With his new sci-fi novel Ascendant (hardcover, Kindle), writer Jack Campbell is continuing the prequel trilogy to a series that he’s already spun off of twice. Or something. Which is why, in the following email interview, I not only asked him to explain what Ascendant is about and what inspired it, but also how it fits into the fictional universe of his Lost Fleet series as well.
In reading the sci-fi novella Killing Gravity, the first book in Corey J. White’s VoidWitch Saga, I was reminded of both Star Wars and the video game Destiny. But in talking to White about the second book, Void Black Shadow (paperback, Kindle), he not only didn’t mention either as being influences on this new novella, but he didn’t cite any movies, TV shows, games, or even other books as having an impact on his science fiction space opera story.
In 2017, science fiction writer Nancy Kress decided her novella Yesterday’s Kin needed to be expanded into trilogy of novels Tomorrow’s Kin, If Tomorrow Comes, and the upcoming Terran Tomorrow. But while fellow sci-fi writer Kelly Gay took a similar path with her novella Halo Smoke And Shadow, which started life as the short story “Into The Fire,” she says that this tale inspired by the Halo video games — which is now available in paperback after more than a year of being digital only — was originally conceived as the longer version.
Last year, when I interviewed sci-fi writer Nancy Kress about her then new book Tomorrow’s Kin, she explained that this epic science fiction story was an expansion of 2014 novella, Yesterday’s Kin, one that had grown to the point where Tomorrow’s Kin was only the first book in a trilogy. With the second installment, If Tomorrow Comes (hardcover, Kindle), newly available, and the third, Terran Tomorrow, slated for November 13th, I once again find myself asking Nancy Kress about this sci-fi saga.
Under normal circumstances, mental illness is a real problem. Obviously. But in trading emails with writer Angus McIntyre about his new sci-f novella The Warrior Within (paperback, Kindle), he revealed that having multiple personalities is actually a helpful skill for Karsman, a space colonist who’d rather be left alone.
With the release of his new sci-fi space opera Starfire: Memory’s Blade (paperback, Kindle), writer Spencer Ellsworth finishes the science fiction trilogy he started last year with A Red Peace and continued with Shadow Sun Seven. Though in talking to him about the third book in the series, he revealed that there’s actually more to this story forthcoming…sort of.
Writer, politician, and former ambassador to both Italy and Brazil Clare Boothe Luce once noted that, “no good deed goes unpunished.” It’s an idea the crew of the sentient spaceship War Dog — and the ship itself — comes to understand in Gareth L Powell’s new space opera, Embers Of War (paperback, Kindle), the first book in his new sci-fi trilogy.
Historian S.E. Grove once said, “Memory is a tricky thing… It doesn’t just recall the past, it makes the past. If you remember our trip as a few minutes, it will be a few minutes. If you make it something else, it will be something else.” It’s a sentiment writer Carrie Vaughn might agree with, especially given that her new space opera Martians Abroad (hardcover, paperback, Kindle) was inspired by her somewhat mistaken memories of someone else’s sci-fi adventure tale.
Like a lot of people who write space opera-style science fiction, writer Michael Moreci cites the Star Wars saga as a big influence. But in talking to him about his new novel Black Star Renegades (paperback, hardcover, Kindle), he also — in what I’m assuming is a sign of things to come — mentioned the Guardians Of The Galaxy films as having an impact on his space adventure as well.