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Orion’s Spur – Demeter Free this weekend In July we were able to get all five of the Orion’s Spur books published on audible.com. So now, the series is available in e-book, paperback, and audio book formats. This weekend we are providing an opportunity for readers to experience the first book in the series in e-book format for free. Friday through Sunday you can get a free copy at It is also available for sale in paperback and audiobook from that site. I’ve been told that it’s a great story, although as the first book, a bit slow as it does world building. Let me assure you that the plot thickens and gets much more exciting as it goes on through books 2-5. In Demeter (book 1) William Joshua Ryder (Ryder), his wild younger sister Debbie, and their friends are kidnapped on a trip to Europe and taken light years from Earth to a planetoid, Demeter where two warring factions have been at war for over 10 millennia. The action and mystery moves forward as we begin to under the cultures and challenges of the peoples of the Orion Spur caught between two much larger arms of the galaxy. But why is someone trying to kill Ryder? And why were they picked to go to Demeter for a year? What do readers say? “I very much enjoyed this. I have been reading a fair number of coming of age novels lately and this is a good one with several good twists and even a few surprises. I enjoyed the sibling repartee. This is very much worth reading. But darn! I want the sequel NOW.” “Demeter is the beginning of an amazing story following the adventures of young William Ryder, known to his friends, and others, simply as Ryder. I loved reading this story that is both fast-paced and entertaining. It is a young adult science fiction romp that begins on Earth, but then becomes a space opera that includes some incredible vistas created by the author. He shares his visions with colorful and detailed descriptions that set a clear picture in the mind’s eye. In addition, there are a number of humanoid aliens included that add broader dimensions to this story. The most prominent characters include Ryder’s little sister, a girl he crushes on, and a pair of teachers the reader cannot be completely sure what they are about.” Books 2 and three are set in Demeter: Return to Demeter and Defending Demeter. We watch not only Ryder, but his sister and their friends and enemies evolved and develop. “This series continues to get better and better. In this second book of the series more and more of the puzzle pieces are coming together. The plot becomes more intricate and, fair warning, it becomes much harder to put the book down once you begin.” “Return to Demeter delivers an intense follow-up to the first story. Ryder’s journey is packed with twists as he and his friends return to Demeter to save Debbie. The stakes are higher, and the mysterious illness keeps you turning the pages. The suspense is well-paced, and the danger feels real. The characters grow, especially Ryder, and the new challenges add depth to their relationships. Fans of the first book will love this heart-racing adventure.” “This was another delightful installment. The intensity and intricacies of the plot continue to build as this series continues. Many of the characters are really coming more and more into their own as they face situations where they have to make decisions that they know will impact not only their own lives, but the lives of many others… and sometimes there simply is not a good choice. Courage. Foolhardiness. Deceit. Sacrifice. Second Chances. Honor. Fair Warning: Each book gets harder and harder to put down.” Books 4 and 5 develop characters and build new worlds as the plot takes Ryder in one direction and his sister in another. Ryder looks for allies in the Orion Spur in book 4. In book 5 he attempts to end the war between Sagittarius and Perseus arms of the galaxy before his time runs out. “This volume amps up the stakes for Ryder, both personally and professionally. His relationship with Cynthia feels authentic, especially when he has to meet her father. The mission through the asteroid field with Debbie was a highlight for me – full of tension and great visuals. I also appreciated how unpredictable the pirate negotiations were. If you’ve been following this series, this is another strong installment that builds up the tension for what’s to come.” “Haumeah, Volume 4 (Demeter) is packed with thrilling space action and complex relationships. I was hooked from the first chapter, with Ryder facing everything from meeting Cynthia’s father to negotiating with pirates in a dangerous asteroid field. Debbie’s flight scenes had me at the edge of my seat! The writing is fast-paced, and the story keeps you guessing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys space drama with great character moments.” “[Paragon’s Virtue} is an action-packed finale with a lot of heart. The choices Ryder must make are heavy, and the story raises important questions about sacrifice, leadership, and what it takes to end a war. It’s a smart, emotional, and exciting conclusion to the series that left me satisfied yet wanting more from this universe.” “[Paragon’s Virtue] brings the series to a stunning conclusion. The intergalactic conflict is massive, and Ryder’s role in trying to bring peace is compelling and full of tension. The book combines epic battles with introspective moments about the costs of war, making it a truly memorable read. Sci-fi fans should not miss this!” So what is the quid pro quo? Get the e-book for free. If you like it leave a review on Amazon. If you don’t like it… well I’m okay if you don’t leave a review 😊 The nice thing is that all five books are complete and available in whatever format you like to

Science continues to expand with respect to our galaxy. At one time the Milky Way was considered to have four major arms including Norma and Cygnus, Sagittarius, Scutum-Crux and Perseus. It also has several minor arms or spurs including Orion’s Spur which is the sector of the galaxy where Earth is located. More recent studies suggest that there are only two major arms: Scutum-Crux and Perseus with Norma and Cygnus and Sagittarius relegated to minor arms when considering the number of stars in those two arms. In the Orion’s Spur series, the major warring parties are from the Sagittarius arm on one side, and the Perseus arm on the second. From a sheer volume of populated stars recent studies would suggest that Sagittarius wouldn’t work as a superpower system. However, Number of stars was not a requirement for this conflict to develop. In the series it is pointed out that as a territorial dispute it is silly as both powers have far more stars in their system to explore than they do in Orion’s Spur, and the 10,000 years war has curtailed exploration and development in both arms and the Spur. How many stars are in each of the Sagittarius and Perseus, and Orion’s Spur for that matter? Billions. But it is currently impossible to refine that number further. For example, the estimate for total stars in our galaxy ranges from 100 billion to 400 billion stars. That spread clearly points out that the answer is… we don’t know. Orion’s Spur is about 10,000 light years long and 4,000 light years across. Guesses range from 500 million to more than a billion stars. As large as that sounds, the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 across its axis. Another intriguing question is whether part of the outer arm of the Milky Way is being drawn away by yet another galaxy. To me, a more relevant issue is the limited number of planets with interstellar travel in Orion’s Spur the series. The three main hubs that support interstellar repair facilities are not even traditional planets. One facility is hosted by Demeter, which is a small planet or large asteroid with a center that has been terra formed. Haumeah was once a planet that destroyed itself. The culture there now is developed in an asteroid belt caused by the explosion. Samar isn’t even an asteroid as it is entirely artificial. It is revealed that there are other planets that have developed early stage interstellar travel, but only in passing. Why didn’t the three hubs use more traditional planets as their centers. That one has an explanation. The hubs are repair facilities for small and huge interstellar craft that would not be able to practically land in a strong gravity field. In the last two books of the Orion’s Spur series I do address inviting other developing worlds into an independent coalition of planets not controlled by the two major superpowers. This poses a good question for the countries on planet Earth. The number of stories reflecting such attempts on our own planet would create an encyclopedia of opportunities for story lines.

Best Syfy movies of the 1940s? Last week I discussed what I consider to be the best science fiction films of the 1930s. This week I’m looking into the best in science fiction movies for the 1940s. Its pretty slim pickings. I suspect World War II had a lot to do with a weak decade, after starting pretty strong in the 1930s. The big challenge was the dearth of original stories. Consider these remakes or spin offs of the 1930s: From Frankenstein (1931): Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1945), Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (1948) From The Invisible Man (1933): The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944), The Invisible Woman (1940), Invisible Agent (1942). Aside from science runs amok, the only space opera I could find was also a sequel. Flash Gordon returned yet again with Buster Crabbe taking on the title role. Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a 12 episode serial. Speaking of serials we also get Batman, a 15 episode serial released in 1943. For those who love the various incarnations of Batman (Christopher Nolan is the best in my opinion) this might be a worthwhile version to compare from 70 years earlier. The most interesting of the films identified in the top 30 fan favorites is a British comedy made in 1944 called Time Flies. The plot involves a music hall performer who travels back to Elizabethan time using a time machine. It might be the most original film on the list from the 1940s. I watch the preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=souANL5xpUY It didn’t sell me, but the premise entices to find a copy (available on streaming services) to see how the print holds up both for the premise and film quality (looks like a problem). Otherwise, the rest of the films identified are fundamentally monster movies playing on King Kong or variations on Frankenstein. I have no idea how it fits into science fiction, but there was also a series of three films: Captive Wild Woman, Jungle Woman, and The Jungle Captive that were ranked in the category. The first of the three stars John Carradine. Milburn Stone is in all three which increases my curiosity as he played the doctor on Gunsmoke for years afterward. A great piece of movie trivia is also featured in 1940, “One Million B.C.” starring Victor Mature. Again, not sure why its categorized as science fiction, and is #1 on some lists. It was also lifted directly for a remake in 1966 called “One Million B.C.” featuring Rachel Welch. Final thoughts on the 1940s science fiction genre… watch the 1930s originals instead. What about you? Any great selections I missed from the 1940s?

UFO AND CUBESATS Many years ago I was at a drive in movie theater with some friends waiting for the second feature to start when we saw a lighted object in the sky. At first I thought it was a reflection of some other light source, but I could never figure out what it really was. Reflecting on this periodically I consider the many sightings of UFOs and the various explanations from the idea of secret US air force experiments to alien life visiting our planet. Today I was reading an article about CubeSats “miniature, agile and cheap satellites” https://www.yahoo.com/news/cubesats-tiniest-satellites-changing-way-123230465.html that have been developed for low cost exploration of our Solar System and galaxy. This started me thinking about how we have been exploring Mars, with more expensive but similar unmanned units that allow us to explore parts of the Solar System that would still be unattainable today. Next month we will be launching the Europa Clipper if all goes well to study a moon of Jupiter that may hold life sustaining water. Now putting these two thoughts together, if there is alien life thriving on a planet or planets around other stars, and if they are as curious as we are, how would they explore the galaxy? It seems logical to follow a similar path for exploration. This or these alien civilizations, if smart enough to have stellar and interstellar space flight would certainly be bright enough to realize that they can explore more space for less money with unmanned satellites, than with actual manned missions. This line of thinking leads me to the conclusion that unmanned exploration from beyond our solar system would be much more likely to be conducted in a manner similar to how we are now exploring our own solar system. It may not be as adventurous or exciting as science fiction stories I have written and am writing, but it is a much more likely answer. With that in mind do we have secret government projects and knowledge based on UFOs that have crashed on Earth. I have no idea, but it does make the case more likely.

In excerpt 5 of Demeter we find out why Ryder and his friends have been kidnapped, or rather conscripted. Rebecca raised her hand and asked, “So you’re taking us to teach us the truth so we can restore the original vision to Earth?” “Sadly, no,” Miss Li replied. “Earth was lost for millennia. The war between the galactic arms has continued all this time. The focus within the Orion Spur is on the three systems containing the way stations, rather than developing planets. Even self-sustaining ships need refueling and repair, so control of the way stations has always been critical to the battle between the arms. In this sector of the Spur, Demeter is the way station that was controlled by the Per-Sian League for several centuries. About eight hundred years ago, the Sagittarius League began the process of retaking Demeter, which has changed hands several times over the millennia. As you can imagine, the logistics of a military campaign covering thousands of light years is difficult to maintain.” Mr. Small interrupted. “The shift in power in the region has always been more of a battle of logistics than a battle of ships. The last actual battle I was involved in was about sixteen years ago, and that was more a skirmish than a real battle. I remember I thought I was a goner when Shadrack and his brother swooped in and—” “Roger! No war stories!” Miss Li interrupted, staring sharply at Mr. Small. She turned to Ryder and his friends. “Once he starts telling war stories, he doesn’t stop.” Joel looked at Miss Li, “What is logistics?” “It’s the process of moving personnel and materials from the staging area, in this case the Sagittarian worlds, to Demeter. Not only do they have to move ships, but they also must have all the supplies needed to support those ships. Of course, the navy itself is easy, they had control of the second station, Haumeah and could build forces there. But typically for every thousand fighting men or women, you have another thousand support personnel. The Sagittarians began exploring a less expensive means of supporting the invasion of Demeter.” Mr. Small took over, with millions of stars and tens of millions of planets in the proximity of Demeter, the Sagittarians began looking for potential developing world’s where they could recruit their support staff. Having studied the archives I know that they spent over a hundred years looking for viable candidate worlds and in all that time they found a total of two: Earth and Cryella.” “Cryella?” Cynthia queried. “We’ll talk about Cryella and the Cryellians another day,” Miss Li continued. The Sagittarians rediscovered Earth as it searched for potential colleagues. We were not advanced enough to approach as partners, so they began conscripting people from Earth, or Terrans, to help retake Demeter nearly eight hundred years ago.” “Wait a minute. You mean we’re draftees?” asked Randy, with ire again sounding in his voice. “Well, in a manner of speaking, yes,” Mr. Small responded. “However, if you read your agreement for the “year abroad” program, you will notice that it clearly states that you ‘will have a culturally enriching educational experience and be provided the opportunity to offer service in your host community. Your host community is Demeter, and I guarantee it will be culturally enriching. You also signed a confidentiality agreement, that prohibits you from discussing details of your experience with outsiders. We’re very serious about that.” “You mean you would kill us?” Joel asked defensively. “You’ve been watching too many science fiction movies,” Miss Li said. “No, we wouldn’t kill you. But it is relatively easy to discredit anything you say and make you look like one of those UFO nuts. Of course, not all of them are UFO nuts. Several of the most vocal ones actually served a year on Demeter.” “On the bright side, you will learn a lot,” Mr. Small added. “Twenty-five of the richest people in the world are our former students. Many technological breakthroughs going all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci can be attributed to experiences on Demeter. Our foundation has also helped over a hundred of our alumni become heads of state. The experiences you have on Demeter are better than any college degree you might earn.”

The silent film era had a number of outstanding science fiction movies, but I am more interested in the syfy films of the talkie era. Considered by many to be the best science fiction film of the 1930s, “Things to Come” (1936) has an eerie accuracy regarding the following hundred years. It predicts a second world war, but suggests that it lasts decades. This is an interesting film to watch from the perspective of what did Wells get right, what was wrong, and what was just off a few years in his efforts as a futurist. H.G. Wells struck again with “The Invisible Man” actually filmed in 1933. One of two films suggesting that science inevitably runs amuck. This is a very watchable film, and mesmerized me as a pre-teen, while black and white was still the standard on television. The other film that is a classic for science running amuck and the panic that often ensues by the unenlightened is Frankenstein. I always thought of this more as horror, but science is fundamental to the story line. The heyday for square-jawed Buster Crabbe was in the 1930s and the movie serials. Serials were produced in much shorter form, usually 20-25 minutes for each episode, which inevitably ended with a cliffhanger. In the 1950s and early 1960s these 1930 serials were often used at the beginning of Saturday matinees to hook young viewers into coming back to the theater the next Saturday whether they liked the main feature or not. Buster Crabbe starred in two of these serials portraying both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, produced by different studios. The main difference in the stories and the actor was the color of his hair: blond in Flash Gordan and dark haired in Buck Rogers. Classified as science fiction, although I’m not sure why, is the classic 1933 King Kong. It s a great movie and stars Fay Wray, who dated my father-in-law before she went off to Hollywood. It is a great movie, but I still quibble about calling it science fiction. One more film I’ll mention that has made the list is “Air Hawks” (1935). The film includes Ralph Bellamy and Wiley Post, but is most interesting to me as it creates an EMT device (although its called a death ray) but interesting twist on a future weapon. Okay, the 1930s weren’t great for science fiction movies, but there are a few worth viewing to see the path those films have taken. I have omitted some such as sequels “Son of Frankenstein” and one that I don’t really fits no matter how I twist it, “The Wizard of Oz”

I was asked recently about world building when I write my stories. How do I come up with an alien world? Right now I’m working on a new novel where part of the action takes place in Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). Another part will take place at a base inside a moon. Reflectively, Demeter is also a world inside a world or dead planetoid. Paragon is the one setting I have used so far that is more of a traditional surface world. Enceladus fits well into to follow-up story I’m writing as a follow-up to Salt of the Earth (not yet published). The current science makes it an interesting potential setting as we have discovered that Enceladus has a vast ocean under a frozen surface. So reading science articles about what is happening in the Solar System awakens my creative juices on “what could it be like”. The model for Demeter was the asteroid in our Solar System, Ceres. If you think about mythology it makes some sense that the Greek God for Agriculture is Demeter and the Roman God for Agriculture (lifted from the Greeks) is Ceres. Ceres is a large asteroid in the Asteroid Belt about 1,000 km in diameter. It is like a very small, very dead planetoid that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Demeter likewise is set in a desolate, but strategically valuable point in Orion’s Spur. It is a light year away from any Sun. To put this in perspective the Kuiper Belt 2.0 is about 90 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun. (Note: If you’re not familiar with the term AU it is a unit of measure that is the distance of Earth from the Sun.) One light year is 63,241 AU. Using Ceres as a model, and thinking about such stories as “Journey to the Center of the Earth” I started thinking about the problems I had with the concept of Jules Verne’s story based on science. The interior of Ceres became a challenge. The interior world of Demeter was not natural, but a matter of terra-forming. This occurred over an undefined time. Some of the mysteries of Demeter is who formed it in the first place? How was it discovered considering its remoteness. The war that surrounds Orion’s Spur had been going on for over 10 millenia. The root cause of the war is a thing of legend. Even who built the buildings and infrastructure is a point of contention. This part is revealed to be more of a surprise to the protagonists, although there is enough foreshadowing that it is not a major surprise to the readers. In Chapter 7 we get our first glimpse of Demeter: Demeter looked like a small planet, although Ryder knew that it had a diameter of only about half the size of the Earth’s moon. For him, it would be better to think of it as a large asteroid. It was basically round, although elliptical like an egg might be more accurate. The surface was heavily pockmarked. In fact, there seemed to be craters inside craters and then more craters. It was very uninviting, increasing Ryder’s sense of foreboding and concerns. The world of Demeter edges on paradise from a topographical perspective. It is primarily a large ocean world, supported by ice fields on the polar region of the interior of the world. As the eco-system is artificial, the systems are maintained through technology. It rains every night, but the days are always clear. The lighting inside the world is created through technology in a world that is a natural geode that has been terra-formed. There are numerous green islands, but the bulk of the population resides on what would be the sides of the world with what appear to be mountains, but is actually the inner wall of the planetoid. Ryder and his friends get their first glimpse of the interior of Demeter after traveling through a number of locks From the side portals, they could see the sheer face of a mountain wall rising on either side of the lock. As Ryder followed the line of the jagged obsidian cliffs that rose out of sight, he saw patches of chartreuse vegetation struggling to survive on the glassy surface. The sky was difficult to read. They could not see any clouds, but it felt hazy as if twilight were approaching. It was obviously daytime for this world, but Ryder could not locate a central source of the light. As the Pegasus continued to move forward and exit the final lock, a pale aqua surface mirrored below. It wasn’t until a large creature of some sort broke the surface that they realized it was water. “The Sea of Demeter,” … Once I had created the world of Demeter, I worked to explain how the world could possibly work? How could you keep it warm? What about atmosphere? Gravity? Weather? Agriculture? How did you feed the population? Why even bother? Now for the downside of world building. It takes away from the action. I’ve been told that the first book is a great story, but a little slow in the first half of the book. That is unavoidable from my perspective to set up a good story with a good world that has its own uniqueness, its own alienness, its own mystery. Books 2 and 3 of Orion’s Spur focuses more on action as the world is already constructed. Books 4 and 5 take us to two new worlds and cultures. Does the story slow? Not so much as we have a point of reference already developed in Book 1.

In the 1960s I eventually moved on from Robert Heinlein’s juvenile science fiction to his YA/Adult Science fiction. One of my favorite novels during this period was Starship Troopers. I was certainly moving into my military science fiction fandom era. I even considered ROTC in college (my dad talked me out of it… said I’d wind up in the stockade as I wouldn’t follow orders… he was probably right). Starship Troopers follows a young man through coming of age. He was a spoiled rich kid, and things look dim until the “Bugs” attack Earth and affect his own family. The storyline connects citizenship with service. Not a bad notion. It did limit citizenship to military service, but frankly I think some sort of volunteer service between high school and college would be a good idea. Sadly, Director Paul Verhoeven took it well beyond service turning it more into fascism, and giving the political views of Heinlein a negative twist. It also turned an excellent movie that could have approached “Edge of Tomorrow” for a more animae type version that served RoboCop well but not this particular story.

When I was in elementary school we thought of the solar system as being the Sun and nine planets including: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Mercury. We also learned that there was a mysterious ring of asteroids between Mercury and Jupiter called the Asteroid Belt. We also knew that there were some moons out there around some of the planets. We never discussed yet another belt, the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is no secret but there was no thought of it existing until after Pluto was identified in 1930. In my own mind the Kuiper Belt is like the asteroid belt but further away and of necessity bigger as it surrounds the solar system starting about 30 AU from the Sun (an AU is the astronomical unit of measure of the average distance of the Earth from the Sun). Putting this in perspective, our fastest man-made probe travels at roughly 430,000 miles per hour. At that speed it would take nine days to reach the Earth from the Sun. It would take that same ship 9 months to travel to the edge of the Kuiper Belt. So what’s in the Kuiper Belt? Again something I wasn’t aware of when I was younger was that the Kuiper Belt might seem to be a good sized junk yard if it was on Earth. It has trillions of objects, but thinking in terms of something of size, it is estimated that there are over 100,000 objects over 62 miles (100 km) in diameter. In our Asteroid Belt they have discovered about 200 objects of that size. Of course the Kuiper Belt covers a lot of ground. Remember AU? It is about 100 AU in diameter. So what we know so far about the solar system is pretty limited, with knowledge of the Kuiper Belt only being in our history for less than a hundred years. Now they have discovered a second Kuiper Belt even further out. What do we know about it? Not much yet, other than it is out there. We know there is a sizable gap between Kuiper Belt 1 and Kuiper Belt 2.0 and it is between 70 and 90 AU from the Sun. The number of sizable objects, if we extrapolate from Asteroid Belt to Kuiper 1 Belt, would suggest millions of sizable objects and even more icy objects.