If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Isaac Newton, 1675
When Isaac Newton said this, he naturally was speaking of the progressive nature of scientific advancement. However, the same can be said of many things. In no small way, this applies to literature. Every author has their inspirations, and every book has a lineage that can be traced back to stories that inspired it in the author’s mind.
What Once Was Home, my post-apocalyptic alien invasion novel, is no exception. There is a long history of stories that inspired this book, stretching back through the families of post-apocalyptic and alien invasion books. These families have something inspiring in common: Survival.
I have recently had the privilege of partnering with the wonderful folks at Shepherd.com to present my thoughts on a list of five books that I feel were important inspirations for What Once Was Home. In The Best Science Fiction Books Where Ordinary People Survive the Extraordinary, I share what struck me about five books that inspired my writing. Click the title above or the image below to check it out!
For more recommendations along a similar theme, also be sure to take a look at Shepherd’s Survival Bookshelf for more recommendation lists.
When Captain Fletcher Perry and the crew of the Terran Confederation frigate Falcata are sent to a backwater, independent colony in the Cygnus cluster, they expected to be overseeing a routine land rights dispute.
When they arrive, they find Marchovia embroiled in an all-out civil war.
As the frozen world becomes the focus of three stellar empires, Captain Perry and his crew find the only thing icier than the Marchovian landscape is the cold war at the heart of which they find themselves.
Flashpoint: Cygnus is a new novel coming in August of 2021 by B.K. Bass, presented by Kyanite Publishing. The book, and the planned series, seeks to draw together the best traditions of multiple genres: The gritty realism and action-packed adrenaline of military science fiction. The human drama and pseudo-nautical themes of space opera. All this tied together by the overarching tensions of a political thriller spanning the stars!
“The XO has the conn,” Fletcher said as he undogged the hatch and stepped off the bridge. As he walked towards the wardroom, only two thoughts ran through his mind. How badly had the pirates shaken apart the Falcata, and how many people’s lives had he just snuffed out? He ran a hand over his eyes as he stepped through the door to the wardroom. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear the answer to either question.
Learn more about the universe of Astra Nautica!
Two years in development, the universe of Astra Nautica is designed to be grounded in reality while reaching for the stars. Dozens of hours of research into fusion technology, wormholes, star maps, Einstein’s theories of Relativity, and more have lead to a foundation ready to support action-packed adventures that feel gritty, real, and entirely plausible. And, there are no aliens in Astra Nautica — mankind’s own worse enemy remains himself.
The helm officer keyed in the commands on his panel, and suddenly Fletcher was pressed into his seat with the equivalent force of Earth’s gravity. Metal clanged as loose panels clattered to the deck. “All right,” he said as he leaned forward, “get me within swatting range of this gnat.”
“They’re darting,” Lieutenant Kim called out. Her voice was still shaky, but she seemed less panicked now that they were under way.
“Helm, you have the stick. Don’t lose them,” Fletcher ordered as he strapped his chair’s safety restraints across his chest and fastened them.
Humanity’s dominion of the stars is divided into five major factions, along with independent colonies, powerful corporations, and criminal organizations all vying for a piece of the pie. Major hubs have grown around naturally occurring stable wormholes that opened the stars to mankind. Other colonies grew once we mastered fusion technology and developed the Singularity Drive, a technology used to open a wormhole at any point in space, albeit a highly unstable one. With restrictions on using these drives within a star’s gravity well, travel between colonies can still take days, weeks, or longer.
Shudders ran through the bulkheads as sparks flew from loose conduits floating in the passageway like writhing serpents. Captain Fletcher Perry grabbed a handrail to arrest his momentum, flipped himself over, and pulled on the first rung of a ladder to accelerate through the hatch to the engineering deck. “Chief Powell,” he called out as he floated down from the overhead into the main engineering compartment. “When am I going to have my drives online?”
A chaotic mass of conduits and cables wriggled in response, then a dark-skinned face popped out from between them as Chief Petty Officer Chloe Powell emerged. Her dreadlocks floated above her like Medusa’s own crown of snakes as she shook her head. “I’m working on it, Captain. Maybe if I didn’t have to stop what I was doing to—”
She was cut off by a sudden hiss as a cloud of blue vapor seeped out from the mass of loose conduits, punctuated by a man screaming.
In the universe of Astra Nautica, every day can turn into a life and death struggle in an instant. And in the darkness of space, you have only your own crew to call out to for help.
I’m very excited to reveal the cover for my first full-length novel: What Once Was Home!
When his world is torn apart, one man must learn to survive in What Once Was Home.
Jace Cox’s life is changed when an overwhelming alien force invades the Earth with no warning or provocation. In the years that follow, he must not only fight to survive; but also learn what it means to be a man and a leader. As the situation grows more dire, he realizes that his greatest challenge isn’t the alien invaders or even his fellow man; it is holding onto his own humanity despite living in a world gone mad.
What Once Was Home will be launching on October 25, 2019, and pre-orders are available now from Kyanite Publishing! Click HERE for more!
Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Alien Encounters, Military Science Fiction Length: Novel – Approx 300 pages Release Date: October 25, 2019
As always, there’s a lot of exciting things going on in the B.K. Laboratory. I wanted to share a little of what is planned for the rest of the year and beyond, and some news about a change in direction for me as an author.
Before we get into what’s coming next, I think it would be best to take a quick look at what has come before. Last year I was plugging away at what should be a fairly long science fiction novel. I decided one weekend to take a break to avoid burnout, and wrote a dark fantasy novella.
Then I wrote another, and another, and an anthology, and a cyberpunk novella, and a heroic fantasy novella…. In the meantime, I had also started up a company and began a career as a publisher, not to mention launching my own literary magazine with the help of my business partners.
So, that weekend off turned into a year of crazy levels of productivity, but alas my novel was still simmering on the back-burner. I think this was the best thing for it, since I’ve learned lot about writing and editing over the course of the last year.
Which bring us to now. After receiving reviews of my various novellas, there’s been one common trend:
My biggest critique? I wanted more.
I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for part 2.
I wish the next book was out already.
I look forward to Book 2 of the trilogy!
My only complaint is born merely of anticipation. I want more!
As much as I love being able to tell all these different stories, it is important to me that my readers be happy too! In the interest of that, I’ve rearranged my commitment to the publishing company to free up more writing time, and will be shifting my focus away from novellas and to full-length novels.
This first brings us back to the science fiction novel on the back burner: What Once Was Home. I’ll be committing most of April to finishing this manuscript and hope to have the revised draft to my editor by mid-May.
The other big change coming from this is that the project I was currently focused on – Parting the Veil – is going to be delayed. It was coming out this summer, but it will now have a release in the fall. This is not only because of the time being spent on What Once Was Home, but also because I’ll be making Parting the Veil a novel instead of a novella! The outline for the story already has a lot going on, and as a novella it was going to have to be a very streamlined plot that didn’t delve too deeply into certain things. The potential for a novel-length story is definitely there, so I’m going to make that happen.
Now, there were quotes up there from readers anticipating the next book in a series or trilogy. Not to worry! Between these other projects, and contiguous with them, I’ll still be working on my novellas. The focus will be on delivering highly anticipated sequels, and I will not be starting any new series until these are out there. Among these projects are Companions of the Stone Road, the sequel to Warriors of Understone; and Night Life, the sequel to Night Shift.
All of these projects and more should be completed before the end of this year, and I’m looking forward to many more exciting things in 2020!
Today was the official awards ceremony from World Anvil for their annual World Ember event (see my article on this here.) My own work in the challenge was in the short-lists for seven different categories, and I placed in four of them! I’d like to share the results here, along with links to the articles so you can head over and take a look.
(You do not have to be a member of World Anvil to view the content, but membership is free if you think you’d be interested in using the service! Affordable Guild Memberships provide additional benefits, as well! I’m a proud Guild Member!)
Settlement
The settlement template on World Anvil is used for creating anything from a small village to a bustling city, or even a planetary colony!
My article about the city of Northampton won first place in the Settlement category! This is part of my Istaria setting – being developed for an upcoming epic fantasy series called The Faewylde War.
The city of Northampton is the capitol of the Duchy of Northampton and one of four major cities in the Kingdom of Brisland. Of the four, Northampton is the youngest. At the time of the Unification, it was actually the smallest as well. Currently, the city stands with a population of around 15,000 – made up mostly of peasant craftsmen – above average for a city of its stature.
The Organization template on World Anvil can be used for anything from a family to a governmental structure. I have used this quite a bit for kingdoms and religious organizations.
My article describing the Kingdom of Brisland was awarded second place in the Organization category. This is also part of Istaria, and a key part of The Faewylde War.
Brisland is a mostly agrarian kingdom that lies on the southern coast in the east of Istaria. It is bordered by Remaria to the West, Teugoras to the East, and Argastilan to the North. Protected to the north and west by mountain ranges and thick forests, Brisland enjoys a geographic isolation despite sharing its borders with three other nations.
My K.O.B.O.L.D. article took second place in the Vehicle category. This is part of a DieselPunk project that I am co-authoring with Enkelli Arn Robertson, and will soon be presented in an anthology of short stories and novelettes called Tales From the Breach.
The Ko.B.O.L.D. (Korvonium-powered Battle Ordinance Load Distribution) series of Powered Armour was developed at the Peren City Institute of technology in response to the creation of the Operator Guided Robotic Engine (O.G.R.E.) by the Tannenholtz Empire. The KOBOLD armor consists of a core exoskeleton powered by a Sky Crystal-enhanced diesel engine.
This article detailing sleeper ships – or interstellar ships where the crew and passengers are put into hibernation during a long journey – took second place in the Technology category.
To avoid the problems of having a crew spending fifteen years or more on a ship – which include psychological repercussions, needs for habitation space, and systems for renewable supplies of food and water – systems of chemically induced hibernation were developed. With these methods, the crew might pass the years as if one were passing an afternoon with a short nap. Naturally, the process and physical results were much more dramatic than this entails; but the passage of felt as instantaneous as this analogy implies.
My article about the Bravani placed third in the Ethnicity category. This is another part of the Istaria project, to be featured in The Faewylde War series.
The Bravani are a nomadic people who live deep in the forests of Remaria. Their history is older than the Principality itself, and they lay claim to being the original inhabitants of the region. They live a simple life, travelling the forests and occassionally trading with those who live in the Remarian coastal plains.
Again, I would like to thank the team over at World Anvil for creating an amazing platform for the community to develop and share their worldbuilding. There is also a thriving Discord community, a YouTube channel, and weekly Twitch streams in addition to the website itself. World Anvil really is an amazing community on top of being an amazing creative platform. I highly recommend it to any worldbuilder, and even those who are just organizing thoughts for an upcoming RPG campaign or writing project. You may be surprised how much your imagination is sparked just by dipping your foot into the waters.
Check out B.K. Bass’ latest editorial project: Remnants! Based on the world created by Stephen Coghlan, Remnants is a shared-world project with an open invitation for authors to submit their own stories to compile an anthology!
Interstellar space travel, alien invasions, nuclear holocaust, and futuristic computers; what do all of these thing have in common? They are all elements found within science fiction literature. We looked at the history of science fiction in our last installment. Many works of science fiction fit nicely into a well established set of sub-genres, while others defy classification in their uniqueness. We already looked at several types of science fiction in our article on the ‘Punk genres (such as Cyberpunk,) but there are many more to discuss. In this installment in our genre studies series, I will be covering some of the broad classifications used to define works of science fiction literature.
As broad in scope as our series on the fantasy genre was, exploring all that is encompassed by the name Science Fiction is an undertaking of epic proportions! Like daring explorers setting out to discover uncharted worlds, we are taking the first steps into realms of both the unknown and the unknowable!
B.K. Bass, Author 