of his books can be and were used in English classes. His titles include such classics as “The Invisible Man”, “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, “The War of the Worlds” and “The First Men in the Moon”. If the far fetched premise of some of his novels is unbelievable (at the time) he overcomes those objections by writing the story in a manner that is otherwise believable with strong characters. Edgar Rice Burrough on the other hand is sheer fantasy and fun. His series such as Tarzan and John Carter are delightful reading at least for young male readers. His protagonists are always strong and heroic in colorful settings. I was always a fan of the John Carter series and Pellucidar. His stories are fun to read with memorable characters, but great literature? or would they even find a publisher today? Probably not. Nonetheless, a guilty pleasure. When I watch movies, some films are so fun, and the characters so delightful that I can watch them over and over again. That is Burroughs. Some films are events with great acting and important stories that I know I must see at least once, but am okay with not seeing again. That is H.G. Wells.

Avoid peeling out with rhino snot I ran across an interesting article this morning that was both interesting and made me smile. As theoretical plans for building permanent Moon bases continues an issue I had not thought of before has arisen. Peeling out and wheelies come to mind as it is described. Apparently the Moon is covered in regolith. I wasn’t sure what regolith was so I looked it up, it is loose rock, gravel and in the Moon’s case lots and lots of dust. The small craft that have landed and later relaunched from the Moon dealt with this without a problem because they were light weight and didn’t create a massive disturbance. But it could present a problem for the larger craft that are envisioned for future Moon landings tied to permanent bases. So how do you clear that away to get to bedrock? or do you? One approach involves robots building a landing pad made of….. regolith. At the bottom of the article I share is an interesting demonstration video that shows how it would be done. I found it interesting and hope you do as well. https://www.yahoo.com/news/build-landing-launch-pads-moon-100041474.html

I published Demeter 10 years ago, with the subsequent four novels of the series following. One of my readers once suggested that the central character in Demeter was similar to Ender in “Ender’s Game”. I had heard of the Orson Scott Card novel, but had never read it, so I was interested. Yes, there are some similarities between the two characters of Ender and Ryder. They both are simulation geniuses, but I think the comparison ends there. One of Ryder’s chief character flaws is a tendency to over trust and see positive outcomes. Rather than destroying a culture he focuses on bringing peace between two warring factions. My knowledge of the Ender character is limited as I still have not read the books, but only seen the movie which was a bit disappointing; I’m sure the books are better. Ryder’s forward motion and coming of age journey includes repeated beat downs, but also the development of the supporting cast, his friends. His sister Debbie is in many ways the most interesting character as she is extremely overconfident, but also talented. She brings a lot of comic relief to the storyline. Cynthia is the grounded character who is Ryder’s love interest. Two close friends from Earth, brothers Randy and Joel expand and grow especially as the series hits its midpoint. Rebecca is a counterpoint, friend to Debbie and thoughtful. Ryder’s story also delves into how we treat other people, even those who treat us poorly. The issue of bullying takes a different twist, with far different outcomes. Overall the journey of Ryder in Demeter is one of optimism and adventure. An ironic twist to the Enders Game versus Demeter question is that my wife is a cousin of Orson Scott Card.

When I was a young teenager delighting in the works of Robert Heinlein the interplanetary exploits of his characters didn’t fare well with astronomy at the time. I remember to my great disappointment hearing that there was no water anywhere in the solar system except on Earth and that there might not be any in the galaxy except on Earth. Frankly, with what we know today I think I simply read the wrong articles or news. Of course, almost a century later astronomers have a totally different take on water in the Solar System, in fact some scientific evidence suggests that Earth doesn’t even have the most water in our system. The under surface water of #Enceladus (moon of Saturn) may have an ocean that contains more water than all the oceans of Earth combined. I have a manuscript with a working title “Salt of the Earth” completed and have plans for a follow-up that uses the ocean of Enceladus as a secondary setting for “Sea of Salt”. Note: Salt is the central character’s name. Enceladus is not the only source of water outside of Earth. Europa, Ganymede, Triton, Titan, Callisto, Dione, and even former planet Pluto have strong evidence of liquid water. Mars once had an ocean, but even in my youth people believed that Mars once had water. Now it appears that there is still some water on Mars, its just a matter of uncovering it. The latest (at least for me) water find is on our own Moon. Whether or not there is subterranean free flowing or ice water is yet to be confirmed, but the Chinese recently confirmed finding water molecules in the mid latitudes. We now believe there is ice/water at the South Pole of the Moon. Another interesting twist on the whole water issue comes from current theories about where Earth’s water actually came from. The most strongly held belief at this time is that Earth’s water came from water-rich asteroid collisions. Certainly not all the asteroids with frozen ice have already hit Earth. There are plenty more asteroids out there where these came from. That actually was a critical plot point in “Salt of the Earth”. No pre-sales on that manuscript though. I’m currently focusing on having just released the 10-year anniversary of the Orion’s Spur series book 1, Demeter. We have just released the entire 5-book series on #Audiblebooks.

I’ve been thinking about the stories I’ve written (5 published, 2 unpublished) and have realized that there are multiple writers who have influenced me in this genre. Today I want to discuss just a couple of what I’ll refer to as the ancients — Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson? #syfy ? Okay, Robert Louis Stevenson wasn’t really a science fiction writer, although he did write “The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde”. That could qualify on a technicality, but usually when I think of science fiction I’m thinking about futuristic adventures in outer space. And there was the keyword, #adventure. In the realm of science fiction dystopian fiction seems to be most popular right now with military science fiction close behind. My stories, published and unpublished focus on adventure and character development. So, I have to include Stevenson for such stories as #Kidnapped, and #TreasureIsland. Jules Verne is another writer who focuses on adventure with such great works as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, and In Search of the Castaways. It is hard not to get drawn into the worlds and characters he creates. So again thinking and reflecting, I have always stated that I write in the shadow of Robert Heinlein and his juvenile science fiction in particular. But Stevenson and Verne as as much an influence as my favorite 20th century writer Robert Heinlein… more on him in another post. Ray Bradbury stated quite accurately that “We are all, in one way or another the children of Jules Verne. I believe that is quite true with respect to science fiction in particular.

Hard to believe its ten years since I published the first volume of the Orion’s Spur series.  I first wanted to write science fiction when I was about 12 years old, but life happened.  Multiple stories floated around in my mind until I finally made the decision to simply start writing.  Once I started it was hard to stop.  The original story arc for Demeter was to be three books, but before I finished the first book the entire story arc evolved to five novels.   What inspired me?  Well, as far as writers go three come to mind with regard to Demeter.  Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, and Robert Louis Stevenson.  The concept of a group of teenagers naïvely thinking they were going on a study abroad program to Europe being kidnapped to a far away planetoid for a year of conscripted service felt original.  The story had a mystery to uncover, surprises and a certain amount of danger with a voyage of discovery mixed with ironic twists.  The other inspiration was my own five children.  They are very much on display in the story.  Ryder was modeled on my oldest son, who has since passed away, quiet, shy, and a bit dark.  Debbie, his younger sister is the most entertaining in fiction and in real life.  She is overconfident, and often the comic relief.  Much to the chagrin of her brother she is successful at her wild ideas more often than not.  She certainly made for great comic relief.  The bookworm, the athletes, the sibling rivalries all are part of the story and part of real life.  Why now?  The books were originally published starting 10 years ago.  Why now?  The books have now been converted to first, paperback and now audiobooks.  I was fortunate to get a great voice actor to do the books and he did a fantastic job.  I’ve listened to some of my favorite books recently and discovered how a great voice actor can bring a story to life or in one case destroy a favorite tale.  Matt is a winner.  He was on the very large cast and crew of Lord of the Rings when it was filmed and it shows.  Finally I love the series.  It makes me laugh and cry and I rarely do that when reading any book series.