Tag: space opera

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Empty Throne” Author Jeremy Patenaude

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date February 19, 2025
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When he was the lead writer for 343 Industries, Jeremy Patenaude helped shaped the science fiction space opera saga told by the Halo video games, while also writing Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, co-writing Halo Mythos, and penning the short story “Sacrifice” that was included in a now unavailable special edition of Troy Denning’s novel Halo: Shadows Of Reach.

But while he may not work for 343 anymore (and 343 is Halo Studios now), he’s still contributing to the Halo saga with the new novel Halo: Empty Throne (paperback, Kindle, audiobook).

In the following email interview, Patenaude talks about what inspired and influence this sci-fi story, as well as where it fits into the Halo-verse.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Miranda Conspiracy” Author James L. Cambias

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date February 3, 2025
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Like the previous novels in his Billion Worlds series, author James L. Cambias’ Picaresque / pulpy sci-fi space opera novel The Miranda Conspiracy (paperback, Kindle) is set thousands of years in the future.

So it might surprise you to learn that, in the following email interview, Cambias says this story was influenced by a novel from 1939 that was made into a famous movie in 1946.

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Exclusive Interview: “Ardent Violet And The Infinite Eye” Author Alex White

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 23, 2024
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While it sometimes seems pop stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can do anything they set their mind to, I’m not sure, if push came to shove, that they’d be able to save us from an alien invasion.

But I’m happy to be proven wrong. Especially in book form.

Which brings me to Alex White’s new science fiction space opera novel Ardent Violet And The Infinite Eye (paperback, Kindle), in which one of the main characters trying save humanity from aliens is an ultra-glam enby pop star.

In the following email interview, White talks about who, and what, inspired and influenced this novel, the second book in The Starmetal Symphony Trilogy after 2022’s August Kitko And The Mechas From Space,

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Depth Charge” Co-Editors Hank Davis & Jamie Ibson

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 17, 2024
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More than 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. And yet, when it comes to planet-based science fiction stories, most take place on dry land, either here on Earth or on some other world.

But in the new short story anthology Depth Charge (paperback, Kindle), iconic science fiction writers including Arthur C. Clarke, James Blish, and Fritz Leiber give us tales that are all set underwater, at least in part.

In the following email interview, co-editors Hank Davis and Jamie Ibson talk about how this collection came together, how the stories were chosen, and which they think could work really well in theaters alongside Avatar, Aquaman, and other movies that are all wet.

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Exclusive Interview: “Ashme’s Song” Author Brad C. Anderson

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 16, 2024
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Not every moral question has a right answer. Or no wrong one.

Take the question that inspired author Brad C. Anderson to write his new novel, Ashme’s Song (paperback, Kindle): “Is a hero someone who dies for their country or someone who gathers their family and gets them someplace safe?”

In the following email interview, Anderson talks about how that question inspired this story, which combines elements of science fiction, cyberpunk, political thrillers, and space opera into what he calls “spacethrillerpunk.”

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Exclusive Interview: “The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport” Author Samit Basu

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 9, 2024
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We all know the story of Aladdin. Well, the Disney version, anyway.

But while author Samit Basu knows that version, too, his love of Aladdin goes back further than Disney’s 1992 animated movie. Which is partially why he wrote The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport, a humorous science fiction space opera / science fantasy / adventure story inspired by the original Middle-Eastern folk tale character from One Thousand And One Nights.

With The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport now available in paperback — a year after originally being released in hardcover and for Kindle — I spoke to Basu via email to discuss what else inspired and influenced this sci-fi story, his plans for possible sequels, and why he made one of the central characters a monkey-bot.

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Exclusive Interview: “Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning” Author Robbie MacNiven

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 6, 2024
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The science fiction space opera board game Twilight Imperium has already inspired a trio of novels (Tim Pratt’s The Fractured Void, The Necropolis Empire, and The Veiled Masters), as well as a short story collection (The Stars Beyond).

But now the game, and people who like to read stories based on it, are getting some of the backstory of this sci-fi universe through a new trilogy by author Robbie MacNiven called The Twilight Wars.

In the following email interview, MacNiven discusses the second book in the series, Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning (paperback, Kindle), including how it was influenced by a trio of space-y cartoons.

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Exclusive Interview: “Breath Of Oblivion” Author Maurice Broaddus

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 5, 2024
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Works of fiction are often inspired by things that happen to an author in real life.

But when Maurice Broaddus started working for a community benefitting nonprofit, he probably didn’t think it would lead him to write an Afrofuturist science fiction space opera trilogy.

In the following email interview, Broaddus talks about both this series, the Astra Black trilogy, and its recently released second installment, Breath Of Oblivion (hardcover, Kindle).

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Honor Of The Queen” Author David Weber

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date October 28, 2024
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When people start naming names in the genre of military science fiction, they naturally name Starship Troopers author Robert A. Heinlein, Aliens writer / director James Cameron, Lois McMaster Bujold, author of the The Vorkosigan Saga series.

But they also often mention Honor Harrington, the central character in David Weber’s Honorverse series, which, over the course of 30+ years, has encompassed numerous novels, novellas, and short stories.

The latest of which (sort of) is 1993’s Honor Of The Queen, the second Honorverse novel, which has just been rereleased as a trade paperback as part of Baen Book’s ongoing reissue series.

In the following email interview, Weber looks back on this early adventure for Honor.