A Fracture is the beginning of a series where I seek to do in science fiction what George R.R. Martin has been doing for fantasy: present an epic tale from the viewpoints of the key players involved. Rather than being a straightforward hero’s tale, it shows the complexities of the real world with each side living good and evil.
The story
The emperor has died after nine hundred years’ rule. His controlling hand has guided humanity since the colony ship first arrived in the System, and now that hand is gone.
Freia Skuld was never meant to be governor of Myrk, but after her father and brother’s deaths at the hands of rampaging pirates from the Oort Cloud, she has taken up the mantle. Her greatest priority is to arm her people against the raids.
Prince Fillip Kapaton cannot allow a military build-up on his frontier during his coronation. He promises to dispatch his own royal guard to protect Myrk, but his promises become drowned out as politics in the inner planets demand his attention.
When another attack ravages those she loves, Freia determines to strike back at the pirates herself. The prince sees her defiance and demands her arrest. Her people refuse to hand her over, so he retaliates with a full-scale invasion. Freia finds herself torn between the noble fight for freedom and her desire for peace.
The background
The opening chapter shows the emperor’s death with an image that has haunted me for years. One of the first items I wrote in my first “idea notebook” as a teenager was that of an old emperor, clad in robes, holding up a crystal solar system before a crowd of nobles... and then dropping it. The crystal shatters, just as the system will splinter into war as the factions each seek their own.
Since then, I have grown this project with years of notes and research. I have created a story-world dense with detail in the spirit of Lord of the Rings or, more aptly, Dune. I have plotted maps, cultures and religions grown from a colony ship dispatched to Gamma Microscopii from Earth 1,000 years before the story begins. Each planet is different, which makes each people group living there different with their own ticks, sayings, and fables. This is no tour of a peaceful realm, however. We will see the chaos of a civil war unfolding, the heroism and the treachery on each side as survival becomes the new normal.
I’m a teacher and instructional designer in Oklahoma. In my off time, I lead charity ghost walks and collect spooky local history. I’ve written a few fiction books before like my steampunk Celestial Voyages about human expeditions to the moon, Venus, and Mars in 1901 and my young adult multiverse Dawn on the Infinity, both steeped in technology and rich world-building.
A Fracture is a chance to get to the next level of awesome, so thanks very much for your support in bringing this epic come to life!