I will begin the snippeting of Spheres of Influence pretty soon -- about two months before the eARC release on August 15th. So here's a teaser and preparation (which is, in fact, at the front of Spheres of Influence as well) ----- Previously in Grand Central Arena: The solar system of 2375, population fifty-five billion, approaches utopia as closely as most of humanity could imagine. The advent of efficient power harvesting, storage, and transmission of all kinds combined with nanoassembler systems called [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: H. Beam Piper’s “Little Fuzzy”
May 20, 2013 By 8 Comments
H. Beam Piper was one of the unsung greats of science fiction in his era, producing the Paratime series, stories of Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and several others. Tragically, he ended his own life in despair, betrayed by his own agent, believing that his future was effectively nonexistent. Of all his works, however, one stands out to me as unique: Little Fuzzy. Little Fuzzy is a story of a first contact not quite like any other. Jack Holloway is a prospector on the planet of Zarathustra, mining sunstones and selling [ Continue reading... ]
Magic, Crime, and Punishment Part Three: Fit to be Tried
May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Fit to be Tried "Pardon my saying so, Majesty… but there appears to be a distinct lack of prisoners in your cell." -- Poplock Duckweed in Phoenix Rising Okay, now let's say you managed to catch (rather than kill in a desperate battle) that criminal. What do you do with him? If the fantasy world has an advanced judgment system, you'll have to give him a trial. If not, you may have to bring him in for execution, or put him in a dungeon until the King or Tribunal or whatever decides his punishment, but in any case, you've [ Continue reading... ]
Magic, Crime and Punishment Part Two: Prevention and Pursuit
May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Prevention and Pursuit "Still, someone has to find out who did this, track them down, and stop them." Poplock hopped on his head and then leaned perilously over, looking down into Tobimar's eyes. "That's an awfully tall order for one exiled Prince and a somewhat height deficient Toad." -- Tobimar Silverun and Poplock Duckweed, Phoenix Rising One of the most challenging parts of law enforcement in a high magic world is the sheer variety of powers available to would-be criminals. Here, if we have a vault with [ Continue reading... ]
Magic, Crime, and Punishment, Part 1: Challenges of Magical Crime Investigation
May 3, 2013 By 1 Comment
This is the first of three separate sections of a discussion on crime and punishment in a high fantasy setting. Magic, Crime, and Punishment The Challenges of Magical Crime Investigation "It’s one of the most drought-damned brilliant and subtle tricks I’ve ever seen,” the Guardian of Eonae said with real admiration in his voice. “The boy’s using elemental magic—in a suppression pentagram, no less!—to effectively cloak their speech with some absolutely inspired… well, I guess you would have to call it sound [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Rising: Deleted Chapter Five
May 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I believe this is the last of the deleted chapters. There were quite a few chapters ADDED during editing -- most prominently the ones with Xavier and Tobimar travelling together -- but I don't *think* there are any other fully deleted chapters. This chapter gave us a look at the training the two went through, and another look at the Justiciars, and set up the situation which actually begins Chapter 1 of the final book. ----- Chapter 12. Lighter blade parried greatsword with a chiming impact that [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Rising: Deleted Chapter 4
April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
They had called in outside help... ----- Chapter 4. "I am sorry, Victoria." The huge draconic creature's voice was soft. Kyri couldn't believe it. "But… nothing?" "Nothing, little Vantage." Toron's clawed talons slashed the air in his own anger. "I have used all my senses. I have spoken with all of note in this part of Evanwyl, from the Watchland and the Justiciars down to every living servant of the neighboring houses. I have meditated in prayer in the center of the wreckage, tasted the [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Rising: Deleted Early Chapter 3
April 26, 2013 By 1 Comment
This chapter introduced some of the concepts that pervade the story -- procedures of investigation that are similar to those seen today -- and also showed us the Justiciars as Kyri knew them. In terms of plot, this was some of the hardest material to lose (and the following chapter) because it established who the Justiciars were to Kyri and how they were seen prior to things going south. ----- Chapter 3. "No, Milady." Thornfalcon's face seemed even longer and sadder than usual beneath the silver-beaked helm. [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Rising: Deleted Early Chapter 2
April 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Continuing this glimpse into what was removed from the early drafts. As I mentioned, the main content of these is background and character information on Kyri and her life before the main action begins. ----- Chapter 2. Kyri stared numbly down at the remains of the front door; with cruel irony, the fire-charm on the door had remained intact, so the huge portals were unscorched, smeared only with water and soot from the rest of the mansion but otherwise marred only by the deep crescent-shaped gouges [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Rising: Deleted Early Chapter 1
April 22, 2013 By 2 Comments
The original draft of Phoenix Rising included several chapters which were cut, mainly because they slowed our approach to the main action of the book. The downside, in my view, was that we lost a glimpse at how Kyri became the way she was, and other characters' interactions with her before the main events. The only changes I've made to these chapters are titles and names which were changed for the published version. ----- Chapter 1. Kyri smiled at her little sister Urelle as she ran, zig-zag fashion, [ Continue reading... ]
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