The setting for Demeter is 100 light years from Earth in the Orion’s Spur. What is Orion’s Spur? It is a minor arm (and thus sometimes referred to as a spur) sitting between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms of the galaxy. Both of these larger arms have billions of stars scattered in their comet-like journey around the center of the Milky Way. Orion’s Spur has a much smaller star population with estimates running between 300 and 800 million stars. Our sun and Earth are in Orion’s Spur.
The Orion’s Spur series focuses on William Ryder, his sister Debbie, and their friends. It begins as an adventure as they are kidnapped or conscripted for a year of service in a far away system. The issue of bullying sets the story up at the individual level in chapter 1, but goes on to the broader issue of large powers and their impact on those in between. The series also addresses such things as – who can you trust and does might make right? The story arc of the five books follows the adventures and coming of age of several characters as they grow and change. My favorite aspect of the story is the ability to influence others through kindness, even one’s enemies.
The first book, Demeter came out 10 years ago, followed by Return to Demeter, Defending Demeter, Haumeah and Paragon’s Virtue. The books are available in e-book format at Amazon, along with paperback versions for those who like to actually hold what they read. In the end of July of this year, all five books are now available on Audiblebooks.