With careers that have included stints working for and with NASA, it’s safe to assume that authors Les Johnson and Travis S. Taylor are no dummies.
Though you could probably also glean that from reading the novels they’ve written, most notably 2021’s hard sci-fi thriller Saving Proxima.
Now the duo have completed a sequel to that sci-fi story, Crisis At Proxima (hardcover, Kindle), which is the second book in a trilogy they call Orion’s Arm.
In the following email interview, Johnson — speaking for himself and Taylor — discusses what inspired and influenced this second story, including how they rectify conflicts between science fact and science fiction.
For people who didn’t read the first book in this series, Saving Proxima, what happened in that novel, and when and where was it set?
Saving Proxima is set in the latter part of the 21st century when we’ve established a long-term presence on the Moon, including a lunar farside radio observatory. We’re taking our first steps to the stars with a newly invented stardrive that can propel a ship to nearly the speed of light — allowing interstellar travel in decades instead of thousands of years.
At the lunar farside radio observatory, radio and television signals are detected coming from the closest star to the Earth, Proxima Centauri. Humanity learns that not only are we not alone in the universe, but a nearby planet is populated with a human civilization only about 100 years less advanced than our own — a statistical impossibility.
Not only that, but this population is in trouble; dying from some sort of disease. Unless Earth sends a medical rescue team, taking medical science 100 years more advanced than that of those living on Proxima, then they will perish. The Earth rescue ship travels to Proxima Centauri…and that’s when the challenges of mingling two wildly separate cultures began to become a problem.
And then for people who have read Saving Proxima, and thus can ignore me writing SPOILER ALERT, what is Crisis At Proxima about, and when and where does it take place in relation to Saving Proxima?
Crisis At Proxima begins a few years after the Earth ships arrive and well into the unfortunate reality that the disease, whatever it is, will not be so easily cured. In Saving Proxima, we learned about the ancient aliens enslaved the human Proximans until they (the aliens) died or fled. In Crisis At Proxima, not only is the disease a problem, but the long-gone aliens are not really gone — and they have not given up on enslaving humans.
Saving Proxima was a hard sci-fi thriller. Is Crisis At Proxima one as well?
Crisis At Proxima is a continuation of the story begun in Saving Proxima. We tried to keep the story moving at the roughly the same pace and style as the original so they could be read sequentially and seem like one larger story.
Along with a writer of fiction, you’re also a physicist and NASA technologist. But science fiction and science fact don’t always align. In writing Crisis At Proxima, did you ever have a situation where you had to chose between being scientifically accurate or telling a cool story?
When it comes to writing realistic science in science fiction, which is what makes “hard” sci-fi, hard sci-fi, I choose to maintain scientific accuracy in all things. But its fiction. Set in the future. And there are aliens.
For these reasons, the science may be accurate in the sense that what we describe is scientifically possible, we just don’t yet know how to engineer it. For example, the physics behind our star drive is 100% accurate. But we have no idea how to actually build a working propulsion system. Nature says it should be possible, we just have not yet figured out how.
As we’ve been discussing, Saving Proxima is the sequel to Crisis At Proxima. But do they form a duology, are they the first two books in a trilogy or something similar, or is this an ongoing series?
From the beginning, we intended the story arc to span three books. Travis and I have the entire arc, including the third book, loosely planned and plotted. Crisis At Proxima is not sequel, it’s part 2 of a 3-part story.
Also, does this series have a name?
We call it Orion’s Arm.
Upon hearing that Saving Proxima and Crisis At Proxima are the first two books of a trilogy, some people will hold off reading them until all of the books are out. But is there any reason why people shouldn’t wait?
Each novel is meant to stand alone. If you have not read Saving Proxima, then we weave a summary of what happened into the story (in Crisis At Proxima) that should catch you up fairly quickly.
However, we recommend you read them sequentially, in order, to follow not only the larger story, but the growth and changes in our primary characters as events unfold. We like to think the evolution and growth of our characters is as important as the overall story. To answer your question more specifically, you should read it because we believe you will enjoy it.
And, speaking for me, I’m not a fan of binge reading an entire series all at once. I recommend reading Saving Proxima, taking a break and reading something else, and then read Crisis At Proxima.
Earlier I asked if Crisis At Proxima was influenced by any movies, TV shows, or games. But to flip things around, do you think Crisis At Proxima — and, by extension, Saving Proxima — could work as some movies, a show, or a game?
Attention Netflix! You should consider this series.
Finally, if someone enjoys Crisis At Proxima, and they’ve already read Saving Proxima, what hard sci-fi thriller novel or novella of someone else’s would you suggest they check out next?
I’d recommend David Weber and Richard Fox’s Governor. It is a fast-paced political / military thriller that you won’t want to put down.
