Tag: News

Progress Fall 2024

From time to time I intend to post progress on the many different projects I have. I tend to switch from one to the other when I’ve had enough of a certain setting for a while. Sometimes I want a break after a intense scene, sometimes I just need me some guns instead of swords for a bit.

As can be seen, my first two books are in the editing stage. It’s a process I’m struggling with, on the one hand because it’s a substantial investment and on the other, because I’m still looking for a line/copy editor that’s a good fit for me.

Tales of Vatan

TitleThenNow
A Path Less Traveled By (working title)38k45k
The Saga of Kára Ice-Eyes23k29k
Sunset91k112k
The Half Elven Orphan (Alagariel I) complete, editing140k160k
The Value of Nobility (Alagariel II), complete, draft
<classified> (Alagariel III), complete, draft
<classified> (Alagariel IV), planned, partial draft
<classified> (Alagariel V), planned, should conclude the 1st series
<classified> (Alagariel VI-X?) ideas and partial plans for a second series
<classified> (Alagariel XI+?) and another, probably concluding series that I have a solid outline for
Total words for all Alagariel series up to now (inc Alagariel I):643k
The Death Witch (working title)1k8k

Total War

TitleThenNow
Dropship Down (Clausewitz I) complete, editing140k?161k
A Nuclear Hello (Clausewitz II) complete, draft
The Long War (Clausewitz III) complete, draft (working title)
Headway at last (Clausewitch IV) was complete, but in the middle of a partial rewrite (working title)
<classified> (Clausewitz V) partial
Total words for all Clausewitz books (inc vol I):672k
Unnamed prequel to Clausewitz series65k75k
Clausewitz Series II29k

Other

This only includes things that I expect to turn into something publishable one day. I try not to include things for which I have no real idea how they’re going to be a worthwhile story.

TitleThenNow
Steampunk Portal Saga Thing (Yes, that’s my working title. I expect this to become a long series eventually.)0k36k
Alternate History Project20k

Sunset at 110k+ words!

Sunset, the life story of an important character that features in the Tales of Vatan: Alagariel series, passed through the hundred thousand word (100k) barrier this week. This really a chronological collection of stories that one character in the world experienced and it’s served as a way to give the world and recent history of Vatan more depth and colour.

I generally consider “full book” status to be achieved from about 125k words. At the moment, I feel there are at least  two large sections still to write, as there’s stll more than a hundred years to cover. So, it’s possible that Sunset will end up being a long one. I don’t anticipate two volumes, but you never know.

Belle de Serraient, on of Sunset’s many guises.

Success! The EU Finally Discovers Wormhole!

Brussels, 2051.062.0900, (3 March). The Defence Commissioner’s office issued a statement today confirming that the EU has discovered and claimed a wormhole leading out of Sol system. Further details are scarce, but there are unconfirmed reports from Chinese sources that military action was taken by the EU Navy to consolidate the claim against encroachment by the PRC.

The EU is in an uproar as after years of search and hundreds of billions of euro’s invested, the effort to find wormhole as finally achieved success. In parliament, motions have been entered to name the newly discovered system Europa though a statement by the Foreign Commissioner urged patience while the system beyond is scanned for planets in the habitable zone. This is the sixth wormhole that has been discovered leading out of the Sol system. Professor Frances Delaert of Dresden University stated that “each new wormhole discovery causes physicists and astronomers to scratch their heads harder – so many stable wormholes shouldn’t exist according to any current model of the universe.”

Despite the seeming impossibility of the discovery, Commissioners have been keen to take credit for sticking with the policy to continue funding the ESA and EU Navy efforts to find wormholes. There is a shadow over the whole affair however, as some amateur astronomers have reported what appeared to be nuclear explosions in the part of the Solar System where the wormhole is assumed to have been found.

While what exactly happened may become more clear in the coming days and weeks, it’s certain that the balance of power among humanity will shift if the EU manages to consolidate its claim.

This is an in setting press release for Total War. It is not real.

Patreon Benefits

I’ve posted a number of Patreon only benefits, like more images from some of the AI Studies and I’ll also always give early access to the next installment of the books that are posted on here for free. Probably, I’ll offer whole chapters as Early Access rather than the by week releases.

Anyone who is a paid member for at least six months out of a year (based on their original subscription date) will receive The Half Elven Orphan as part of their Patreon benefits. Right now, as soon as you qualify you would receive the beta reader version of the book in pdf and epub formats and I’ll make the ‘as published’ version available as soon as its released too.

Next year’s 2025 patreon book will probably be Volume I of the Total War series, Dropship Down. Up until December 2025 anyone who has been a member for a total of twelve months will of course receive both books, as I obviously didn’t launch my Patreon page until September 2024.

Influences: Robert Heinlein

The work of Robert Heinlein, one of the fathers of science fiction has been a big influence on the Total War setting. Most people know him from the book Starship Troopers and the awful movies that are based on it. (My apologies to the movie fans, but if you read the book first, the movie was a grand disappointment.) The book is part military coming of age novel, part political and social treatise, which are all themes that are at least a little present in the Clausewitz series.

Heinlein wrote much more than Starship Troopers. Stranger in a Strange Land tells the story of a human who grew up among aliens on Mars returning to Earth for the first time, giving a point of view of human society that’s just a wonderful exploration of our strange habits. Glory Road is one of my favourites. It’s a fantasy book, essentially and the story told seems to resonate though I never really know why. I think it appeals to everyone’s sense of adventure. The list of Heinlein’s work which can get very weird and even pornographic, exploring all sorts of taboos, is all intriguing. That man’s mind must have been an interesting place.

Here are Amazon links to some of my favourites and yes, I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links.

Starship Troopers
Glory Road
Stranger in a Strange Land

Influences: Dungeons & Dragons

This is the first in a series of short posts discussing what influences my work. Each post will detail either an inspiration or a specific author.

First and foremost, at least when we’re talking about my fantasy stuff, is D&D. I played AD&D for the first time in the eighties and tried a lot of other RPG systems, from modern day things (d20 Modern, Twilight 2000, GURPS), White Wolf stuff, science fiction (various incarnations of Star Wars rpg’s) and some other oddballs. I always deeply enjoyed good RPG sessions and the concept for many of my characters finds its origin in characters I’ve played or wanted to play. Mostly wanted to play, which offers an insight into why I started writing.

The Alagariel series started off as a D&D style adventure story. I wanted to tell a tale that was like my ideal D&D game. It grew into a little more than that, but the first Alagariel like character I devised was somewhere in the early 2000’s. Many of the other important characters are my own PC’s or are inspired by those other people played.

I still wish I had the time for RPG’s and a group of people to play with, but it doesn’t fit into my life right now. Who knows, maybe one day.

The Half-Elven Orphan Starts October 3rd

The first book I will publish will be offered for free on this blog in weekly installments (59 of them at time of writing, which may change a little), starting on October 3rd at 1900hrs CEST. It is a fantasy novel set in the world of Vatan. It is the first book in the Alagariel series and the Tales of Vatan setting.

For future reference, the full title is The Half-Elven Orphan, Alagariel (Volume I), Tales of Vatan. I often struggle with figuring out read orders, so hopefully that helps a bit.

A few disclaimers:

  • There will be weekly installments, but I may choose to offer other work in the same time slot. So, it’s possible that in some weeks, I’ll put up something else on Thursday evening. It’s a highly likely that this book will eventually share its time slot with my first science fiction book “Dropship Down” set in the Total War setting. So it’s possible that it will take two years before the free versions of both books are fully published.
  • For the Half-Elven Orphan I will post a high resolution map of the area where most of the story is set. It will be released on the 9th of October 2024 in a seperate post.
  • The version on here is, initially at least, not the final print version. That said, it has been proof read by a group of people and generally received well enough that I’m comfortable posting it hear without its final edits. Besides final edits, I may still decide to change things too.
  • I may also post this to other online venues.
  • Obviously any and all support is appreciated. At the moment the only way that’s possible is via Patreon.

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Breaking News: USA Discovers another wormhole!

Washington DC, 2049.297.0338 (24 October). The United States State Department announced today that NASA, supported by the US Navy, has discovered and claimed yet another wormhole leading out of the Sol System.

NASA states adjoining system hosts several planets in the habitable zone. An unnamed senior US Navy source claimed that there were definitely planets that looked like they were habitable for humans, calling the system “prime real estate”. This is the fifth wormhole that the USA has discovered in the Solar System. An official stated the system on the far side of the wormhole has been named “Independence”. Reactions from the EU and the PRC are best described as lukewarm. Both entities released statements reiterating the need for a proper distribution of wormhole access among Earth’s major powers and called for the USA to relinquish control of the wormhole to the United Nations.

This is an in setting press release for Total War. It is not real.