“Hey Edgar,” he said.
“Hey, Rei,” Edgar replied. “Where were you?”
Rei sighed. “Out there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “How are you doing?”
“My back is killing me,” Edgar said.
“Yeah,” Rei answered. “That happens a lot. Did everybody make it?”
Edgar looked down. “No,” he said. “Some of the caskets in the front got cracked.”
“Where?” Rei asked, looking around.
“They moved them to the back,” Edgar said. “And Keller was looking for you.”
However, once I made the decision to crush the three novels down into one, I had already roughed out the plot to The Ark Lords and I knew I wanted Edgar to be a very coarse, brutish man. So I changed the scene in the modern version to Rei encountering Bonnie Mullen, instead:
Rei saw two people that he knew. He walked over to one of them, Bonnie Mullen, and kneeled down beside her.
“Hey, Bonnie,” he said.
“Hey, Rei,” Bonnie replied, smiling weakly. “Where were you?”
Rei sighed. “Out there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “How are you doing?”
“My back is killing me,” Bonnie said, grimacing.
“Yeah,” Rei answered. “That happens a lot. Did you get a pill?”
“Yeah, some old guy gave me one.”
“It’ll help soon. Did everybody make it?”
Bonnie looked down. “Almost everybody,” she said. “Some of the caskets in the front of the ship got cracked, a couple got punctured by micrometeorites.”
“Oh,” Rei said sadly.
“I think Keller has been looking for you.”
Subtle or what? You'd never know how important that difference made to the plot of The Ark Lords.
Entry 3-126: May 1, 2015
Explode in space?
What would happen if you were exposed to the cold and vacuum of space without an intact spacesuit? Most movies would have you think that you would explode because the pressure inside your body would cause your tissues to rapidly expand.
However (and don't try this at home), you would not explode. You'd die, of course. But you wouldn't explode. The fact of the matter is, the gasses in your bloodstream or any other tissues would expand and you'd definitely swell up, maybe even to twice your size, but your skin would keep everything in. And your blood would not boil as Hollywood would have you believe.
If you were in protective outerwear, you might not even swell up that much. You'd still be dead but at least you'd resemble a human being. Eventually, you would freeze because space is so cold but even at those lower temperatures, you would eventually lose all the fluids in your body using a process called sublimation. This is where a solid turns into a gas directly without going through a liquid phase.
What would be left would be pretty ghastly looking. Sort of mummified. Here is how they appeared to Rei:
Rei worked his way to the back of the center section, waving to a few other people that he knew. When he got to the entry to the catacombs, he stopped and looked inside one of the especially hardened sarcophagi from the front of the Ark. The remains of the occupant were still in there. A sizeable crack had caused the rehydration fluid to sublimate out and the vacuum of space mummified the person inside. It was just a pile of skin, bone and jerky, barely revealing the fact that the remains were once human.
Aason Bierak came across similar remains in the novel, The Milk Run. Not a pleasant sight.
Entry 3-127: May 2, 2015
Head spinning
When the crew of the Ark II arrived on Deucado in the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, they were rescued by the Ibbrassati. Unfortunately, the Ibbrassati only spoke Vuduri so the newly-thawed colonists had no clue what they were saying.
Luckily, Rei Bierak had spent an entire year learning to speak Vuduri and his wife Rome had learned English. Between the two of them, they could serve as interpreters whenever the two groups interacted. Here is a simple example. This little paragraph took place right after Rei rearrived at the secret Ibbrassati enclave in the woods to the north:
Rei shook his head and entered the tunnel leading to the catacombs. Captain Keller had set up an office in the small side room where he recovered. He had a flat area made of cane-wood that was serving as a desk. On it were papers and skins with drawings that looked like maps. Trabunel and Fridone were standing next to the desk, gesticulating. Keller was grumbling. Fridone looked up and saw Rei standing there.
“Ah, Rei,” said Fridone. “Inta asde Rome?”
“Barmenacau edres bere dar i papa,” Rei said. “Dafa qua dirner e raunor i samanda bere cinsarfer sue fote. Amodorem-ma evesdeti."
“Oh,” said Fridone and nothing more.
Keller looked at Rei and breathed a sigh of relief. “Bierak! Finally,” he said. “Where the hell have you been? I cannot understand one word that these people say. I need you to translate for me.”
“Of course,” Rei said. “What do you need?”
“As far as I can gather, these people are telling me that we have to stay hidden. That if we expose ourselves, the Vuduri will come and get us.”
“That’s the way I understand it too, sir. The Vuduri fear us. People of our age. They call us Garacei Ti Essessoni, the Killer Generation because after we left Earth, 9 billion people died.
“Nine billion?” Keller echoed in amazement.
“Yes. But specifically, us, from the Ark. They call us the Erklirte, the Ark Lords because another group, the Ark from G. Eridani, almost took over the world.”
“This world?” Keller asked.
“No,” Rei replied. “Our world. Earth. They came back to the Earth.”
“When was that?”
“A long time ago, as far I can tell,” Rei said.
“So…” said Keller. “No secondary target?”
“No,” Rei said. “They turned around and went back home. And they killed a lot of people.”
Of course, tongue-in-cheek, I had Rome tell Rei that nobody on Deucado would take the time to learn English but of course that is exactly what happened. English eventually became the lingua franca, the trade language, of the three worlds (later four after The Milk Run) because it was the logical choice.
Entry 3-128: May 3, 2015
Rome, a bitch?
Poor Rome. She is one of the greatest heroes ever produced by mankind. She is responsible for the complete overhaul of Vuduri society and yet, to look at her, all you would see would be a tiny woman, barely five feet tall with dark brown hair flecked with strands of gold.
Captain Keller came from a very rough society and he was embittered because his wife and children were vaporized by a terrorist's nuclear bomb. As a result, he was not very respectful of Rome or the Vuduri in general. Of course, we later learned in The Ark Lords that he was also the leader of the Darwin contingent on Deucado. That certainly does not excuse his boorish behavior. But look how hard Rei had to try to not call his own wife a bitch:
“You still haven‘t proven to me that Stareaters even exist,” Keller said. “Look, let me clue you in. We were supposed to be here first so none of this is up to you. All I need you to do is do your duty and translate for me.”
“I can’t do it, sir. I can’t be part of this,” Rei said weakly.
“We’re doing it whether you approve or not. Your only choice is if you want to be there. I’ll be glad to set up a brig for you, if you’d like.”
“But sir, there has to be another way,” Rei said desperately. “Maybe I can talk to them, to the Vuduri. Tell them what you have. Maybe they’ll listen to me.”
“They won’t listen to you and you know it. Look, I don’t want a war any more than you do. And I don’t want to hurt your little Vuduri bitch…”
“That little Vuduri woman is my wife!” Rei sneered at him.
“What?” asked Keller. “Did you get married when I wasn’t looking?”
&
nbsp; “Actually, yes,” Rei replied. “And she…”
“Never mind. I’m telling you, we’re not going to cower in these hills like animals. We came to this world to live. And we’re going to live free. We’re going to own the skies.”
One thing I can guarantee you. Rome is many things but she is most assuredly not a bitch.
Entry 3-129: May 4, 2015
Risingshadow review of The Milk Run, Pt 1 of 5
Risingshadow is one of the largest science fiction and fantasy book databases. Here you can find detailed book information and absorbing reviews. Run by dedicated speculative fiction fans for other bookworms!
This past month, Risingshadow decided to review The Milk Run . The review itself is fairly long and goes into a lot of depth so I am going to break it up into a few parts. Here is a link to the original article. I got the reviewer's permission (his handle is Seregil of Rhiminee) to reprint it here.
Part 1: Michael Brachman's The Milk Run is the first novel in The Vuduri Knights series. It's set in the same universe as the Rome's Revolution series. It's an epic and addictive space adventure novel that will please and impress fans of fast-paced and well written sci-fi romps.
This novel can be used as an excellent entry point to the Rome's Revolution universe, because Michael Brachman fluently introduces all the characters, terms, politics, places and previous happenings to new readers. He has infused the story with plenty of information so that new readers will feel almost immediately at home and will be able to enjoy the happenings.
It's possible that experienced readers of the series may feel a bit burdened reading about previous happenings etc, but the story is so good and absorbing that it's easy to enjoy it. Besides, if it's been a while since you've read the previous novels, it's good to reacquaint yourself with the happenings. I'm sure that when experienced readers get to the point where the K'val are first seen, it'll be impossible for them to stop reading the story.
Although The Milk Run is similar to the previous novels, it slightly differs from them. The previous novels were stories about Rome and Rei, but The Milk Run is Aason's story, because the happenings center around Aason and his quest to find his kidnapped sister, Lupe. This novel reveals more information about the future world, because the author introduces new creatures and interesting entities to his readers.
Here's information about the story:
Aason Bierak and his little sister, Lupe, are on their way to visit Planet OMCOM, which is a big computer, to update an important piece of equipment. Something happens during the journey and Lupe disappears. She seems to be taken from the ship by glowing tentacles that are made of light. It seems that Lupe may be found in Nu2 Lupi star system, which is 68 light-years away from the place where Aason is. It was a presumed target of one of Aason's father's Arks. Aason travels there and soon finds himself in the middle of intriguing happenings and strange beings and entities...
This is the beginning of a compelling story about a mission that should've been easy, but turns out to be extremely difficult, because something unexpected happens at a wrong time that complicates matters. The story goes far beyond a normal science fiction story, because the author addresses such issues as immortality, spirituality and souls from a fresh perspective.
Tomorrow, part 2.
Entry 3-130: May 5, 2015
Risingshadow review of The Milk Run, Pt 2 of 5
Risingshadow is one of the largest science fiction and fantasy book databases. Here you can find detailed book information and absorbing reviews. Run by dedicated speculative fiction fans for other bookworms!
This past month, Risingshadow decided to review The Milk Run . The review itself is fairly long and goes into a lot of depth so I am going to break it up into a few parts. Here is a link to the original article. I got the reviewer's permission (his handle is Seregil of Rhiminee) to reprint it here.
Part 2: Here's a bit of information about some of the characters:
- Aason is an interesting and courageous protagonist, because he's a young man who seeks his sister and tries to save her. He's willing to do anything to save his sister. He's a brave young man who has all the traits of both the Essessoni (humans from the 21st century) and Vuduri (24-chromosome mind-connected humans of the future).
- OMCOM is a computer the size of a planet. He was originally a computer installed on Skyler Base within the Tabit System, but he transferred his consciousness elsewhere.
- Junior, MINIMCOM's son (MINIMCOM was originally an autopilot computer; circumstances and experience caused him to became self-aware), has all the abilities of his father. He's Aason's cousin.
- Aroline is a nice addition to the cast of characters. She's a young woman who joins Aason on his quest. She wants to save her father.
All the characters are interesting and easily likeable characters. It's great that Michael Brachman has managed to create this kind of characters, because most authors who emphasize scientific accuracy and pay attention to technical details forget to create interesting characters. He has understood that it's just as important to develop characters as it is to pay attention to scientific details.
Reading about Aason and his adventures was thrilling and satisfying. I think that many readers will enjoy reading about how far Aason has to go to save his sister and how he has to risk his soul to get her back. Saving Lupe turns out to be extremely difficult, because it involves travelling to a dimension that is almost impossible to reach. I'm not going to write spoilers about what happens in this dimension, but I can say that it offers interesting surprises for readers and fans of the series (I was thrilled to read about what Aason experienced in the other dimension).
The author writes well about what happens between Aason and Aroline and how their relationship develops. Their feelings towards each other are handled well, because there's sexual attraction with a touch of eroticism between them.
Tomorrow, part 3.
Entry 3-131: May 6, 2015
Risingshadow review of The Milk Run, Pt 3 of 5
Risingshadow is one of the largest science fiction and fantasy book databases. Here you can find detailed book information and absorbing reviews. Run by dedicated speculative fiction fans for other bookworms!
This past month, Risingshadow decided to review The Milk Run . The review itself is fairly long and goes into a lot of depth so I am going to break it up into a few parts. Here is a link to the original article. I got the reviewer's permission (his handle is Seregil of Rhiminee) to reprint it here.
Part 3: In my opinion the author writes fluently about sexual situations. Just like in Rome's Revolution, sex is used as a tool to learn new abilities in this novel. I think that many readers will enjoy reading about how Aason has sex in order to learn a new and important ability.
Worldbuilding is just as impressive and interesting in this novel as it is in the previous novels. The author has created an intriguing future world where human beings have evolved into the Vuduri. The Vuduri differ a lot from the 21st century human beings, because they have 24 chromosomes and they're mind-connected to their collective consciousness, The Overmind. It was great that the author took worldbuilding to a whole new level by writing about the planet where the K'val lived and the other dimension (this added plenty of depth to the story).
One of the most intriguing things about this novel is that the author writes about plant people, the K'val. They're interesting creatures, because they have been given feelings and love for their families. Because they have feelings, they have to do what their Lord, Molokai, tells them to do or they'll suffer the consequences and feel pain. They have to offer humans to their Lord for food.
The interaction between the K'val and Aason is excellent and displays the author's ability to write believable and entertaining dialogue. It was enjoyable to read about how Aason talked with the K'val and how they responded to him and his actions.
Michael Brachman explores the lives of the K'val in an int
riguing way, because he slowly reveals more information about them. It was interesting for me to read about their biology and lifespan, because the author seemed to have thought of everything when he wrote about them. I was impressed by his ability to write about them and their habits and traits.
Tomorrow, part 4.
Entry 3-132: May 7, 2015
Risingshadow review of The Milk Run, Pt 4 of 5
Risingshadow is one of the largest science fiction and fantasy book databases. Here you can find detailed book information and absorbing reviews. Run by dedicated speculative fiction fans for other bookworms!
This past month, Risingshadow decided to review The Milk Run . The review itself is fairly long and goes into a lot of depth so I am going to break it up into a few parts. Here is a link to the original article. I got the reviewer's permission (his handle is Seregil of Rhiminee) to reprint it here.
Part 4: Molokai is an especially interesting entity, because it's a bodiless and powerful entity that thinks it is a god. Molokai has roamed the planet for many years and has sucked energy and life from innocent people to become stronger. It needs lots of strength and has started a breeding program to achieve its goals.
Michael Brachman has spent a lot of time polishing the scientific details and has researched things to make everything as authentic and believable as possible. It's possible that readers who are not used to reading about science and technology may at first be a bit overwhelmed by the huge amount of scientific details and technology, but the author writes so fascinatingly about these issues that they're quite easy to understand. If you happen to feel overwhelmed by the amount of scientific details, don't worry about it, because you'll soon find yourself captivated by them (you don't have to be an engineer or a researcher to be able to enjoy this novel).