Explore the Lost Colonies
Holiday plans. Armenians in spaaaace! December book sale. An in-depth look at the worlds of the Lost Colonies, including a galaxy map.
Our new housemate is settling in great. She's a foodie, like me, so it's been fun taking her to all my favorite restaurants. Christmas will be our regular Santa Maria trip, except everyone is excited to meet the newest family member. Can't wait!
Before I get into book stuff, you may recall a Falcon 9 rocket launch on Dec 1st, coincidentally from Vandenberg Space Force Base near my home town. Among other satellites was Hayasat-1, Armenia's first domestic satellite to be launched into space. This has special significance to me because my company, HyeTech, worked closely with Bazoomq to make this happen. Congrats to the entire Bazoomq team! You can read more about it here.
Okay, now let's talk fiction! Lots of great things for you this month.
First, all my e-books are on sale for 99¢ now through December 31st. If you've been waiting for an excuse to sink your fangs into the Z-Tech Chronicles, experience dome city life in the Timeless Keeper Saga, or take a romcom adventure to a space station in the middle of the galaxy in One Man's Trash, here it is. They also make great holiday gifts. Interested in signed copies? Reply to this email or send me a note. Each comes with fun swag.
When I first set out to write Enigma in 2019, I had never before attempted to create such a vast universe. I wanted it to be believable. To feel alive! When authors talk world building, they usually mean one world. This series would be five or more worlds. Each needed to be varied. Conflicted. Deep. Interesting. I knew that would require a lot of work, and boy was I right.
Today, I'm pleased to share the fruits of that work. This month's feature explores the worlds of the Lost Colonies Alliance. It includes a map showing where they are in the galaxy, their idiosyncrasies, challenges, and a brief history of how the colonies came to be.
In related news, Project Xerxes (A Lost Colonies Story) is nearing the final stage and will be ready for advanced readers soon. Enigma (Lost Colonies Book 1) will be fast on its heels. If you like space opera mixed with science fantasy and are willing to leave a review, sign up for my ARC team to receive free copies and be among the first to experience this deep and exciting new series.
Lastly, while waiting for feedback between drafts on the Lost Colonies, I began outlining Book 3 of the Timeless Keeper Saga. My gosh, I have a lot to cover. I was hoping to keep this series to a trilogy, but it may spill into a fourth book. I'll keep you updated.
In this newsletter
- Explore the Lost Colonies
- Free Books, Sales, and Events
- Currently Reading
- Other Authors You Might Like
Explore the Lost Colonies
Enigma (Lost Colonies Book 1) introduces us to the four current members of the Lost Colonies Alliance: Galileo, Fortunus, Entropia, and Vice (the fates of the other five colony ships that fled Earth are yet to be discovered). The colonists for each ship were selected and grouped by their core beliefs, which 10,000 years of isolation from the other colonies has only amplified.
Today we'll explore a little about each colony, what makes them unique, and the challenges Ambassador Britta Silverstar may face during her crusade to unite them. We'll also see what information Galileo has gathered on the mysterious Enigma, and the state of their ancestral Earth.
Timeline
Nine colony ships escaped Earth from the Uu’nok and scattered across the galaxy. Ten thousand years later, thanks to the recent advent of faster-than-light space fold travel, four of those ships have been accounted for. Despite their differences, they have banded together to form the Lost Colonies Alliance.
BC: Before Colonies
AC: After Colonies
10094 BC — First contact with the Uu’nok
9986 BC — Colony ships flee Earth (The Exodus)
5029 BC — Galileo Colony invents gravity tech
20 BC — First human successfully space folds
1 AC — Fortunus Colony discovered
3 AC — Entropia Colony discovered
7 AC — Vice Colony discovered
12 AC — Enigma discovered, Project Xerxes begins
Galileo is a desert planet where temperatures range from hot to inhospitable. Harsh sun, sparse clouds, an infrequent rain have darkened the colonists' skin over the last 10,000 years as a survival mechanism. No life existed prior to human arrival; what little greenery and fauna exists are the result of millennia of terraforming and concerted ecological effort.
Galileans value science and logic above all else, and are the most technologically advanced planet in the Lost Colonies Alliance. They were the first colony to perfect faster-than-light (FTL) travel after the Exodus, which has enabled the recent discovery of the other colonies. Pacifists by nature, they haven't shared the technology because they don't yet trust the other colonies to not weaponize it.
Vice began lifeless, but an ideal chemical balance allowed moss and algae to proliferate across the globe, coloring the entire planet green. The colonists implanted aggressive predators and prolific prey, intentionally creating dangerous wilderness that have honed the inhabitants into rugged survivalists.
Might makes right; power is what you can take. Vicean society centers around preparing for The Final Battle, where they will return to Earth more powerful than the Uu'nok can possibly imagine to reclaim their ancestral home. Their civilization is divided into great Houses, ruled by the strongest families who are intentionally at constant war, determined to hone each other into foes the Uu'nok will fear. The leader of the strongest house is the High Warlord, respected and feared by all.
Entropia boasts the most water of any colony, and is enviably the most Earth-like planet in the Lost Colonies Alliance. Temperatures range from polar-freezing to swim-in-your-clothes tropical, exacerbated by very long days and high global humidity. Like the other colonies, Entropia possessed no biological life prior to human arrival. However, prime conditions allowed the colonists to rapidly populate the planet with Earthen flora and fauna. Today, Entropia's continents are green forests and jungles filled with wildlife, its oceans teeming with aquatic life.
Sometimes called a kleptocracy, Entropia has fluctuated between anarchy and oligarchy for its entire existence, perpetuated by a powerful criminal underground. Piracy is common, bribes the norm. Society is dominated by a handful of powerful families who hold their riches close and stick to their own in a constant, silent war with the freedom-loving "criminal element."
Iron-rich dirt stains Fortunus red, marbled with snow from its cool-to-arctic temperatures that layer perpetual ice in many regions. Still, moderate rainfall and warm-ish summers enabled the colonists to seed life on this once-barren planet and support a population of three billion.
Donnant donnant. "You don't get nothing for nothing." That's the mantra Fortunians live by. Wealth is power. Hard work and clever bartering pave the road to prosperity for those with the stomach to play the ultimate game. Mega corporations have the most influence, but balanced laws enable new businesses to quickly flourish, creating an ever-changing competitive landscape that keeps the entire population on its toes.
Enigma earned its name because perpetual cloud cover obscures its surface from observation, and its strange technology-disabling properties make it difficult to survey, let alone access.
However, a daring reconnaissance mission by a lone agent has revealed the first possibility of alien life since the Uu'nok invaded Earth. Is it another colony? Or have they uncovered something worse than their ancient foes?
Even though the colonies fled Earth 10,000 years ago, humanity's homeworld remains the standard by which all other planets are measured. Little is known about Earth's fate and the billions of people the colony ships left behind. The savage Uu'nok may have slaughtered everyone and moved on, or enslaved the populace and taken up residence.
And they may never find out, for one thing every member of the Lost Colonies Alliance agrees upon is that folding back to Sol isn't worth the risk of giving away their location.
Check out these Writing Wonders posts for more about the Lost Colonies series.
Ryan Southwick
Ryan Southwick
Free Books, Sales, and Events
- Now–December 31 — All my e-books are on sale for 99¢. My publisher discounted The Z-Tech Chronicles and One Man's Trash for the holidays, so I put the rest of my books on sale as well. If you've been meaning to read the thrilling Timeless Keeper Saga or get your dragon on with the steamy Dragon Assassin, give yourself a holiday treat that won't break the bank. (Links above are to Amazon. Check out my website for other retailers.) Know someone who enjoys heartwarming science fiction? Forward this newsletter to them! You can spread the joy of reading and support indie authors with a single click.
- January or February — Come see me in Los Angeles! Still working on the details, but I will be in LA for a day with signed copies of all my books, including the yet-to-be-released Project Xerxes and Enigma. More info soon!
Currently Reading
The Martian
I'm a few chapters in, and so far it feels like one long MacGyver episode, where the enemy is the protagonist's own clever inventions. It's a Makers Fair fan's dream come true, injected with dark humor from a guy who knows he's going to die but really doesn't want to.
I'm not huge on solely in-your-head narrative; inter-person relationships are more my thing. Combined with a largely logistics/physics/math-driven storyline where the narrator tells you he'll "spare you the math" but then spells it all out anyway, this would normally be sentenced to languish on my "in progress" list until I eventually gave up and declared it DNF.
However, Book 3 of the Timeless Keeper Saga takes place partly on Mars in the not-so-distant future, which puts The Martian more in the research than entertainment category, so I will likely read to the end. More updates (and hopefully a full review) to come.
Other Authors You Might Like
The Ceres Illusion
Something is definitely rotten in the experimental settlement on Ceres.
Jax wonders how it will affect her and her colleagues when along comes Nan and shows her a side to the complex she did not expect. Together, the two young women work to break the control the aliens have over the human settlers and begin to form the foundation of a fairer community.
My Books
Timeless Keeper Saga
On a war-ravaged Earth no longer able to sustain life, a half-blind dome farmer and a mysterious city dweller may hold the keys to humanity's fate.
The Timeless Keeper Saga is a science fiction dystopian thriller series about forbidden love, mysterious ancient artifacts, hidden powers, and the indomitable human spirit.
The Z-Tech Chronicles
In the face of a rising, ancient evil, a traumatized San Francisco waitress may be the only thing standing between humanity and oblivion.
The Z-Tech Chronicles is a science fiction / urban fantasy saga that follows Anne Perrin on her journey from a traumatized waitress to becoming more than she ever imagined.
One Man's Trash - A Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy Story
Croft Winder grew up believing that love is blind.
It wasn't until he took his fiancée on a little vacation to the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy, however, that he learned it can also be downright insane.
Will the wonders of the Truck Stop save their relationship or send it to the executioner’s block? Not even the ancient Delphians could have guessed.
One Man's Trash is a cozy sci fi romance set in the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy universe.
Dragon Assassin - A Steamy Shifter Romance
Half dragon. Half human. All woman... and all killer.
Humans think Charon is a monster. Dragons consider her an abomination, condemning her to a lifetime of isolation.
Now her half-breed body is changing in ways she doesn't understand, torturing her with strange desires. Her only hope may lie with a handsome young assassin who, in courting her, might be getting more than he signed up for.
If you're into sexy shape-changing half-dragons, suave assassins, absurd anatomy, and steamy female-led relationships, then this thrilling paranormal romance adventure is for you!
