Nothing says the end of summer like dinosaurs

Aug 26, 2021 3:56 pm

Raymund Eich

Science fiction and fantasy - from Middle America to the ends of the Universe

So long, summer. Hello, dinosaurs.

Hi ,

Raymund Eich here. Though the temperatures around Houston are still in the 90s, summer is winding down. My kids are back in school, and my wife is preparing for the class she'll teach this fall at the university. Soon, we'll be left with only memories, of the pool, camps, and staying inside the air conditioning as much as possible.

Where do dinosaurs come in?

Publishing News

In previous issues of the Readers Club, I mentioned two stories in the Portia Oakeshott, Dinosaur Veterinarian series that appeared in Analog. The next title in the series is a short novel debuting as a standalone publication from CV-2 Books.

Winner and the Poacher

A Portia Oakeshott, Dinosaur Veterinarian Short Novel

As a girl, Portia Oakeshott dreamed of caring for the reconstructed dinosaurs roaming the preserve near the south pole of her home planet, New New South Wales.

As a consultant to law enforcement, Portia confronts stark evidence of a rich young man's crime: the mounted head of a massive herbivorous Wintonotitan. A winner.

A dinosaur the company never granted a permit for hunting.

Journeying to the bottom of the world in the sunless week of latewinter, Portia and a policeman must unravel a web of sins and lies to build an airtight case.

And survive the desperate acts of the guilty.

Ebook $2.99 (or comparable outside the US)

Trade paperback $11.99.

Available at these and more booksellers worldwide.

Amazon

Other Stores

Prefer to order the trade paperback from your local bookstore? Tell them ISBN 978-1-952220-07-4.

New Space Opera Series!

Exploration 2127

The False Flag War - Volume 1

Concordia’s mission reflected the best of the human race. Crew and scientists from both of Earth’s rival factions, Humanists and Traditionalists, journeyed for years at relativistic speeds to reach Bravo Charlie, a life-bearing planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, to expand the frontiers of knowledge for all.

Concordia’s mission also reflected humanity at its worst. Corrupt bureaucrats and ambitious political leaders in both factions maintained a status quo backed by weapons of mass destruction. The faction commanders on the mission each sought to seize advantages for their side alone.

Then the ship received transmissions. Signs of an ancient, powerful alien presence on the planet below.

Sent to explore: Jaeger and McIlroy, born and raised in a Texas divided by razor wire and minefields. Men torn between the mission's ideals and orders from their respective faction commanders.

Then Jaeger and McIlroy discover how to force Earth's factions to work together... using knowledge given by aliens dead over a million years.

Expected publication date: October 28, 2021.

I'll let you know more, including a cover reveal and bookstore links, when the date approaches.

Patently Curious

I've read thousands of patents in my career. Some are more memorable than others.

Last time I talked about the 200 MPG carburetor. Now it's time for something even more far out. Long time science fiction readers might have heard of the Dean Drive. US 2,886,976, a "System for Converting Rotary Motion into Unidirectional Motion." a.k.a. a reactionless drive. a.k.a. an impossibility under physics as we know it.

Maybe you'll have better luck figuring out how to get unidirectional motion out of Fig. 5 than John W. Campbell (editor of Astounding/Analog) and G. Harry Stine (aerospace engineer and science fiction writer) did.

If you succeed, we'll rename the first nuclear-powered submarine to Mars after you.

From the Vault

New California

This is one of my earlier novels, originally published in 2012. It's the first of my novels to reflect the idea that, because space travel is and will remain relatively very expensive, space colonies won't pay for themselves. Most space settlements will be founded as religious colonies.

On that theme, New California was founded, about fifty years before the events of the novel, by a wealthy Californian who wanted a refuge for New Age hedonism. But tasting all sorts of physical pleasures and standing at the pinnacle of his new world wasn't enough....

After New California's founder committed suicide, two men vied to rule the colony.

One, bureaucrat Ashwin George, supported by Tián Quán, the Chinese company whose hyperdrive ships and intelligent robots dominated half the settled galaxy.

Alone against them, Desmond Park, nanotechnology engineer, armed only with a shrewd intellect, the loyalty of the colony's smart and disaffected youth, and the most formidable weapon of all.

A single idea.

Looking back

The "selfish gene"—the idea that genes build individual organisms for the gene's benefit, not the individual's—is explored heavily in this book.
Am I the first to point out that our genes are the secular equivalent of the evil deimurges that made the fallen world of flesh in Gnostic heresy?
This book is one of my few titles that includes AI as major characters.
And did you know that AIs and intelligent robots have their own counterparts to the selfish gene?
I had a lot of fun finding Chinese and Mexican-Spanish words borrowed into New California English. (Glossary included. Just like at the end of Dune). One excellent resource: a website devoted to translating the Chinese words used in the 2002 space adventure TV show Firefly.

New California is available in ebook ($2.99), trade paperback ($17.99), and audiobook (about $21.95). All prices USD. Click below to learn more and buy now.

Amazon

Other books you might like

Matriculation: Zin Yarl an Origin Story

by S.V. Farnsworth

If you're looking for a meat and potatoes space adventure, take a look. A free intro to the author's Seventh Generation series.

Matriculation: Zin Yarl an Origin Story

Read for free. Just click the link and sign up for S.V. Farnsworth's mailing list.

Before I go, one last thing: are my emails giving you what you want? If they aren't, email me at newsletter@raymundeich.com or take a short online survey to tell me what you'd like to hear more about.

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I'll be back in a couple of months with more news. And I'll bring you a special bulletin when publishing news breaks.

Happy reading!

Raymund Eich

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