Karen S Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Dune by Frank Herbert

 {Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Dune by Frank Herbert

by Karen S. Wiesner

In previous books I’ve reviewed for my “Put This One on Your TBR List” series, I included a summary and background details for the book I spotlighted. However, Dune (or the Dune Chronicles) is touted as the bestselling science fiction novel in history, has become a franchise in its own right, and a book description and premise is probably unnecessary here, given the sheer amount that’s been written about this saga already. So this is strictly a review (as much as I’m capable of making it anyway) of the first book.

I first heard about Dune in association with the 1984 movie that starred Sting, the rock star, and all the movie posters I’d seen looked about as hokey, cheesy, and downright silly as it got. I assumed this was some overblown space opera not to be taken seriously. However, when I saw the preview of the 2021 remake starring Timothee Chalamet and Oscar Isaac (among other worthy actors), I started to get curious about this series. Anything that’s been around as long as this has (first published in 1965—nearly 60 years) and has this huge of a following seems like it might actually have endured as something beloved for good reason.

I found a beautiful, like-new trade paperback copy for only $6 at a used bookstore. I won’t lie, the size of it was intimidating. 689 pages! I looked through it before I started reading the story. The first thing I noticed was that there were no chapters, per se. Each section was prefaced by epigraphic excerpts offered up from a fictional character within the series universe (which is called, hilariously, the Duniverse by diehard fans). I love the idea of making a series and a setting so insular, it becomes like something real that has historical and cultural significance. These types of commentaries, biographies, quotations or philosophies serve to ground the story in almost archival weight.

Inside this trade paperback, I found three “books” which made up the first Dune. There were also four appendices—the stuff lore lovers devour. I was amazed at the author’s thoroughness. This is the kind of world building you can only stand and marvel at the scope covered. The first appendix was like a fictionalized account of the ecology of Dune as told by Pardot Kynes, the first (fictional) planetologist of the main setting in the story. Next, the religion of the series was covered along with space travel. Most science fiction avoids the idea of religion as if science will eventually become the religion of the future. Although a lot of the religion in Dune does come off as superstitions or ways to manipulate the masses, I appreciated that it was included at all. Like it or not, humans are spiritual creatures, even if that doesn’t always imply morality. The third appendix was presented from the point of view of the fictional character Jessica, a member of the Bene Gesserit, a kind of religious organization that could be a cross between witchcraft and the stealthiest spies that employ voice control as one of their weapons. The next appendix gave information about the noble houses featured in the series. There were also sections with a dictionary of terms and cartographic notes along with a detailed map (I love this!!!). Finally, there’s an afterword provided by the author’s son Brian, which was very enlightening.

I was duly impressed by all this, so I started reading. It’s a slow-moving story, but I was instantly confronted with the inaccuracies of my presumptions about the story. This was no mere space opera, and there was nothing hokey about it. It’s a science fiction saga, yes, set far, far, far in the future (smart!), but the tone of the story (when it eventually settles into the main setting Arrakis, a barren desert planet with a merciless climate) conveyed a classical fantasy feel to me. The society of Arrakis is populated with scattered bands of native Fremen who are the only ones who really know how to survive in such a desolate, harsh place. They live like nomads without much by way of technology. Their religion and unique philosophy rule their lives. Water, as you might expect, is their most precious resource and it’s their currency. However, the irony is that the place they call home is the only place where melange spice can be mined—but only at great peril…for multiple reasons (ranging from giant sandworms to weather instability to the ban on “thinking machines” to intergalactic feudalism that fuels the political in-fighting that overshadows the universe). Melange holds dominion over everyone and everything. This drug extends life and expands the consciousness. Additionally, it allows for the folding of space, which has made interstellar travel possible. I admit, as a major plot in this series, I was bothered that something that could be considered a hallucinogenic drug could hold such sway over the entire universe. But I suppose that isn’t unrealistic, considering how popular drugs are these days.

As for “overblown drama”, I found no suggestion of it. I was compelled to keep reading all through the three books of the first Dune story. I was so impressed, in fact, that before I was half done reading it, I bought the entire boxed set of the first six novels written by Frank Herbert. After his father’s death in 1986, his son Brian teamed up with sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson (I’ve read some his Star Wars books) to co-author other Dune installments which include prequels that fill in the gaps of what happened previous to the events of the first Dune book, as well as those that fit into the middle and end of things and finish the entire series.

Dune is extremely well written and authentic in every aspect. The worldbuilding is impeccable. The author left nothing out. That said, I think the drawback of this saga is the same that tends to plague many larger-than-life sagas. The world is so big, there’s no way an author could possibly give every character in it, even the main characters, the space needed for true, deep development. One of the signs that depth is lacking, in my opinion, is the over-the-top head-hopping that takes place in this novel. I’ve never witnessed any author do it with such unabashed boldness. Usually, an author will yank the reader out of one character’s head, into another’s, but that’s as far as it goes. Herbert knew no boundaries in this story. Every scene contains head-hopping all around the room. Every character included in a scene is given “head space” within that same scene.

Those who have read my writing reference titles know that this is my foremost pet peeve. In Dune, it’s true that some of the main characters are given more “head space” than others, and you get to know them slightly better as a result, but I didn’t feel I came to know any of the characters in Dune even remotely as well as I would have liked. As I said, I’m not sure it’s possible to get in-depth in a saga this vast. What happens when the scope of a story is too large is that readers are only selectively shown what the author wants them to know about the main characters. We don’t know what they really feel and think about so many things, nor do we get more than a skewed taste of their past, present, and future dimensions (those who’ve read Dune will truly understand the irony of that statement, given what the spice drug does to the minds it enslaves). We only get one-dimensional characters, including the main ones. This makes it very hard to root for or even like most of the people populating this world. I think the only character I truly liked in this book was Duke Leto Atreides. The rest filled the roles the author gave them—no more, no less. Even Paul, the duke’s son, and what most would consider the main character of Dune, wasn’t someone I continued to be compelled and sympathetic toward. By the middle and at the end of the first book, he became little more than a monster, driven (contradictorily) calmly and ruthlessly insane by the drug spice.

I was also bothered by the strange character growth in Dune. They changed so much in this first book. It’s divided into three parts, I think, so the writer could skip over the character growth that changed characters from one thing to another. In this way, a lot of the development felt convenient to the plot. The author needed them to do something in a certain way. Yes, Herbert built in strong religions and philosophies, training rigors, etc., but in part because none of the characters are developed deeply, the alterations in their personalities are stretched almost beyond belief, are logical but mildly distorted, and ultimately brush against the dreaded deus ex machina as close as it gets without actually entering it.

All these things said, I enjoyed the story enough to be intrigued and interested in continuing to learn more. I’m glad I decided to read it, despite my earlier presumptions. I’ve also watched about a third of the 2021 remake movie, and I’m finding it follows the novel very closely (as closely as it can and still make sense of the scope). I also intend to watch the sequel when it comes out in 2024. Both of these encompass the first and second parts of the first novel. There are a lot of other media associated with this franchise. I’m not sure how far I’ll delve into this universe (the sheer breadth of it feels intimidating to me), but for now I’m determined to at least read the author’s original stories and watch these two film adaptations.

In the afterword provided by the author’s son, Brian Herbert talks about having asked his father if his magnum opus would endure and hearing the modest assessment that only time would tell. Given its popularity for nearly 60 years, I’d have to say endure it has—endured and flourished! If you haven’t already wandered into the Duniverse and been captured by its distinctive spice, Dune is definitely worth a try.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog 

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Karen Wiesner: Fiction Series So Big, They Cross Multimedia Platforms: Mass Effect Series, created by Bioware with Drew Karpyshyn, Casey Hudson, and Preston Watamaniuk

Fiction Series So Big, They Cross Multimedia Platforms:

Mass Effect Series, created by Bioware with Drew Karpyshyn, Casey Hudson, and Preston Watamaniuk

by Karen Wiesner

In this article series I'm calling "Fiction Series So Big, They Cross Multimedia Platforms", I plan to explore supernatural fiction series that sometimes had their beginnings as books but branched out into other types of mediums, like videogames, movies/TV series, board/card/role-playing games, and music. In each individual article that I hope will introduce entertainment connoisseurs to some incredible fiction or components of similar themed stories they might have otherwise missed, I'll discuss the origins of the series elements as well as my individual experience with the various types of media, which will be presented as a kind of review of the series.

In this third installment, we'll cover the space opera Mass Effect Series created and developed by Bioware, a Canadian videogame developer, with Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer), Casey Hudson (director), and Preston Watamaniuk (designer). Karpyshyn also wrote the first three novels in the series.

In this sprawling science fiction adventure series with elements of horror, the popular videogame spawned novels, comics, a film, a potential television series, compelling music, a 4D holographic experience at an amusement park, and even its own holiday!

Which Came First?

The Mass Effect Trilogy takes place over the course of 2183-2186 CE {Common Era}). In 2148, humanity discovered highly advanced Prothean technology hidden deep below Mars' surface. The Prothean were thought to be the progenitor race of all species. These remnants of the long extinct culture led mankind to scientific breakthroughs with mass effect fields and the development of faster than light spaceflight. Another Prothean discovery unearthed a dormant mass relay that, once activated, transported them to another relay, which was part of a vast network that made travel around the entire galaxy possible. By 2150, the Alliance was formed and began forging military exploration beyond the Sol System. Only two years later, the first three human colony worlds were settled, including Demeter, Eden Prime, and Terra Nova. 

First contact was made with another spacefaring race in 2157. The Turians had been watching them, and soon the First Contact War culminated into the Turian siege and occupation of Shanxi, a human world. Only a month later, a surprise attack put the planet back in Human hands. The full-scale war the Turians had begun to prepare for against humanity was thwarted when the Citadel Council intervened. The Citadel, a massive space station, had long been considered the political and economic heart of the galaxy. Peace was brokered and so began mankind's foray into interstellar expansion.

Meanwhile, a mercenary named Jack Harper became embroiled in a plot with a Turian named Saren. Harper went on to create the human-supremacist, terrorist organization called Cerberus and, at that time, assumed the identity of the Illusive Man. Horrifying experiments and immoral depravities were ascribed to this organization all throughout the series.

Two years later, Saren became the youngest Turian to be inducted into the Spectres (Special Tactics and Reconnaissance), agents of the Council granted extraordinary power to preserve galactic stability. The first Human Spectre candidate was Alliance Navy Captain David Anderson, commander of the experimental Turian/Human stealth frigate, the SSV Normandy. Anderson's XO,  Commander Shepard, became the first Human Spectre in 2183. Shepard was already an N7 rank soldier, having distinguished him/herself (this main character can be played either as male or female) in combat, by the time he/she took over as captain of the Normandy. 

The original Mass Effect trilogy began in the year 2183 with Commander Shepard coming in contact with an artifact that imparted a vision of war and death across the galaxy. In this deeply disturbing portend, Shepard learned that every 50,000 years, the Reapers, an ancient species of machines, eliminated all higher life forms in a galaxy-wide purge, leaving younger species to advance and thrive until the next cycle. The Reapers believed this apocalypse was necessary to prevent war and chaos from destroying all life for all time. The next two games detailed the epic struggle of the entire galaxy to survive against the Reapers--at times aided by Cerberus, at others massively hampered.

The story behind Mass Effect Andromeda, the fourth game, actually began within the timeline of the first three games. The Andromeda Initiative, at least partially funded by “powerful benefactors” (which may or may not include Cerberus) was founded in 2176 and the first wave launched into dark space in 2185. Each of the species had their own massive ark. Those in the scheduled second wave launch held the last of the Milky Way species. The Nexus flagship--filled with a variety of races--was a Citadel-like space station designed to be the Initiative's base of operations as well as a temporary home while the "Golden Worlds" were made habitable. The journey to the Andromeda Galaxy to establish a permanent presence there was intended to be a one-way trip that would take approximately 600 years. Each ark was assigned its own Pathfinder, selected to set up a habitable world for its 100,000 passengers. Alec Ryder, a soldier who fought in the First Contact War, was the Human ark Hyperion's Pathfinder.

Circa 2450 CE, the Scourge, a widespread energy phenomenon, was unleashed in the Heleus Cluster after the detonation of a powerful weapon on a Remnant space station. A race known as the Jardaan created Remnant technology (Rem-Tech), including vaults that, when activated, amplified the environmental stability of a planet. The Scourge deactivated the Remnant vaults, badly damaging the Golden Worlds the Initiative expected to inhabit upon arrival, and nearly destroyed the only sapient sentient species native to the Andromeda galaxy. Angarans fell into a dark age, their civilizations cut off from each other and scattered. Around 2600, the Scourge stabilized. After rediscovering spaceflight, the Angaran people began to reunite. In the midst of their initial healing in 2744, the Kett, a hostile alien species, invaded the Heleus Cluster, intending to "exalt" the Angara into their own empire. Instead of following protocols, the invasion force's leader became obsessed with learning how to control Rem-Tech.

In 2818, after a 633 year journey across dark space, the Nexus arrived to find things vastly different in Andromeda than they expected before setting out. Fourteen months afterward, the Hyperion showed up, having been separated from the other arks that were prevented from rendezvousing with the Nexus for various reasons. This is where the game opens. The player chooses to be either the son or daughter of Alex Ryder. As the first Pathfinder to arrive at the Nexus, they're faced with the challenges of making all the Golden Worlds habitable, finding resources, making alliances, discovering what happened to the missing arks, and defeating the Kett.

A fifth Mass Effect, as yet unofficially titled with no release date in sight, is expected to continue the story from the first trilogy and possibly also the Andromeda installment, which had all the DLC and anticipated follow-up games canceled due to less than enthusiastic fan reception, despite sales success that matched its predecessors.

The chronological order of the Mass Effect Series with videogames, comic books, novels, and one film included is:

1) He Who Laughs Best by Mac Walters and Jeremy Barlow (single issue comic published in 2013): Details how Jeff "Joker" Moreau became the SSV Normandy's pilot prior to the events of ME. 

2) Evolution by Mac Walters (4-issue comic series first published in 2011): Set in 2157 during the First Contact War, detailing the origins of the Illusive Man and Cerberus.

3)  Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn (novel published May 2007, six months prior to the release of ME): A prequel to the first videogame, set in 2165 involving David Anderson and Saren investigating an attack on a Human research station.

4) Mass Effect (videogame released 2007): Set in the year 2183.

5) Ascension by Drew Karpyshyn (novel published July 2008): Set a few months after the events of ME spotlighting a young biotic prodigy named Gillian Grayson who's pursued by Cerberus and aided by Kahlee Sanders, who also had a significant role in Revelation.

6) Andromeda: Initiation by N. K. Jemisin and Mac Walters (novel published in 2017): Set in the Milky Way before the departure of the arks, Cora Harper attempts to recover dangerous stolen data before it can be used against the Andromeda Initiative.

7) Redemption by Mac Walters and John Jackson Miller (4 issue comic series first published in 2010): Prequel to ME 2 with Cerberus and Liara T'Soni trying to track down Commander Shepard, killed in the opening act of ME 2.

8) Mass Effect Galaxy (2009 released no-longer-available mobile game): A prequel to ME 2, squad members Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson investigate aggressive Batarian activities.

9) Mass Effect 2 (videogame released 2010): The prologue begins in the year 2183; 2 years later, Shepard is resurrected by Cerberus to continue fighting the Reapers.

10) Retribution by Drew Karpyshyn (novel published July 2010): Set a few months after the events of the second videogame. Cerberus uses Reaper tech on Paul Grayson.

11) Incursion by Mac Walters (single issue comic published in 2010): An Aria T'Loak adventure set one week before ME 2 opening events.

12) Deception by William C. Dietz (book published January 2012): Set not long after the events of Retribution, concerning Gillian Grayson's search for her father's murderer, the Illusive Man.

13) Conviction by Mac Walters (single issue comic published in 2011): In the days after the events of Arrival (ME 2 DLC), Captain David Anderson tasks Alliance Marine James Vega with the guarding of an important prisoner on Omega.

14) Inquisition (single issue comic published in 2010): Takes place after ME 2 with Captain Bailey investigating allegations of Executor Pallin's corruption within C-Sec.

15) Invasion by Mac Walters (4-issue comic series first published in 2011): Aria T'Loak's battle with Cerberus invasion forces on Omega.

16) Paragon Lost (anime film released in 2012): A prequel to ME 3, Alliance Marine James Vega battles the Collectors.

17) Mass Effect 3 (videogame released 2012): Set in the year 2186, six months after the events of ME.

18) Homeworlds by Mac Walters with ME 3 writing team (4-issue comic series first published in 2012): Each issue focused on a different squad member from ME 3 including James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah, and Liara T'Soni.

19)  Foundation by Mac Walters (13-issue comic series first published in 2013): Original stories in the series that tie in with the ME 3 Citadel DLC (except issue 5 with ties to ME 2).

20) Andromeda: Nexus Uprising by Jason M. Hough and K.C. Alexander (novel published in 2017, the same day the videogame ME Andromeda was released): Set on the Nexus in the Heleus Cluster before the arrival of the other arks, detailing the events that led to the uprising.

21) Mass Effect Andromeda (videogame released 2017): The Andromeda Initiative began in 2185, between the events of ME 2 and 3, but the events of the game don't start until after the 634-year journey of Ark Hyperion to Andromeda, which arrived in 2819.

22)  Discovery (4-issue series first published in 2017): Expands on the events of ME Andromeda.

23) Andromeda: Annihilation by Catherynne M. Valente (novel published in 2018): Set during the journey of the Quarian ark to Andromeda, a deadly pathogen has been intentionally released onboard.

The music of ME is eclectic, to say the least, with vintage synthesized sounds, encapsulating both wonder and terror. The galaxy map, Reaper invasion, and "leaving Earth" music are all iconic to followers. Later scores had more cinematic and orchestral compositions. ME Andromeda starts with "A Better Beginning", which never fails to haunt and even devastate me. All three original soundtracks are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX1UuJMfQfk

Andromeda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncN_o7x6XPA

On May 18, 2016, Mass Effect: New Earth opened at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. The theatrical motion simulator amusement park ride includes motion seats equipped to simulate wind and water. The ride's plot coincides with the ME 3 timeline during the invasion of the galaxy by the Reapers. The ship ride is captained by a live action actor playing Conrad Verner, an obsessed fan of Commander Shepard's.

In late 2021, it was reported that negotiations were underway to adapt ME for Amazon's Prime Video streaming service.

An informal commemorative holiday--N7 Day--is observed annually on November 7th to celebrate the franchise.

A Review of the Various Medium Components Available

My first experience with Mass Effect came after my nephew's dad talked about how much he loved it. We bought it and my husband started playing while I avidly watched from the sidelines. The character development is so incredible in this trilogy, each game making the cast more and more distinctive and real. I became so invested in them, I was hooked. As soon as he finished the trilogy, I had to play it myself and I was absorbed so much so that I could barely function. The first few times I played the trilogy straight through, I couldn't sleep, couldn't do anything else, I was so wrapped up in the story and characters' plights. I can safely say an obsession was born.

Since then, I've lost track of the number of times I've played through the original trilogy (I can't play one of them without playing all of them back to back), and I've exhausted nearly every scenario when it comes to different ways to play, companions to romance, etc. available in the games. Over the next decade plus, I convinced countless other gamers I know to play it. I suspect in many cases, it was simply to understand what I was going on and on and on about, talking about this series so often.

When the Legendary Edition was released in May 14, 2021 with all three games, all DLC and add-ons included (except Pinnacle Station), remastered, I might have been the happiest person on the planet.

Additionally, the release of ME Andromeda, a brand new chapter in ME history, was pivotal for me. Unlike so many vocal decriers of this installment, I'd found my brand new favorite game. While the characters aren't quite as intriguing in Andromeda (a bit cardboard), the gameplay and story are superior even to the original trilogy.

A discussion of ME wouldn't be quite complete without a nod to its disappointing endings. Fans spent three games of the trilogy anticipating how everything would come to a head and what the ending would bring. The main character choices shaping the story all through the games were not only pivotal, but, for many, the point. The reception when the ending was finally revealed left fans cold, and even game writers and developers were disappointed at how it turned out. The outcry for the divisive finale that gave the main character no option let alone satisfying solution was so hotly vocal, designers went back and redid the ending, offering an expansion DLC with the main character deciding between three very different options that (if nothing else) at least gave a sense of closure that wasn't in the initial "resolution". However, while there was an interesting twist thrown in in the form of the entity with out-of-the-blue revelations to impart, almost nothing in the story thus far even hinted at what this creature had to tell the main character (although one of the bonus content stories. Leviathan, released a couple months after the alternate ending was made available was clearly an attempt to belatedly shore up those shocking disclosures). Unfortunately, the revised multiple choices the main character was given with the redesigned ending didn't always line up with the choices the protagonist may have made throughout all three games. In fact, some of those decisions were rendered inconsequential. Ultimately, the new ending was better, but fans still left disappointed, understandably so.

To my mind, this situation could have been avoided altogether if the writers had either taken or been given the opportunity to lay the groundwork for every installment in the series long before the games were designed. That said, it's hard to know what transpired since, in the videogame world, if a game doesn't make money and/or the reception is aggressively critical, there may never be a sequel--regardless of whether it ends on a cliffhanger, as was the case for Andromeda, which ended with not one, not two, but three major cliffhangers. The game was met with loud disapproval for reasons that weren't necessarily about gameplay or story content. As a result, DLC and a potential sequel or sequels were summarily squashed--to the dismay of fans. The bonus content that was planned prior to its cancellation would have provided resolutions to all the cliffhangers in the first game. I know I'm not the only fan who fumes whenever I think about never getting those loose ends tied up. One of the loose ends was supposed to be answered in the  novel Annihilation by Catherynne M. Valente, however, for my part, I was disappointed with that "conclusion". While a new ME game has been confirmed to be on the horizon, there's no way of knowing whether the developers intend to provide closure for Andromeda--or open another can of worms they may or may not ever close. In short, despite some obvious elephants in the room with these disenchantments, this series remains to this day my all-time favorite.

For completionist gamers, you can find my checklists and quest guidelines, chock full of tips and tricks, for ME games and all DLC below:

ME 1: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/5/5/23554234/masseffect1checklist.pdf

ME 2: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/5/5/23554234/masseffect2checklist.pdf

ME 3: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/5/5/23554234/masseffect3checklist.pdf

Andromeda: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/5/5/23554234/masseffectandromedachecklist.pdf

After playing the games, I bought and read all the novels associated with them. All are good or excellent in giving background on several prequel or secondary plots mentioned in the games. since I've never enjoyed reading comic books, I'm still wavering on whether to purchase them--each have been packaged in volumes that contain all the individual issues. I love all the music associated with the series, owning most of the soundtracks. Finally, I'm enthralled at the prospect of a fifth game and possibly a movie/TV series based on the series in the future.

Whether you're a sci-fi gamer, book or comic reader, TV, movie, and music lover, or amusement park ride enthusiast, I highly recommend the Mass Effect Series in all its multimedia facets. Each component is worth whatever time and monetary investments you make.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150+ titles and 16 series. Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Reviews 63 - A Peace Divided - Peacekeeper #2 by Tanya Huff

Reviews 63

A Peace Divided

Peacekeeper #2

 by 

Tanya Huff 

Here is a 2017 title by Tanya Huff, A Peace Divided.  

It is #2 in a Trilogy, which is a follow-after series about Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr, hero of the 5 Book Series that starts with Valor's Choice where she is a Staff Sergeant.

She is a Space Marine, through and through, complete with her opinion of the Space Navy.

I would suggest reading all these novels -- Tanya Huff is just one of those bylines you grab without reading the back of the book to find out what the thing is about.  She's just that good a writer.

However, simply as a stand alone novel, A PEACE DIVIDED works fine. It is one long drive toward completing the mission of rescuing hostages. The hostages predicament is a result of the various war-stories in the 5-book series VALOR.  

But it's simple enough to understand as a plot driver.

The important thing for Romance writers is to plumb the depths of the Relationship (yes, love, but camaraderie and respect and reliance, and much more) between Torin Kerr and her exemplary Pilot with an ego from here to there and back.

This is not a Romance, but it is Relationship portrayed with speculative potential you must not miss.

Gunny Kerr has mustered out of the Space Marines - where she was trained and conditioned to solve problems by destroying things and people as necessary -- into the PEACEKEEPERS where destroying things is frowned on and destroying people forbidden (and the definition of people has been enlarged.)

Jacqueline Lichtenberg

http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

The Orville

Do you watch THE ORVILLE? Now that I've caught up with all the episodes to date, I'm still not sure how successful it is at what it tries to do. It begins as an affectionate parody of STAR TREK and gradually becomes more serious, grappling with some delicate issues, exploring character development, and going to a very dark place in the double episode of the past two weeks. As much as I like the show, I wonder whether its funny and serious sides fit together or clash. (Note: There will be spoilers here.)

The jokes sometimes verge on slapstick. For instance, the advanced sentient artificial life-form, Isaac (the Spock or Data character in the cast), gets into the spirit of learning about practical jokes by cutting off a human character's leg (painlessly, in sleep). This incident barely escapes being horrific by the fact that the medical technology of that century is so advanced that the character will have a new leg within days. The pop culture references come almost exclusively from the twentieth century, a detail that doesn't bear scrutiny. Wouldn't the characters show more interest in and awareness of such things from their own era? Most glaring is the Krill (the Klingon equivalent in this universe) deity's name—Avis, the subject of many jokes. Would the average person four hundred years from now have even heard of a twentieth- to twenty-first-century car rental company? Likewise, the incident when Bortus has a change of heart about his female offspring after watching RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER is cute and rather touching, but it takes generous suspension of disbelief to accept that RUDOLPH would become a classic still popular with general audiences four centuries in the future.

Several features of the show similarly seem to follow the "Rule of Funny" with little or no concern for plausibility. For instance, Bortus allegedly belongs to an all-male species (with rare, taboo exceptions) that urinates only once a year and lays eggs. With no indication that the writers thought out the implications of these traits in advance, I can only conclude Bortus's kind must be desert-dwelling reptiles. The brief glimpse of his planet, when he returns home for his annual urination ceremony—obviously inspired by Spock's return to Vulcan in "Amok Time"—shows a desert-like landscape. In the incisive, timely episode about a planet ruled by positive and negative social media votes, a senior crew member gets the landing party in trouble by fooling around with a statue of a cultural heroine. As his own superiors point out, he should have known better, yet the audience has to accept that an experienced officer with a record good enough to justify his assignment to a delicate mission would behave so irresponsibly. Even in the more serious moments, dedicated SF fans may notice weaknesses. In one episode, two members of a first-contact party get sentenced to an internment camp because they were born under the wrong astrological sign. Wouldn't it be obvious to a society advanced enough to attempt communication with interstellar life that constellations look different from different planets, so it's meaningless to assign their astrological signs to inhabitants of a distant solar system? And even if their taboos prevented their accepting the stigmatized visitors, wouldn't it make more sense simply to ban them from the planet? As for the dark, emotionally wrenching double episode about Isaac's world, didn't the builders of the AIs consider the probable consequences of creating potentially sentient robots? If the builders had no qualms about trying to enslave the robots once sentience emerged, why weren't the artificial life forms programmed with the equivalent of the Three Laws to begin with?

I'm very taken with this series, but in my opinion it would be even better if it didn't look as if the writers were making up things as they go along, tossing in anything that seems entertaining at the moment. That said, the balance between silly and plausible appears to be shifting in a favorable direction, and after the final two episodes of the second season, I'll be eagerly waiting for the third.

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Games of Command - Deleted CH 15 scene

From the original 2001 file, so don't mess with me on style or typos or inconsistencies or such, okay? ;-) This is raw, unedited shhhhtuff.

MAIN LIFT, I.H.S. VAXXAR

Sass heard Kel-Paten’s hard bootsteps come up behind her just as the lift doors opened.

"You’re off duty until I tell you otherwise, Sebastian," he said as they stepped inside.

"Ah. And who died and made you C.M.O.?"

"If I see you on the Bridge any time today I will forcibly carry you back to your quarters."

Could be interesting, Sass noted. Then: Naah.

"You don’t have to keep looking at me," she told him after the lift doors closed. "I’m not going to keel over on you again."

"I should have realized you weren’t well yesterday."

"You shouldn’t have realized anything. You can’t keep track of all four hundred fifty of us on board. That’s Eden’s job. If anything, I should’ve checked in with her earlier when I didn’t feel well." Those letters. Those damn letters and the way he’d looked at her when he’d walked into Sickbay. It made her stomach tense and she knew it was guilt knocking at her conscience’s back door. He’d thought she was dying. Cal Monterro had hinted how miserable Kel-Paten had looked.

"All the more reason you are not to be on active duty today."

"Kel-Paten--!"

"There’s been... a lot of stress accompanying this transtion, with the new Alliance," he said, ignoring the daggers she visually flung at him. "We’ve only this Serafino situation to wrap up right now and when that’s finished, well I think you might want to take some time off."

Oh no. Oh no. This wasn’t heading where she thought it was heading. Not now. Not so soon! "I really don’t think---"

"Perhaps just a couple of days. Some light R & R ." He wasn’t looking at her, but watching the digital deck numbers flash on the wall of the lift.

No. No, Sass pleaded. Please don’t mention T’Garis. Please. I can’t handle this right now!

"Have you ever been to T’Garis?" he asked just as the lift doors pinged.

She stepped out onto the Deck 2 Corridor. "No, I’ve never been to T’Garis," she said through clenched teeth. "You wouldn’t let me, remember? Something about a little inconvenient war going on. Damn tough to bust through the neutral zone with the Vax on my tail all the time."

She lay her hand against the door scanner. "But," she continued brightly as the door slid into the wall, "I’ll probably get there sometime. I know A.T. wants to go. I’ll mention it next time I talk to her." She nodded at him. "I’ll be in my office after lunch. Not on the bridge, Admiral. In my office." And she hit the manual override on the inside of the door frame, closing the door in his face.

From his position on the back of her couch, Tank perked up his fluffy ears and murrupped several times.

"Don’t ask, fidget, you don’t want to know," she told him, then stripped off her jacket and fell promptly asleep on her bed.

then same chapter, a few pages later...

BRIDGE, I.H.S. VAXXAR

Brynar Kel-Paten sat in the command chair, one elbow on the armrest, his chin in his hand and watched, without watching, the movement of his senior officers at their stations. No one spoke to him, which was just as well. His mind was on other things.

She thought he still doubted her allegiance to the Alliance, because she’d known Serafino years ago, when she was a card dealer at a nighthouse of questionable repute. Queenies. He’d never been there, but he’d been to the higher-priced versions the Empire had to offer. That Sass knew more about a darker side, a very much less legal side, of life, he had no doubt.

That that was also what created an ease between Sass and Serafino was also a logical conclusion. They’d spent their formative years in similar circumstances.

But Kel-Paten was afraid there might be more than just that. Everything about Jace Serafino when he was around Sass-- the way he moved with a controlled grace; the way he talked as if every word were intimate; the way he looked at her with anticipation-- everything said something more was going on.

But what it was he couldn’t prove, yet. Other than the one thing he did know was that Serafino would, given the chance, strip Kel-Paten of whatever he valued, whatever he held dear.

Because he’d been the one who had found out about Serafino’s sister. And he’d been the one who had relayed that same information to the Defense Minister, all the while uncomfortably knowing that the young woman and her son were innocent bystanders.

He wanted very much to believe that they had been taken into protective custody and were safely relocated.

But he’d never been able to prove that.

And Serafino had never mentioned that. But he knew; he knew Serafino knew he had been the one to find his sister.

And he also knew Serafino would stop at nothing to get revenge.


~Linnea

http://linneasinclair.com/gamescover.htm

Strange Brews

I think my aural memory is very good, but sometimes it isn't.

For instance, I was absolutely certain that I knew the opening lines to The Eagles quintessentially seventies song "Life in the Fast Lane."

Mea culpa. I thought the heroine was terminally vain.

I listened to that song a lot while writing about Insufficient Mating Material's fashionista heroine who was so pampered, she could not even undress without the hero's help, and the slightly brutal Djetth (Jeth).

It wasn't my imaginary theme song for the book, but I felt an affinity.

A couple of days ago, I learned that the heroine was "terminally pretty" (to rhyme with "the hard cold city"). How devastating to know that I have been mistaken for more than two decades!

OK. I will admit it. I loved The Cream song, Strange Brew but I never have been clear what it is about. When I was a giddy youth, I didn't read the transcripts on the backs of LPs.

These songs recapture my happiest memories -- well... I should modify that, but the late sixties, seventies and eighties were fabulous, and that's when I had time to listen to the radio, and when I judged potential boyfriends by their record collections.

Did anyone else do that? Or am I truly weird?

LP-Harmony!!!!

I've also been polling my internet acquaintances about their opinions of Newsletters put out by authors, because I am on a panel speaking about the virtues of Newsletters on behalf of the EPIC organization (for electronically published authors) at the upcoming Romantic Times convention.

More than once as my questionnaires came back to me, I heard that readers love recipes in authors' newsletters. Good grief, people are interested in what I eat, whether I cook it, and what ingredients I use! Who knew?

Music, recipes... now add Linnea Sinclair's barman, Sin.

When you write do you follow the What's In Your Wallet? line of characterization?

Some characterization pundits advise authors to make lists of what is in their heroes' pockets.

(I tried that in Insufficient Mating Material, with good reason. My survival consultant, Les Stroud, aka Survivorman always tells the Science Channel viewer what, apart from his multi-tool, is in his pocket when he is stranded on a deserted island or other hostile-to-life spot.)

How about, What's In Your Drink? (I have paranoid, intergalactic superspy heroes who wonder that, too.)

Let's take world-building to an appropriate level. What do your inter-stellar characters drink for survival, for sustenance, for pleasure, and for a buzz?

Is it basically a gin and tonic with dye in it? Is it green small beer? (That's a fraction deeper than you think). Is it Blue Curacao with vodka? Is water the champagne of the future? Or serum?

Who saw Antz? The Bar Scene? Drinking from the aphids' butts (not that I recommend it, but does it have potential for an alien lifestyle)? There was another bar scene in An Ant's Life. Cartoons can be highly creative.

Well, here's the kicker.

Tonight (Sunday 9 -11 pm Eastern), April Fools' Night, with the moon all but full, Linnea, Susan, Colby and Rowena are going to be appearing in character on the Passionate Internet Voices Radio in order to put the lot together.

We'll be in Linnea's Intergalactic Bar and Grille (a franchise thereof) with Sin the bartender making otherwordly drinks. And we'll be planning a big surprise for Earth.

Best wishes,

Rowena

My Favorite Earthling (instalment 5)

Excerpted from MY FAVORITE EARTHLING
by SUSAN GRANT
copyright Susan Grant 2006


MARCH 2007
ISBN 0373771924; HQN books


This uncorrected excerpt may contain errors and other text not found in the final printed novel and is not for sale. Please don’t share the text with anyone without first receiving permission from the author to do so.
------

Keira was still shaking as she addressed the leaders she’d summoned from their ridiculous emergency meeting. This was the emergency! “The prince of Earth insulted me. Challenged me. Me—the queen!”

She’d bathed and changed into an exquisite bright yellow ceremonial gown. It constricted her ribs to the point where she couldn’t inhale fully, which contributed to her swimming head. But it helped constrain her temper as well. “He’s a frontiersman, a barbarian, and yet he broke every level of security we have, forcing his image onto my personal view screen.” Searing it into her mind.

Gods, he’d affected her, and in more ways than she cared to admit. She’d thought herself immune from sexy, good-looking, arrogant, supremely confident men and their charms. Particularly those well beneath her social standing.

“How could you let this happen? He taunted me. Your monarch. Your goddess. I’m humiliated and disgusted. I’m...I’m furious!”

Lightheaded, she gripped her rustling skirts in shaking hands. The fabric blotted her sweaty palms, effectively hiding the roiling fear she tried to hard to suppress and hide. You are strong. A warrior. “I want an explanation, and I want it now, or I’ll have every last one of you fools executed.”

“We have put the entire planet on full alert,” the new Minister of Intelligence, Ismae Vemekk, offered. “No craft can get in or out.”

Keira glared at the unfamiliar women with contempt. What were they doing, alternating boy-girl-boy-girl as they replaced Intelligence ministers? Spicing it up for variety? Usually the cronies stayed on in their posts for life. “Who cares about spacecraft when an Earthling can invade my privacy and taunt me at his convenience? No, it isn’t a physical invasion, but is that not the next step?”

“Earth does not have the power to invade the heart of the Coalition,” Neppal said.

“How do we know this? You yourself said that if they align with the Drakken...” She couldn’t finish the thought. “How are we to make an impression on Earth when they so easily make fools of us? Damn you, Neppal. Where were your troops when that signal came in? I was alone. Alone!”

Alone...
A memory ripped through her mind in dark, violent snatches. The smell of her mother’s skin. The sound of her fear-filled voice. They were on a ship and something had happened to it. Her mother stuffed Keira in a dark pipe barely large enough to fit her. Stay here, Keira. Do not move. Do you understand me? No matter what you hear, do not come out. And, oh, what Keira had heard. Awful things. Unforgettable things.

Keira realized she’d brought her flattened hand to her chest to quell her thumping heart. Ashamed, she made a fist. “If I cannot be safe in my own home, then where can I be safe?” She detected a slight thickening in her voice and cleared her throat. They mustn’t see her fear, they mustn’t. She picked up a wine glass Taye had filled with snowberry liqueur, knowing that it calmed her. In one gulp, she emptied it and was about to slam the glass on the table when something more appropriate came to mind. Perhaps not appropriate, but satisfying at least. Sneering, she hurled the glass at the supreme commander. Years of training with weapons had given her dead-on accuracy.

The officer blocked the glass with his arms, fists pressed together. The heavy goblet crashed to the floor and shattered. “The next one will hit the target, I swear it,” she hissed, glowering at Neppal.

Carefully, the prime minister broke in once more. “Perhaps we can see the offending visual ourselves?”

She actually felt a quickening of her heartbeat at the prospect of watching the recording again. Was the prince as proactive and forceful in the other, more personal areas of his life? He’d mentioned a harem. An image of him making love to several women threatened to take her breath away—one: because she didn’t like the thought of other women touching him, and two: no man should look that good naked. Trying to act as coolly as possible, she sashayed to her throne and sat in it with a whoosh of yellow skirts. “Show visual,” she commanded from the enormous, bejeweled chair when the leaders gathered in a half circle around the huge screen.

The recorded image was stopped and brought back to the beginning. Every one of the palace leaders present focused on the display—and the Earthling prince. It grew very quiet in the chamber. All were sizing up the man, seeing if concern was justified, and if so, to what level.

Keira sat rigidly, her hands clasped demurely on her lap, until she noticed her fingers digging into her flesh and slipped her hands under her thighs.
The Earthling’s voice filtered through the translator. His surprise slid into interest, male interest, when he first laid eyes upon her. He finds you attractive.
It took everything she had not to let his appraisal of her matter.

“How dare you?” Keira stiffened at the indignation and shock in her recorded voice. And the anger—anger at herself. That was new. Usually she was angry at other people. Another reason to despise the Earthling prince.

“Trespasser. Barbarian!”

He laughed at her then, called her the barbarian. How dare he treat her with such disrespect?

Onscreen, the Earthling prince leaned forward, his mouth formed in that half-smile that so unsettled her. She couldn’t be further than naked dressed to her chin in the layered and laced traditional gown, but every time the man’s eyes swept passed her body, she felt exposed. She shivered as she always did when hit with a sense of vulnerability, but this time the trembling was different. Quite...different.

She imagined his muscled body sweaty and naked as he struggled to free himself from the cuffs with which she’d bound him. He’d be hers, all hers, and at her mercy. She imagined tasting his skin, touching him wherever she pleased. “By the gods and goddesses,” she whispered.

Keira closed her eyes and prayed to get through this session with her dignity intact. Sometimes, it felt as if her dignity was all she had. In the frightening lonely days after losing her family, dignity served well as a protective wall, one as high and as wide as those surrounding this palace.

She fought to build that wall around her now, listening to the prince rage, “My message to you is this: if your people come back for another try at landing on Earth, we’ll be waiting. A billion more guys like me, waiting.”

The visual ended soon after. Everyone was briefly silent. No one questioned her rage now. They appeared as invaded as she felt.

The new minister of intelligence was the first of the leaders to find her voice. “I am deeply sorry at the distress this invasion caused you, Your Highness. I do not know why the transmission appeared on your screen and no one else’s, bypassing all our security. You have my word we will work ceaselessly on this until we have an answer.”

Keira nodded her thanks yet regarded the tall woman with pity. If the fates of her predecessors were any indication, Ismae Vemekk’s life span would not be noted for its longevity.

Supreme-second Fair Cirrus frowned, rubbing his knuckles across his chin. “Indeed this proves Earth’s cleverness. That cleverness could very well lead them to be reluctant choosing sides in a war they know little about.”

The age-old war with the Drakken.

“There is one way to avoid uncertainty as to their loyalties,” Rissallen said. “A failsafe way.”

“Nothing is failsafe,” Neppal barked.

“This is nearly so. A treaty to take precedence over all treaties.” The prime minister’s mouth slid into a winning smile, revealing perfect, if a little large, teeth. Rissallen could be so oily. What did he have up his sleeve this time? That they simply cut off the power to her visual communications screen? That they eavesdrop on all her private conversations for now on?

Keira slammed her hands onto the armrests of her throne. The jewels on her fingers clattered against the jeweled precious metal on the armrests. “I’ll have you know, Kellen, that I will not be coddled, talked down from my concerns.”

But the leaders seemed not to hear her. “I wonder,” Fair Cirrus said to Rissallen, “is the prince unmarried?”

Rissallen waved at the blank screen. “He did not have a wrist tattoo indicating he was married.”

“Earth tradition may differ.”

“Nor did I see any such jewelry that could possibly signify his marital status.”
“He mentioned a harem,” Fair Cirrus noted.

Keira bounced her gaze from man to man. She expected them to be counting Earth’s warships, not counting the prince’s wives.

“That’s not unusual for a man of power, no matter what his marriage status,” Neppal said. “If single, he’d maintain a harem for sport and for variety. If married, he’d certainly be entitled to additional females to ease the boredom.”

Keira snorted. “The only one bored in your bed, Commander, is the woman you take to it.”

Finally, Neppal met her gaze. A glint of malice glinted in his eyes. “I do not like the idea of bringing in an outsider to be the queen’s consort, but the more I ponder it the better it sounds,” he told the group.

“Consort?” she croaked.

Rissallen dipped in a small bow. “A treaty of marriage would put all our fears to rest because it would link Earth to the Coalition. Permanently.”

“At least until death do they part,” Neppal said smugly.

“Gods,” Vemekk said. “Tell me you’re not considering mating them.”

Mating? Her and the Earthling prince? Keira gave a little squeak. By now, her pulse was making a strange whooshing noise in her ears. “I thought plans were being made for my betrothal to a high-ranking military officer.” Not Neppal, but someone as easily dismissed. “Where is he? Why have I not met him yet?”

The group shuffled their feet and cleared their throats. “Prime Major Far Star is missing,” several admitted at once.

“What happened? Did he run away? Was he too terrified to marry me? Did he hear the rumor about my skill with a sword?” Of course, it wasn’t a rumor, but it served her well as a man deterrent.

Rissallen smiled. “We simply don’t know, My Queen. But he’s old news now. Now we have a new and better man for you to consider.”

The Earthling prince, she thought, struggling to breathe in the constricting dress. Although she wouldn’t truly be allowed to consider him, would she? They’d pretend to include her in the process but ultimately, they’d make the decisions as they always did, as they had ever since she took the throne as a child-queen, a frightened little girl lost in a sea of what she didn’t understand. You’re still that girl. Wasn’t she supposed to hold absolute and holy power? Some goddess she was. She had no free will, no control over her destiny, no choices. Not since childhood had she ventured off this world or mingled with the people who worshipped her daily in their temples. She was a prisoner in this castle, born and bred to breed, and nothing more. She’d never really matter, not like she longed to matter.

Keira strode to the huge window that looked out onto a glacial landscape which held about as much warmth as her blood did in that moment. Her breath formed mist on the glass, obscuring the dramatic views. “I wish it were summer,” she whispered, dragging a finger through the circle of vapor. For those few fleeting weeks out of the year she felt alive. She spent the glorious weeks outside and especially the nights that never grew dark. Sometimes, she even evaded the guards, if only for a few moments.

Her mood darkened. She’d evade her future husband, too. And as often as possible. Once he’d planted a baby in her belly, there was no further need to be with him.
What if he didn’t agree to the treaty of marriage?

Of course, he would. For him, it would be a huge step up. She was a goddess. The blood of Sakkara flowed in her veins. She could trace her ancestors back to the beginning of recorded time. Her family was revered as gods by trillions of Coalition citizens and billions more undocumented believers who lived across the border in Drakken space. She was the goddess they worshipped.

A goddess who felt very human most of the time.

She heard a throat being cleared, and the shuffling of feet as the leaders waited for her to turn around. They’d make the decision for her if she didn’t, citing reasons of national security. She might as well hold onto as much control as she could. She took a breath, her hands fisted at her sides. Then, with dignity holding her smoldering rage in check, she turned around and squared her shoulders. Her ornate dress rustled, the bodice squeezing her ribs. “It must be done. For the sake of my people, I will take the Earthling as my royal consort.” She wasn’t very convincing at altruism but nonetheless, she tried. Luckily, no one snickered.

Unlike the others, who seemed relieved, Vemekk and Neppal continued to act unhappy: the minister quite shocked and dismayed, and the supreme commander simply angry. The commander’s reaction Keira could explain away as sullenness over not having had the chance to go to battle against Earth with his army, but the minister’s reaction was more puzzling.

“Find out the prince’s status,” Keira said. “And if he is free”—her hands opened and closed, itching to throw daggers—“strike a deal with Earth. Tell them they may offer their prince as the price for peace and the opportunity to keep their planet.”
Rissallen slapped his hands together in delight. “Together the Coalition and Earth will present a united front to the Drakken Hoard.”

As for her united front with the Earthling, it need not exist. He’d be given a life of comfort and riches in the galaxy’s most luxurious palace. All he ever needed to sate his appetites would be available to him, so he need not look to her for his satisfaction. And if he were to persist, well, her skill with a plasma sword was legendary.
~~~*~~~



Susan Grant's sensational My Favorite Enemy is available for pre-order on Amazon.com
This excerpt is the last of five, which have been posted on this blog.

Susan will be sharing a workship with Linnea Sinclair on Action Adventure at the April 25-29 2007 Romantic Times convention in Houston, Texas.

REVIEW OF:


MY FAVORITE EARTHLING
By SUSAN GRANT
Futuristic
ISBN 0373771924
Harlequin
March 2007

Reviewed by Rowena Cherry, author of INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL

I love it! Susan Grant pumps up the adrenaline with another jolting good adventure!

Earth is in danger of being invaded. Assassins’ knives –and more advanced weapons-- are out for the alien Cavin Far Star (hero of YOUR PLANET OR MINE), who has gone awol on Earth with the love of his life, Senator Jana Jasper. A plasma-sword wielding Queen who is known to castrate over-enthusiastic suitors, is looking for a mate…Cavin Far Star! But, a ruthless someone else is determined to be the Queen’s consort, and he will stop at nothing to have his way. High ranking, alien Ministerial co-conspirators are killing each other… and that’s just the Prologue.

Real estate developer and ace National Guard fighter pilot, Jared Jasper is off-roading across his ranch when he T-bones an invisible, crashed, alien assassin’s space ship. What he unleashes when he sits in the interactive pilot seat and fires off sexually creative, ultra macho “trash talk” at a hot ‘n haughty alien beauty could imperil or save our world as we know it.

Susan Grant is one of today’s best authors of action-packed alien romance, owing to the page-turner quality of her writing, her flair for the dramatic, the romantic, and the absolute authority of her worldbuilding, not least because Susan Grant knows her way around cockpits.

MY FAVORITE EARTHLING is a glorious, sexy, breathtaking romp across the solar systems and beyond. Ride the shockwave. If highly sexually motivated aliens float your boat (or your space fleet) this romance could be for you! I couldn’t put it down.


Rowena Cherry, author of INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL