I'll try not to give anything away, so if you haven't read the book yet and want to be surprised, don't read this. But then again, maybe a little background will increase the enjoyment. Your call.

​

I started writing a science fiction novel based on the huge premise that everything in space is a lie. Everyone lies about everything and the protagonist, Jack, is living a lie. Unfortunately, this premise is not robust nor interesting enough for a book. So I turned it into a character and a few chapters in the book.

​

I then thought about the science aspects. I love the mysteries of black holes and the concepts of Einstein's theory of relativity and how it breaks down at the event horizon of a black hole. What if the space-time continuum was a real thing? What are the implications of these concepts? How could they be related to an interesting story?

​

Then I thought of an unfortunate space pilot who did everything right, but was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was framed for a failed mission and loses the love of his life. He gets banished, is tormented by his demons and starts a new career.

​

I thought of artificial intelligence gone horribly awry. What would happen, how would it be dealt with. What lies are told in the pursuit of the ends justify the means? What dangers are unleased?

​

Then I thought of a space pilot who gets recruited on a spy mission. He doesn't want to do it, but it gets him back to space. He finds a new love of his life, but she doesn't seem interested. Plus, she's a spy. So there's that dynamic. 

​

Then there is the evil Emperor. He doesn't start out evil, he wants to do the right thing. But the best of intentions can lead to unintended consequences and he goes down the rabbit hole of arrogance and the attitude of no good deed goes unpunished, so I'll do what I want.

​

I love the idea of space elevators and space drive. I needed a brilliant inventor, so I came up with one, Dr. Sythe. I needed a brilliant mechanic, so Grease emerged in my mind. 

​

The Levtens are an artificial intelligence race of beings that declared sovereignty. Do AI's have a soul? What if they do? How would they involve themselves in the revolution against the Emperor? Why would they care? There is a rumor they have superior technology.

​

All-in-all, I loved writing this book. I loved editing it. Thanks to Ankica Montgomery for providing a critical edit and my love Christine Storlie for the cover art.

​

If you have any comments, good or bad, please contact me. 

​

I'm busy on Book 2: Invasion and I've kind of outlined Book 3: Infinity and Beyond. These books will be stand-alone, that is you don't need to read them in order, but they will have many of the same characters, technologies and worlds. I plan on them to be very different, not 3 versions of the same story or 3 giant chapters of the same story. Different.

​

I bore easily. I ended Book 1 with a finite ending, for better or worse. We'll see where the characters go from here, but it will be very different.