Monday, June 6, 2022

InterstellarNet: happy anniversary

Some of my most popular fiction -- the InterstellarNet series -- takes place in an alternate/future history that splits off from our familiar timeline in 2002.  The triggering event: a radio signal from extrasolar aliens. 

First novel of three
I never specified an exact date that year when the signal was recognized, beyond that the weather in Geneva was warm. So: I declare today, in the story's timeline, the twentieth anniversary of the series.

If you're not familiar with this corner of my work, what began as a standalone novelette ("Dangling Conversations") in the November 2000 issue of Analog eventually grew into a three-novel series. 

Along the way, InterstellarNet collected a goodly share of recognition. "Creative Destruction" (the second story in the series -- expanded, along with its predecessor, into the opening of InterstellarNet: Origins) marked my first appearance in a "year's best" anthology. Downstream, "Championship B'tok" got me a Hugo Award nomination. And InterstellarNet: Enigma -- novel #3, and the culmination of the series -- won the inaugural Canopus Award for "excellence in interstellar writing."

Canopus Award for 3rd novel
SETI. First Contact. Second Contact, up close and personal. Aliens, obviously. AIs -- and alien AIs. Hackers extraordinaire (you did notice the "Net" aspect of InterstellarNet, right?). Galaxy-spanning, mind-bending intrigues. InterstellarNet has all that -- and more. 

Curious? To learn more about any of the novels in the InterstellarNet series, click its cover in this post's righthand side.