SciFi Thoughts (also random synapse misfirings)

Last updated July 3, 2024

Today begins my multipart appearance (if audio-only counts as an appearance) on genre podcast SciFi Thoughts. My conversation with fellow SF author Lancer Kind will continue in several weekly installments -- see updates below.

Curious? Of *course* you are. Here, as an intro to my writing and authorial career, is installment one:

https://lancerkind.com/podcast/278-edward-m-lerner-perpetrator-of-science-fiction-and-techno-thrillers/

First update: touching on my three-novel InterstellarNet series, on the nonfiction/popular-science book Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction, and on my latest novel, aka Life and Death on Mars, here is installment two:

https://lancerkind.com/podcast/279-life-and-death-on-mars-author-edward-m-lerners-new-novel-mp3/ 

Second update: in episode three, we dig (with a minimum of spoilers) into Life and Death on Mars. You can check it out here: https://lancerkind.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/280-LIFE-AND-DEATH-ON-MARS%E2%80%94Billionaire-Cabal-a-Space-Race-with-China-and-a-NASA-Systems-Engineer.mp3 

And update the third: in installment four of our wide-ranging conversation, Lancer and I discussed my other 2023 novel. That's On the Shoals of Space-Time, and its wildly different than what we'd discussed earlier. At the end of the episode, we get a little into my InterstellarNet series. You can hear it all here: https://lancerkind.com/podcast/281-author-edward-m-lerner-introduces-on-the-shoals-of-space-time/ 

With a fourth update, we come to the end of this wide-ranging interview. Our focus in this segment is on the InterstellarNet trilogy. It's all here, at https://lancerkind.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/282-InterstellarNet-novel-series-by-Edward-M-Lerner.mp3 

With our discussion complete, it's time to thank host Lancer Kind for inviting me onto his SciFi Thoughts podcast.

The Return of the Inter(stellar)Net

The  long-awaited re-release of the acclaimed three-book InterstellarNet series has (finally) arrived. I like to believe it was worth the wait.

What is the InterstellarNet series? To share a few of my favorite reviews:

"Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out visions of an interstellar civilization I’ve ever seen." 

— Stanley Schmidt, author of Argonaut

"A wonderfully thought-provoking story… Lerner's world-building and extrapolating are top notch." 

— SFScope

"Faster-than-light travel is such a commonplace convention in SF that we seldom consider the flip side: a universe in which FTL does not exist. In this book … Edward M. Lerner uses such a universe to great effect." 

— Analog Science Fiction and Fact

"An exceptional book in an excellent series … If you enjoy a good story on a large scale told by sympathetic characters, read Interstellar Net: Enigma. If you enjoy space opera, space combat, and unlikely heroes saving the earth, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy mysteries, the futuristic elements will not detract. This is one of the few novels that combine an action mystery with a sweeping science fiction and excels at being both. Get this novel. Whether you read the others or not, it stands alone. Highly recommended." 

— Galaxy's Edge

"… Space opera set in an interesting variation of the standard solar civilization. There’s a little bit of military SF, some intrigue, some wondrous revelations, and some gritty conflicts. Fun." 

— Critical Mass

"When people talk about good hard SF—rigorously extrapolated but still imbued with the classic sense-of-wonder—they mean the work of Edward M. Lerner, the current master of the craft. InterstellarNet: Enigma is Lerner’s latest gem, and it's up to his usual excellent standards; a winner all around." 

— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

"... A well researched hard science fiction series. Building from today's technology into a believable tale of the not-so-distant future of characters, ships and planets, I really enjoyed it." — Abyss & Apex

Oh, I might also mention that InterstellarNet: Origins (the first of the series) incorporates "Creative Destruction," the novelette that brought me my first appearance in a Year's Best anthology. InterstellarNet: Enigma (third and last of the series) incorporates "Championship B'tok"), the novelette that brought me a Hugo Award nomination. InterstellarNet: Enigma as a whole won the inaugural Canopus Award, "honoring excellence in interstellar writing."

This being a commercial announcement, I'll share Amazon Links. In print:

InterstellarNet: Origins

InterstellarNet: New Order

InterstellarNet: Enigma

For the Kindle:

InterstellarNet: Origins

InterstellarNet: New Order

InterstellarNet: Enigma

If you're a brick-and-mortar shopper and you don't happen to find the book(s) of interest on the shelf, just ask the bookseller to order it for you. (She'd much rather do that than have you go elsewhere.) To simplify ordering, here are the ISBNs:

InterstellarNet: Origins: 978-1515458074

InterstellarNet: New Order: 978-1515458081

InterstellarNet: Enigma: 978-1515458098

I's dotted. T's (and fingers) crossed

A recurring theme of my posts for a while has been the disappearance and sometimes the reemergence of several of my (mainly older) books. Long story short: in 2021 and 2022, eight books, originally from three publishers, went out of print (and electrons). Even shorter: publishing is a hard business. 

Keeping my titles in print is important to me, so placing these titles at new homes has been a priority. As I type (and for those who have not been keeping score at home), five of the eight orphaned titles are recently back in print and electrons:

• Creative Destruction (a cyber-themed collection, first published in 2006)

  

  The new cover

  
  
• Countdown to Armageddon / A Stranger in Paradise (a short time-travel novel plus five shorter SF works, first published in 2010)
• Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought (mixed fiction and nonfiction [in both cases, SFnal] collection, first published in 2012)
• The Company Man (SFnal/noir novel, first published in 2019)
• The Sherlock Chronicles & The Paradise Quartet (back-to-back unrelated SFnal novellas, first published in 2021*)

(*) I did mention publishing is a hard business. Best stated by Anonymous: "The best way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire and then start a publishing company."

Original cover

Today's news (drumroll please) ...

 

Of soft spots ... and fleeting opportunitities

Updated January 2, 2023: the InterstellarNet series is temporarily out of print and electrons

Authors are frequently asked, "Which of your books is your favorite?" This is (as I've opined before) among our least favorite questions. It's about like asking a parent, "Which is your favorite child?"

With this year's release of The Best of Edward M. Lerner I've at least gained an answer to the related question, "Which of your books should I try?" -- and yet, that career-spanning short-fiction collection isn't the authorial "soft spot" of my subject line. 

It turns out I have, if not one favorite from among my books, a deep connection with a trio of them. This came to my attention when -- with short notice -- I was told my three-book InterstellarNet series is going out of print (and electrons). At year's end. Yup, mere days from now.

Hence, the "fleeting opportunity" also mentioned in my subject line. Unavoidably, this is a commercial announcement. While I'm confident these books/ebooks will be reissued sometime, I can't speak to when.  

Each InterstellarNet novel offers an entirely different take on First Contact -- and yet, all three novels interrelate. Perhaps the essential reason for my attachment to InterstellarNet is the obvious one. A story premise whose first glimmerings shaped a single novelette had such potential that I couldn't set it aside until three novels later. 

Along the way, precursor stories to two of the novels collected, among their recognitions, my first appearance in a year's best anthology and a Hugo Award nomination. One precursor was serialized -- as the lone work of fiction -- in the proceedings of a conference of the UN's International Telecommunications Union. (And aptly so. The ITU was inspiration and role model for my Interstellar Commerce Union.) Oh, and InterstellarNet: Enigma, the third and concluding novel of the series, was a Prometheus Award nominee and winner of the inaugural Canopus Award for a novel "honoring excellence in interstellar writing."

Until year's end, when InterstellarNet begins its unanticipated hiatus, these are the novels (the titles link to Amazon):

InterstellarNet: Origins. We are not alone. Now what? (Other than a cascade of crises, ever more daunting, to bedevil an expanding number of interstellar civilizations for generations.)

InterstellarNet: New Order. Humanity is about to discover that meeting aliens face to face is very different -- and a lot more dangerous -- than long-distance chicanery.

InterstellarNet: Enigma. Humanity once feared that we might be alone in the universe. Now we know better -- and there are far worse things than being alone.

InterstellarNet: Complete. All three novels in a bargain ebook omnibus.

“Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out visions of an interstellar civilization I’ve ever seen.”-- Stanley Schmidt, Author of Argonaut

“Lerner’s world-building and extrapolating are top notch.” -- SFScope

“An excellent series.” -- Galaxy’s Edge

“… A well researched hard science fiction series. Building from today’s technology into a believable tale of the not-so-distant future of characters, ships and planets, I really enjoyed it.” -- Abyss & Apex

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.

The best novels of First Contact

For frequent visitors here, my interest in the the First Contact theme will come as no surprise. My fiction has explored the possibilities fairly extensively, for example in Moonstruck, the InterstellarNet series, and, most recently, Déjà Doomed. In "Alien AWOLs: The Great Silence," a chapter in Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction, I address the absence of contact -- so far -- in a nonfiction sense. (Click on cover thumbnails on the blog RHS if you're curious about these titles.)

Why am I so interested? First, there’s the Big Question of are we alone. Whatever the answer, the implications are profound. But beyond that, there’s just so much great SF on the topic. A reader recently challenged me to name my favorite First Contact fiction. So: here 'tis! (And as hard as it was winnowing the candidates to a few, the order within my list is not a further ranking.)

(Oh, and please excuse Blogger's odd word-line spacing of this post.)

The list? Drumroll please ...

A series-ous matter

Today is release day for the umpteenth James Bond movie. I suspect there's hardly an adult or teen living in a First World country who doesn't recognize the name. Franchises continue for a reason -- audience loyalty -- and not only on the big screen. Novel series have likewise been all the rage in recent years.

Marcus Judson Book #1

Many of my books are entirely independent of one another, but I've also been involved in two literary series. The Fleet of Worlds series (with Larry Niven), ultimately of five novels, takes its name from a unique astronomical feature -- the eponymous grouping of flying worlds! -- that figure throughout. The InterstellarNet series, of three novels, is named for the technological glue -- an interstellar comm network -- whose creation, evolution, and consequences underpin, well, everything that happens across a growing number of species, light-years, and decades. I like to believe both series labels pique book-shopper curiosity and sustain reader interest.

Since this past May's release of Déjà Doomed, I've had something of a naming conundrum. Just as James Bond's adventures (setting aside remakes and reboots) are independent apart from some recurring characters, several main characters in Déjà Doomed first appeared in 2012's Energized. Sticking loosely with today's James Bond theme, the lead character in both of these novels, Marcus Judson, has now twice  been -- however reluctantly -- a CIA asset. And, I have to admit, thoughts of inflicting a third adventure on Marcus have been tickling the back of my mind ... 

Marcus Judson Book #2

So: what should I call this latest series? The obvious choice is Marcus Judson, and subtitle books as "A Marcus Judson novel." (Hey, going with the hero's name worked for Ian Fleming. It works, in the SF context, for Jack McDevitt's long-running Alex Benedict series.) I may very well end up going with this choice. 

But I like that my earlier series had IMO catchy names. Hence, a question to those of you who've read Energized and/or Déjà Doomed. Any thoughts about a Marcus Judson series? Any thoughts about an alternative series name? 

Discover ... *me*

Many of you drop by SF and Nonsense because you're familiar with at least some of my novels and shorter stories -- but for some visitors, that isn't the case. If you're in that latter group, now's your opportunity ....

Courtesy of my friends at Wildside Press (and with the sign-on of other friends, at publishers Phoenix Pick and FoxAcre Press), I am delighted to point you toward a free sampler of my fiction.

In Discover a New Author ... Edward M. Lerner you'll find four short stories, originally published between 2006 and 2017, plus the opening chapters of:

• Countdown to Armageddon (2010 / time travel)
•  InterstellarNet: Origins (likewise 2010 / the first book in my InterstellarNet series)
• Dark Secret (2016 / epic and existential space adventure)

This sampler is available without charge from Wildside Press in Kindle (mobi), ePub, and pdf formats.

If you enjoy the sampler, well, you can always look for more ;-)

Potpourri (an astronomy edition)

Because -- as if you hadn't noticed -- I'm into astronomy. And so, herewith:

The birth of radio astronomy: "Project Diana Honored With an IEEE Milestone."

The football-field-sized radio telescope so central to my Energized

"Signs of a ‘super Earth’ discovered around a nearby star." How near? Barnard's Star -- after the Alpha Centauri triple system, our closest neighbor. (Not to mention, home to the perfidious Snakes of my InterstellarNet series.)

Also, "A star is born: Astronomers witness rare birth of a baby binary."

And a new place to look for company. "Searching for ET? Look to binary stars, researchers say."

Closer to home, we have: "Asteroid Bennu is flinging rocks into space: OSIRIS-Rex’s target turns out to be very rare, and very active, posing problems for the mission."

Theia bites the big one

Closer still: "Earth magma ocean ended up on the moon: New modelling resolves contradictions in Earth-moon hypothesis."

And that, surely, is enough to amuse my fellow astronomy fans for the day ....

InterstellarNet: Complete

Updated 01-31-2024: The omnibus ebook is no longer offered — but the individual novels are available from InterstellarNet’s new publisher. This post remains here for historical purposes.)

Three epic adventures ...
Some of my favorite work ...
All in one newly released, discounted ebook bundle! 

The entire InterstellarNet series

InterstellarNet: Origins. When the first call from the stars comes, do we even dare to answer?

"A wonderfully thought-provoking story ... Lerner's world-building and extrapolating are top notch.
-- SFScope

InterstellarNet: New Order. In which humanity discovers that meeting aliens face to face is very different -- and a lot more dangerous -- than sending and receiving messages.

"... A twisted plot complete with conspiracies, alien psychology, antimatter physics neep, AI spies, and plenty of shooting action at the end."
-- Internet Review of Science Fiction

InterstellarNet: Enigma. Humanity once feared that we might be alone in the universe. Now we know better. And it turns out there are far worse things than being alone ....

"An exceptional book in an excellent series .... If you enjoy a good story on a large scale told by sympathetic characters, read Interstellar Net: Enigma. If you enjoy space opera, space combat, and unlikely heroes saving the earth, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy mysteries, the futuristic elements will not detract. This is one of the few novels that combine an action mystery with a sweeping science fiction and excels at being both."
-- Galaxy's Edge

And winner of the inaugural Canopus Award "honoring excellence in interstellar writing."

And of the overall InterstellarNet series:

"Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out visions of an interstellar civilization I've ever seen."
-- Stanley Schmidt, editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact

As I type, InterstellarNet Complete for the Kindle -- that is, the entire trilogy -- is available from Amazon and in other popular formats for only $9.99. Check your favorite ebook retailer. Will update when the situation changes.

Perhaps you're not ready for a three-book commitment. Fair enough. You can read about any individual InterstellarNet title by clicking its corresponding cover on the right. (For now, the first two of these standalone ebooks are each discounted to $4.99)

MY life, the universe, and everything

File 770, the acclaimed genre website, this morning posted an extended interview/profile of my writing career. I'll crib their introduction rather than adding yet more words:

Retired professional scientist Edward Lerner talks about a host of hard science fiction topics, plus his collaboration with Larry Niven, his participation in SIGMA, and his nonfiction column for Analog.

Check out, if you're curious (and really, given that you're already here, you know you are), Edward M. Lerner: Crafted Science, Convincing Characters.

Wazzup in SF

Exciting news from the wide world(s) of SF ...

The Museum of Science Fiction recently staged a successful Escape Velocity event, featuring folks from NASA, academia, Hollywood, and -- not exclusive of the foregoing -- many fans. Check out "Scenes from Escape Velocity 2016."

A few evenings ago, I rewatched the James Cameron flick Aliens (1986). Great movie! I also loved the original, Ridley Scott franchise starter: Alien (1979). As it happens, Aliens just had its 30th anniversary, a milestone widely covered in the entertainment media. My favorite article on the subject is " 'Aliens' turns 30: Why It's the Best Sci-Fi Sequel Ever."

IMO, the subsequent sequels, Aliens 3 (David Fincher, 1992) and Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997), weren't nearly as good as Aliens. I'm looking forward -- amid experience-born trepidation -- to the 2017 release of Alien: Covenant. Ridley Scott is in the director's chair again.

Modesty precludes any comment ...

Popular genre website Tangent Online just posted a combination review/interview of last year's InterstellarNet: Enigma. Take a look, and you'll see why I'm (delightedly) speechless.

Okay, okay. You twisted my arm. I'll permit myself one short excerpt: 

From the personal travails of a single human fighting against unknown and powerful forces, to the unraveling of a galactic-scale conspiracy involving the origin of several intelligent races, mankind among them, you’ve made InterstellarNet: Enigma one of the most rewarding SF reading experiences anyone could ask for, on both an intellectual and emotional level.

You'll find the full review/interview here.

An unexpected pleasure

(Updated March 26, 2016)

Analog's recent review of InterstellarNet Enigma (see Grinning from ear to ear) was, of course, delightfully welcome -- but it didn't come as a total surprise. That is: my SF at every length appears regularly in Analog. The Reference Library there often recommends books similar to the stories that brings people to the zine.

But it's been years since my last appearance in Asimov's Science Fiction.

Until, that is, Asimov's current (February 2016 issue). This morning I came upon, in the current issue's On Books feature, a long and thoughtful review of InterstellarNet: Enigma. That review concludes: "Here’s an author you definitely need to check out. Good fun for fans of hard SF."

(Alas, Asimov's posts only their most recent book-review column. My book's review is no longer available.) 

Should F&SF (in which my writing has yet to appear) make it a trifecta, I'll fall out of my chair. Beaming.

Grinning from ear to ear

My March(!) issue of Analog arrived in today's mail, and with it a review of InterstellarNet: Enigma. 

(Updated January 16, 2016 to add a link to the review, newly posted to the Analog website.)

Together with kind words for the InterstellarNet series as a whole, I was tickled to read this: "... you have waiting for you a unique interstellar society of humans and some really cool aliens; an answer to the Fermi Paradox; philosophical questions of identity, power, and the place of humanity in the universe; and now some temporal travel thrown into the mix." 

Made my day, this did :-)

Whoa! Tachyons!

As in ... I did not see this coming.

A bit over a month ago, I was delighted to discover (see A(n inter)stellar start to the day) that my latest novel, InterstellarNet: Enigma, was a finalist for the inaugural Canopus Award for interstellar-themed fiction. The award aims to recognize "works that contribute to the excitement, knowledge, and understanding of interstellar space exploration and travel."

The awards were, well, awarded Friday evening October 30. I wasn't able to attend, but I prepared a few remarks just in case. And -- mirabile dictu -- I woke up this morning to read that InterstellarNet: Enigma had won!

Here's what I sent to the emcee to read if lightning struck:

Night of the Talking Heads

This TV appearance just out from Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction ...

I'm interviewed about (mostly) my latest novel, InterstellarNet: Enigma. Tom Shaad, host of the show, also got me talking about some of the finer points of the InterstellarNet series, my writing process, and collaborating (on the unrelated Fleet of Worlds series) with NYT bestselling author Larry Niven. And it's all certified SFW.

To read about the novel ...

Among the joys of the writer's life is the -- how shall I put it? -- casual dress code. It takes a lot these days to get me into a coat and tie. Going on TV to talk about writing will do it :-)

Coming (to an end) soon ...

Over the summer, as part of his launch support for InterstellarNet: Enigma, my esteemed publisher offered promotional ebook pricing for earlier novels in the series. But summer is over. Pretty soon, that promotional pricing will be, too.

Lots of people scooped up InterstellarNet: Origins and InterstellarNet: New Order ebooks at $2.99 ... but October 15, the ebook prices return to their original $7.99.

“Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out visions of an interstellar civilization I’ve ever seen.”

—  Stanley Schmidt, Author of Argonaut

There's more on my website about the InterstellarNet series. Or get to the Edward M. Lerner Bookstore, on Amazon, while the gettin's good ;-)

A(n inter)stellar start to the day

Not to step on my lede, the finalists for the inaugural Canopus Award, given for interstellar-themed SF, were announced today. And in the novel category -- well, that's the (inter)stellar news. I'll come to that.

First, some background ...

It's been nearly a year since I posted about participating in a 100 Year Starship Symposium (as one topic among several in "Nanotech and starships and fusion, oh my!"). 100YSS.org, seeded with NASA and DARPA funding, headed by physician and onetime shuttle astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, is an awesome organization, its five-year mission: "To boldly go ..." (No, wait. That's another interstellar organization.) 

And the mission of 100YSS?

We exist to make the capability of human travel beyond our solar system a reality within the next 100 years. We unreservedly dedicate ourselves to identifying and pushing the radical leaps in knowledge and technology needed to achieve interstellar flight, while pioneering and transforming breakthrough applications that enhance the quality of life for all on Earth. We actively seek to include the broadest swath of people and human experience in understanding, shaping and implementing this global aspiration.

And why this made my day? Still coming.

The Hugo Awards / life goes on

First things first! During my week-plus, post-Hugo Awards disappearance from social media, many people emailed, messaged, or otherwise contacted me with well-wishes and support. Some people inferred from my silence that I was taking it hard that (a) "Championship B'tok" did not win a Hugo in its category and/or (b) the Puppy-related nominees (my story being in that category) were, as a group, rebuked in the voting.

To everyone who reached out: thanks! I apologize if I caused anyone undue concern. I appreciate the kind notes and solidarity. (And I will respond, directly and individually, to each of you. It'll just take a few more days.)  

Ed & Ruth at Hugo reception

Would I have liked to take home a rocket? Sure. Even more, though, I'd have preferred -- as will be discussed later in this post -- that the overall awards situation had been different.

But in the greater scheme of things? I'm good. No, better than good. The con was fun. I caught up with friends from around the country, went to some great parties, met with lots of fans, and took part in interesting panels. I even brought home a memento I can wear at Worldcons ever after (click/enlarge the image above to see my official Hugo Nominee rocket lapel pin).

My recent absence from the web has a simple explanation: Ruth and I went from Sasquan in Spokane straight to Glacier National Park in Montana. From there we went to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, then to Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. I'm just now back online. Someday, perhaps, I'll blog about those parks -- geology and ecology are also apt topics for SF and Nonsense.

(Either way, there's nothing like seeing up-close and personal the truly awesome power of Nature to put our petty squabbles into perspective. And if I'd had a decent Internet connection -- which, usually, I didn't -- I had different goals for my vacation time than hanging out on the web.)

For today, I'll focus on the Hugo situation. I'll begin by offering the sentiments I had hoped (but not expected) to have the opportunity to share at the Hugo ceremony. The people I would have recognized that night still deserve to be acknowledged and appreciated.

So -- after some happily surprised stammering -- what would I have said had the balloting gone differently?