Tuesday 7 December 2010

Is the world ready for Alpha One?

Alpha One - The Jump Pilot is here!

My Book; Alpha One - The Jump Pilot has been released today by Eternal Press:
http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615722426
   or visit my website: www.chrisburton2212.weebly.com 
The book is available in e-book and printed formats.
   About the book
War is rife in the galaxy. The Sentinels are sensitive about a region of space light years from their territorial boundaries. They are guided by the Betanica Sect, who seek to protect the galaxy and the Tri Star Region from invasion by the Kryl who are the devil incarnate.
Jake is a final year Alpha Academy student, choosing Jump Ship Command to launch his career. He and Steve are the brightest academy pilots. They are also vying for the affection of the same girl. Carla is looking for her sister, who left home 6 years ago to join the Collective, led by the sinister and mysterious Professor Winterburn. Winterburn casts a spell over everyone he meets.
The Sentinels and the Betanica Sect lock horns with Alpha in a battle to assume control of the Tri Star System. Alpha's aim is to open the Blue Worm hole; a gateway to another galaxy. The gathering masses are joined by Winterburn and his flock, plus Jake and Steve intent on rescuing Carla from Winterburn’s clutches.
Quotes
“Leave or your fleet will be destroyed.”
“Admiral, the Sentinel flagship is in trouble, sir. Her shields are down. She is dormant and listing."
“Winterburn is an alien, whose sole intention is the destruction of the human race. He doesn’t love you."
   Excerpt
The Halo 7’s engines could no longer sustain their current status and she was dragged forward. Hoskins ordered full reverse thrust, but the ship’s engines were powerless to prevent the relentless slide towards the hole. The Halo 7, together with hundreds of smaller vessels, was quickly absorbed into the vortex and then, just as suddenly, she was gone.
Cameron stood in disbelief. He witnessed the sheer magnificence, the creation of an immensely powerful vortex: a mystery of space which man helped to create, but for which they had little understanding. Then, before his eyes, hundreds of space craft were consumed into its belly, including the Halo 7 and the AUSWAS ship. He had no idea where they went, if they survived, or whether this were a gateway to a distant galaxy. All he knew was that his task was done: he had opened the two wormholes to create something bigger in size and stature.

7 comments:

chris burton said...

Now available on Amazon and via http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615722426.

The world is ready for Alpha One...

chris burton said...

What is Space, if we can’t investigate further?
What is Space, if we don’t have the capability to travel to distant worlds?
What is Space, if there is no other form of intelligent life form out there?

It is these unknown quantities, that make space so exiting and it is these questions that make the future sound so enticing…

What will the world be like in 200 years? Will we have the capacity to travel beyond the stars and is there intelligent life out there? Opinions are divided, but you don’t have to be a believer to enjoy a good story and stories of adventure, of war, of romance, set years into the future on another planet, or another galaxy are the stuff of legends.

Alpha One is Earth, set 200 years from now, when the people of Earth know that they are not alone and where high velocity space travel has become the norm. Alpha is Earths military capability in space and they are very much in demand.

Alpha One - The Jump Pilot is the first novel in a series of 7 (two trilogies and a final one off book) It is quintessential Space Opera….

****************************

Jake is a trainee Jump Pilot and war is rife in the galaxy...

The Sentinels are very sensitive about a region of space, light years from their territorial boundaries. They are guided by the Betanica Sect, who seek to protect the galaxy and in particular the Tri Star Region from invasion by the Kryl. The Kryl are the devil incarnate. Jake is a final year Alpha Academy student and he has chosen Jump Ship Command to launch his career. He and Steve are two of the brightest academy pilots. They are also vying for the affection of the same girl. Carla is looking for her sister, who left home 6 years before to join the Collective, lead by the sinister and mysterious Professor Winterburn. Winterburn casts a spell over everyone he meets.The Sentinels and the Betanica Sect lock horns with Alpha in a battle to assume control of the Tri Star System. Alpha's aim is to open the Blue Worm hole; a gateway to another galaxy. The gathering masses are joined by Winterburn and his flock and by Jake and Steve whose sole intention is to rescue Carla Stevenson from Winterburn’s clutches.
The first book introduces us to Jake Carter, his fellow Alpha Academy Trainees and to Jonathan Hoskins, a ship of the line commander in Alpha’s burgeoning fleet. The storyline follows Jake and his compatriots as they take on first the Sentinels and then the Kryl; the ultimate destructive force in the galaxy.

chris burton said...

So how many years until space travel beyond the stars is possible?

Think about it. The physicists say its impossible now; but in the twenty-first century, even theories change quickly. From a non technical perspective, there appear to be two issues:

1) How do we power ships capable of light speed?
2) How do we protect the inhabitants of a space craft from lethal radiation?

On the face of it neither of these issues seem impossible to resolve; so I will go back to my first question... How long?

Fifty years ago, the world was a different place. We have gone so far in such a small period of time... surely then the answer is simple. Within fifty years we will have light speed space capability....

Which brings me to my next question. How long before we encounter intelligent alien life? Now there's a question!

chris burton said...

The Borg are relentless, the Wraith govern by fear, while the Syth Lords harness the power of the dark side to control their minions. The Kryl (who are they you ask?), take control of your minds... But, who is the potentially the biggest threat to humanity?

Alpha One - The Jump Pilot - "The Kryl are the devil incarnate..."

chris burton said...

Writing Science Fiction – The Pitfalls

There are two types of Science Fiction reader. The professional (The Scourer) and the Amateur, (The Believer).

The professional will be an avid follower of this genre, who may well have some knowledge of the subject matter. In the case of a Sci Fi where Space is involved; they will know the difference between a Nebulae and a Cluster or a Giant and a Dwarf Star. Beware the writer who strays too far from fact, when only fact will work...

The Amateur Science Fiction reader is really everyone else. They may enjoy the genre, but not exclusively and expect that a book should include a good mix of credible Science Fiction, a good narrative, dialogue, characterisation and a fast moving storyline, interspersed perhaps with romance, political intrigue and conflict.

Pleasing both types of reader is a difficult balancing act. The Professional will scour the text for inaccuracies. For him, it has to be both factually correct and believable. You cannot suggest that a space ship will take only one hour to cover, thousand of light years of space without backing up with reference to how this was achieved and at what velocity. .On this last matter alone, you need to be uniquely careful. Go too far and you will lose credibility... In 200 years, we will surely not be able to travel to the end of the universe and back... but space travel within our own galaxy is more than conceivable.
But if you become too embroiled in the techno babble, you will put off the amateur Sci Fi reader and lose the strength of your story. My stance on this is two-fold:

1) Don’t mix fact with fiction, unless it is credible.
2) If your story goes too far, it becomes fantasy.

Alpha One is a Space Opera. By definition, that means a Science Fiction Adventure, of Love, War and Conflict, in Space. There is fact and the science is designed to be credible, but not too far removed from the realms of possibility. It is set 200 years from now. That means that looking forward; it is highly possible that space travel will become more prevalent. It is also quite possible, that life on other planets will have been detected and that high velocity space travel is achievable.

chris burton said...

There's more:


And then there are the aliens! How many alien races are there out there? Will they be friendly, technically advanced or fearsome warriors? Will they be like us or multi-phasic blobs floating freely across the cosmos absorbing everything in their path. Most successful Science Fiction writers tend to adopt a humanisation of their aliens, i.e. they more or less resemble humans, and somehow they are able to speak our languages. Don’t even get me started on that! Universal translators are surely wild fantasy. To communicate with an alien, will surely never be that easy?

Again, Alpha One draws on the best experiences of others. My aliens, The Sentinels, The Partacians and the Kryl are all to an extent humanised, because if they were not then the technicalities of communicating would take away from the storyline.

As I write this blog, I have just pencilled an outline for my Fourth (yes 4Th Alpha Novel!). No, I am not getting ahead of myself. I have already written book two, which is at the editing stage, before submission and the third is the final part of the first Alpha One Trilogy. The storyline for book 3 is therefore more or less set in stone as I seek to bring together all the facets of the previous two books into a trilogy conclusion.
The Fourth and hence the start of the second trilogy represented more of a challenge. I needed new aliens, new concepts and new areas of the cosmos for events to take place in. I am quite happy with the result, but for now that will remain a closely guarded secret. Let’s get the first three books into print first!

chris burton said...

There's more:


And then there are the aliens! How many alien races are there out there? Will they be friendly, technically advanced or fearsome warriors? Will they be like us or multi-phasic blobs floating freely across the cosmos absorbing everything in their path. Most successful Science Fiction writers tend to adopt a humanisation of their aliens, i.e. they more or less resemble humans, and somehow they are able to speak our languages. Don’t even get me started on that! Universal translators are surely wild fantasy. To communicate with an alien, will surely never be that easy?

Again, Alpha One draws on the best experiences of others. My aliens, The Sentinels, The Partacians and the Kryl are all to an extent humanised, because if they were not then the technicalities of communicating would take away from the storyline.

As I write this blog, I have just pencilled an outline for my Fourth (yes 4Th Alpha Novel!). No, I am not getting ahead of myself. I have already written book two, which is at the editing stage, before submission and the third is the final part of the first Alpha One Trilogy. The storyline for book 3 is therefore more or less set in stone as I seek to bring together all the facets of the previous two books into a trilogy conclusion.
The Fourth and hence the start of the second trilogy represented more of a challenge. I needed new aliens, new concepts and new areas of the cosmos for events to take place in. I am quite happy with the result, but for now that will remain a closely guarded secret. Let’s get the first three books into print first!