The battle for Proxima begins

Book 4 in the Star Crusades Series

Today is the 14^th of September and I am pleased to announce the final release of Battle for Proxima. This is the fourth big in my Star Crusades series and the penultimate story in the five book story arc. The events of the previous books have been building up to a level that demanded satisfaction in the most violent of ways. This is the longest book I have written so far and that added extra time on the end to get it finished. It was one of those stories that just wouldn’t end!

One question I am often asked is about extra detail with regards to smaller characters. For example, some of the more junior soldiers or officers might just get a mention but the reader wants more. In a war as big as this one I have to keep the attention on the small group of main characters, the two most important being Spartan and Teresa. Next in line are general Rivers, Admiral Jarvis, Commander Anderson, Gun and Marcus. There are dozens more but you are probably already starting to see the problem. 

Warships assembling for battle at Euryale

When book five is completed it is my intention to examine the lesser characters. I have some ideas for them and will bounce them off you in due course. For now enjoy my new novel, I will let you know more about book five as we get closer to its own release date.

Thunder and Lightning

Confederate frigate escorted by Lightning fighters

The Confederate Navy Fighter Wings were the elite fighting arm of the Navy and contained the best trained pilots in the fleet. Though most squadrons were based at the Naval bases and battlegroups around Terra Nova a few squadrons did play their part in the Proxima Emergency. Operating from escort cruisers and carriers the men and women of the Fighter Wings made use of the two most advanced craft in the Fleet. The MK II Lightning was a twin-engine interceptor whilst the Thunderbolt MK I was a four engine torpedo bomber with enough firepower to cripple a frigate.

Excerpt from Tears of Kerberos.

Close-up view of the Lightning MKII two-seater fighters

Book Cover Photoshoot & Party

My publisher, Swordworks Books is responsible for some great artwork for my novels. The designs are detailed and often include an amalgamation of custom artwork, illustration and images of models. Earlier on in June I was pleased to take part in a bizarre but very interesting photoshoot to obtain artwork that will be included in a variety of projects including my Star Crusades series. Swordworks publish books on such diverse subjects as science-fiction, fantasy, horror and instructional manuals.

The day started off with a number of people dressed in all kinds of attire from World War II German uniforms to leather jackets and dyed hair. Each carried a variety of props that included historical and modern weapons and in some really great poses. A make-up team was on standby and they created some fantastic injuries as well as dirtying up some of the models prior to the photo session.

Photography was conducted by Imaginography and I think you'll agree that the photographs were truly exceptional. All of the images were taken at the session or created from material taken that day. Enjoy!

If you would like to see more of the photgraphs from that day please checkout the Imaginography Facebook page.

Fires of Prometheus due for release within the week!

The third book in my best-selling Science Fiction series 'Star Crusades' is nearing its final few days. The last stage includes final proofing as well as checking the cover and description for the hundredth time. This book finally resolves some of the questions covering the key characters as well as pushing the story to towards the bloody conclusion of the conflict in Proxima Centauri.

Fires of Prometheus will expand on the characters from the first two books whilst adding a small number of new ones. As well as adding more details concerning the planets in the series this book introduces the burning hot Prometheus, one of the violent and dangerous places in the Confederacy.

Gravity, lasers and FTL - Physics in Science Fiction

One of the most difficult decisions I think you have to make when it comes to writing science fiction is working out the ratio between the two. How much science and how detailed and accurate do you want it to be? Of course a great deal of science fiction is what some people call speculative fiction and I suppose we are all asking ‘What if?’ when we write these stories.

Do you want spaceships with artificial gravity like those in Stars Wars or Star Trek or would you prefer the retaining section of 2001 or Babylon 5? How about speed and interstellar travel? Are you happy with the pulse fission warp engine that allows you to travel faster than light or do you want ships to travel using known physics and chemistry? Weapons are a classic issue with most films littered with blue plasma bolts and lasers flashing between spaceships. Again the author needs to make a choice between the visual and the story whilst fitting in plausible scientific explanations.

All of these questions came to the front with my Star Crusades series. The first book was supposed to be more of a Full Metal Jacket in space type story, with little thought on the concerns of spacecraft and politics. As with all projects though, the plan changed and here I am with three books completed and a detailed world with colonies, ships, factions and strife already made. What about the science though and what decisions did I make?

With regards to weapons, well, I wanted modern weapons brought to their most advanced iterations. Soldiers use rifles but with advanced ammunition, better optics and integrated command and communications gear. All of this exists but it work better and more efficiently. Ships use rail guns, weapons that we have already started to get working though they are far from ready. The problems of power and heat being issues I can deal with assuming better power and engineering system in the future. Movement, distances and travel are another issue and for this I have elected to not use FTL to speed up events. Ships take time and even with my advanced technology they still take almost a year to travel between Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri. Rotating sections are used when ships are coasting, long distances where ships accelerate are able to create levels of gravity based on their own increasing velocity.

I think the issues of science in science fiction are always at the forefront of the writer’s mind and it is important to remember that we make the decisions in our stories to create a certain feel and style as much as create a sense of realism. In the end the battles of Star Trek and Star Wars are epic and exciting even though we know you can’t see the beams, there is no fake gravity and that parsecs are not a measure of time!