The final part of The Many Adventures of Eaglethorpe Buxton is Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Day of the Night of the Werewolf. Here is the interior cover art for it.
This image, like those of the first two books, is a combination of character art by Sade and a background image, the rights to which were purchased from Dreamstime.com.
This book will mark the natural conclusion of Eaglethorpe’s series. That is not to say that other stories might not come along in the future.
Yesterday I showed you the interior front art for Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Queen of Aerithraine, and today we have the interior front art for Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Amazons. Again, this image is by RPG art supplier Sade.
I have noticed that the more I write Eaglethorpe, the dumber I tend to make him. That is one of the things I am correcting as I revise (or at least am trying to correct). In the final book of the collection, Eaglethorpe must rise to his greatest. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the interior art for that one.
Here’s a look at the interior chapter front page for Eaglethorpe Buxton and the QUeen of Aerithraine. The graphic is by Sade, a rpg art company who also provided the elven princess and sorceress on the covers of the first two Eaglethorpe Buxton books.
Since I had covers for those two books, I decided that I would use them for interior covers and that I would add one for each of the additional books.
The draft of Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Amazons is done, but I’m going back through the first three books to make sure that they line up as far as tone and language. I think Amazons will have to have a lot more Eaglethorpe added to it.
Labeled a traitor and marooned on earth for stealing power crystals to prevent his planet’s inhumane experimentation on earthlings, Lrence finds himself drawn into the human lives around him.
Later on an archeological dig in Guatemala, archeologists discover a room carved out of stone and dominated by a man-sized niche surrounded by carvings. Seventeen-year-old Joshua Carson finds a crystal, inserts it into a hole in the niche, and vanishes. He discovers the crystal has endowed him with increased strength and mental acuity. What he doesn’t know is that continued exposure leads to insanity. Miles from home, he finds love, uncovers family secrets, and comes face to face with ruthless enemies, one of which will do whatever it takes to recover the crystal.
Lrence may be Joshua’s only hope for survival. However, protecting Joshua may expose Lrence and doom earth to the alien domination he gave up everything to prevent. He must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice to keep a promise and save the life of this one human.
New edits of Princess of Amathar are now available at Amazon and Smashwords and should be available everywhere else within a few days.
There are not too many changes, so unless you are a real completist, you might not want to bother. About 5 words were changed or corrected in the book. The biggest change was with comma usage.
On the other hand, if you have not read my first book before, I invite you to check it out. I have to say that I really enjoyed it as I was reading it through again. I write books that I like to read, and this is especially true of this book– regardless of how that makes me sound.
Once inside the arena they were escorted to their seats, just slightly off center, on one end of the oval. The seats, like those in the underground amphitheater of the Dragon Fortress were stone benches, probably the best type of seat to accommodate the tailed posterior of a lizzie but not too comfortable for a human. The festivities had already begun. Parading around the center of the stone floor were several hundred young reptilians. Though each was naked of clothing or body paint, they each carried a long feather which they held up above their heads. Some feathers were red, some were green, and a few were yellow or blue. As they marched around in different lines, they held up the feathers to create different abstract designs. They were still marching when the Freedonians arrived through the same portal that the Brechs had.
There were about twenty five Freedonians filing in into the arena, twice the number of Brechs, but far fewer than the number who must have crewed the five great airships. All those present wore the uniforms of the Flottenluftkorps. Senta could recognize Oberst Rothritter, as well as Fricis Hoff and Heyne Tourbell. There was a third wizard with them, but it wasn’t Stern. He was nowhere to be seen. The black uniformed men took their seats half a dozen rows below and a little further toward the end of the arena. This put them in close proximity to King Khassna, whose royal box was at the end, and who arrived as the reptilian feather marchers were finishing.
Next on the agenda was a sort of mock hunt. Several large cages on wagons were brought into the arena one after another, and the creatures within were released. There were several achillobators, deinonychus, an unenlagia which was a sort of deinonychus with longer and more colorful feathers, a whole flock of velociraptors, some dromaeosaurs, and even one unhappy utahraptor. Soon the entire arena seemed to be one great hissing squawking aviary. Only then did a dozen painted and feathered lizzie hunters enter. Working in teams of two, they used their small spears propelled by spear-throwing sticks and their flint-lined wooden swords to attack and kill the animals. The hunters were quick and efficient in their task, though the velociraptors gave them a bit of difficulty with their speed and agility. Only the utahraptor had the opportunity to retaliate, as it caught a pair of lizzie hunters intent on a deinonychus and jumped on them from behind, disemboweling one with its sickle-like foot claw, and tearing out the other’s throat with its razor sharp teeth. In the end though, even this feathered monster was felled by the warriors, who then paraded triumphantly in front of the audience, while servants removed the bodies of the slain.
“That was quite exciting,” said Mr. Vever. Senta was sandwiched between him and Mr. Brown.
She made a noncommittal noise. She was actually feeling a little bored. You could see lizzies hunting birds at home, if you just got out of the house once in a while. The next part of the show was slightly more interesting if only in scale. A huge tyrannosaurus, strapped down so that it looked like a great crocodile atop a very long wagon pulled by four dozen lizzies was brought into the arena. Just as with the smaller creatures before, it was released and a dozen hunters attacked it. The giant whipped around the arena, catching several of the lizzies off guard, snapping them up in its great jaws and swallowing them down. The remaining hunters, buoyed by several replacements, peppered the beast with their spears until it looked like a great black pin cushion. It didn’t give up though, and with a tremendous burst of speed leapt into the midst of the lizardmen, snapping and kicking. Only when a third group of hunters were sent in, did it finally falter and fall to the arena floor. Then the lizzies were upon it slashing with their wooden and stone swords until it bled to death.
Again there was a lull as the bodies were removed. Senta looked at Mr. Brown and noticed that he had taken on a pasty hue.
“Not feeling well?”
“It’s so much blood,” he said. “Those swords are bloody efficient.”
“Buck up. I have a feeling they’re building toward something.”
Another long wagon, just like the one that had carried the tyrannosaurus was pulled into the arena by just as many lizzies. Instead of a giant dinosaur though, this wagon carried some strange device. The base was obviously some kind of mechanism, for Senta and the others could see gears made of huge copper plates. Upon this mechanism was a giant egg shaped stone carved to resemble an almost caricatured image of Hissussisthiss. When the device reached the center of the arena, those reptilians who had pulled it in withdrew, and from the other end of the stadium at which Khassna sat, the city witch doctor stepped forward. He was much younger and more vital than the ancient and shrunken creature at Suusthek, but his body paint was very similar, as was his lizard-on-a-stick talisman. He danced around for a bit, shook his talisman, and cast spells of blessing on the stone Hissussisthiss.
So many things in His Robot Girlfriend were not that different than in our own times (because I don’t think the 2030s will really be all that different), that I struggled to add a few fantastic elements. It is after all, a science fiction story.
One area that I changed up quite a bit from our present world was the presidential election that is occurring in the background of the story. I made three parties the status quo in the stories, not because I’m an advocate of the Green Party (who is the third along with the Democrats and Republicans), though I do consider myself an environmentalist, but I just thought three parties would be more interesting. I don’t think America will ever have more than two major parties (the 1912 election nowithstanding). I also gave the US 57 states, including Cuba– also pretty unlikely.
Some reforms that I added that I do think might happen, and would be welcome, are Internet voting, and a single election time across the nation. In the story, voting occurs between 7AM Eastern Time and 7PM Pacific Time. Though states are currently firmly in control of election procedures, with the rate of technological change, I could see both of these things happening.
As always though, I chose these things not because I like the idea myself, but because I thought it was more interesting for the story. If you haven’t read His Robot Girlfriend, check it out. It’s free just about anywhere you can find ebooks, and has been downloaded to date 422,860 times.
“Great Leader Khassna, Lord of Tsahloose, son of the Lords of Tsahloose unto a dozen generations, chosen of Hissussisthiss for his worthiness, leader of warriors and august in his citizen’s eyes. I show unto you, your guests Radley Staff, general of the colonial guard, former under-leader of a great ocean vessel whose name is Ghiosa, and chosen of the Governor of their colony. He has conveyed his finest traders and scholars to dialog with yours. And he has conveyed Senta the great sorceress, consort of the witch-demon Zurfina, and High Priestess of the false god Yessennar.”
“Figures I’d get left out of the introductions,” whispered Wissinger.
“You’re not left out,” replied Manring. “You’re one of Staff’s finest scholars. What am I—chopped liver?”
“I’m happy not to be mentioned at all,” said Bratihn. “Especially not in association with a ‘witch-demon’.”
The Great King stood up from his throne and slowly stepped down from the dais to stand before Staff. He was tall and massive, as indeed all the dominant lizardmen seemed to be. Unlike every member of his species ever seen by the humans from Port Dechantagne, his skin was not mottled and bumpy, but was perfectly smooth. In those few places that were not completely obscured by body paint; his skin was a uniform shade of emerald. The rest of it was painted in zigzag designs of teal and red and pearlescent white. Around his wrists and ankles were dozens of bands of gold, silver, and copper, around his neck many necklaces of precious stones. He wore a headdress with bright red, white, and teal feathers poking up and long braids of colored strings hanging down behind his head. He placed his hand on his throat, palm out, in greeting. He spoke in the native language. Though the envoy translated, most of the humans already recognized it as a greeting.
Staff raised his hand in a similar gesture and bowed as well.
“On behalf of the King Tybalt III of the United Kingdom of Greater Brechalon and the Governor Iolanthe Staff of Port Dechantagne, thank you for your welcome. We have come hoping that our peoples can share knowledge, wealth, and prosperity.”
Khassna spoke again, and the envoy translated. “You shall stay as our guests while here. Your cousins originating in the ancestor land also have arrived at Tsahloose to share their great skills.”
Staff nodded thoughtfully. Then he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small oak box with brass fastenings. He carefully opened the box, folding its top back on its hinges. Inside sat a bird, covered with real feathers and with a sprightly green tail, but with a golden beak and lifeless eyes. Senta marveled. It was not exactly like the little mechanical bird she had seen so long ago in the toy store window, but it was alike enough to have been made by the same craftsman. Staff handed the opened box to Khassna. As the chief took it, Staff whispered something. The bird began to whistle and flap its wings. A low hiss was heard around the room.
“I thank you for this gift,” said Khassna, through his translator. “Wait here on our left. Later, you shall go to your house in Tsahloose, where you can relax. When the sun rises, we will talk again.”
Staff, Senta, and the others gathered in a group at the left of the dais. They watched as other groups of visitors, one after the other, stepped forward from their places on either side of the hall. Each group presented the great king with its own gift. Most of what was said between subject and king went untranslated for the humans from Port Dechantagne, though they could pick out most of the unusual dialect. The gifts were uniformly magnificent. There was gold jewelry, studded with precious gems. There were ornate silver goblets and platters. And there were long robes and capes fashioned from feathers. Each time a group of lizzie notables presented the king with a gift, he formally thanked them. Only once, when he was presented with a small golden box filled with some kind of spice, did he react on a more personal level, embracing the giver.
After all the lizardmen present had given their gifts and paid their respects, the men from Freedonia stepped forward. With the same stiff military posture they had shown when saluting Staff, they greeted the king. The lizzie envoy who had translated lizard speech to Brech, now translated Freedonian to lizzie. Between her studies and her friendship with Hero, who had been born in Freedonia, Senta had learned quite a bit of the language.
“Greetings to Great King Khassna from His Imperial Majesty King Klaus II of Freedonia. We have seen that Khassna is held in great esteem for he has received many wonderful gifts, but we of the fatherland wish him to know that we respect him the most.”
The officer snapped his fingers and six men in the white duck jackets, trousers and vests that were the uniforms of seamen in the Freedonian navy ran out into the room, carrying three large wooden crates. They sat the crates down in front of the king, opened them, and pulled pieces of equipment from the straw packing within. One crate contained a black metal tripod, which was quickly set up to serve as a stand for the contents of the second crate—the latest model Freedonian water-cooled machine gun. The third crate turned out to be full of ammunition belts, one of which the sailors removed and fed into the gun, pulling back on the lever action.
Khassna fairly jumped up and down with excitement, hissing out orders. According to his apparent instructions, a group of five lizardmen ran out into the hall, near the door through which Senta and the others had entered. The lizzie King sat down behind the machine gun and aimed it at his own warriors. For their part, the warriors were either remarkably disciplined or unaware of what was coming, for they did not flinch or move. With a flick of his clawed finger, Khassna sent a burst of machinegun fire which mowed all five warriors down in a bloody spray.
“Oh Kafira,” muttered Mr. Vever.
Speaking of Tesla’s Stepdaughters, as I was the other day, got me thinking about the Ladybugs and their world.
One of the things I’ve learned (I hope) is that even though you go to a great deal of trouble to create the details of a fantasy or sci-fi world, you shouldn’t go showing it off unless it benefits the story. I think this is one of the weaknesses of His Robot Girlfriend that makes me want to rewrite it.
There is a pretty large amount of detail about the Ladybugs and their music in Tesla’s Stepdaughters, but I tried to use only what I needed to be descriptive. In editing, I cut back on the details of their concert playlists. However, I created WAY more detail than is shown in the book. I created every album of the Ladybugs career, every song on every album, who wrote each song, and who played what instruments on those songs. I posted the details long ago on the blog, and if anyone is interested I’ll post them again. I even put it out there in ebook format, but I took it down, as I didn’t want people to be disappointed that they weren’t getting a story.
All this is something that I’m being very mindful of as I write His Robot Wife: Patience is a virtue. I have maps and diagrams and lists, but for the most part they will be for my own reference. When I’m done with the book, I may post some of them here, but hopefully I’ve learned enough that I’ll just show off the important part (for the story) in the story.
The latest revision of Tesla’s Stepdaughters is now available for purchase wherever fine ebooks are sold. If you’ve already purchased and read Tesla’s Stepdaughters, it’s probably not worth your while to download it again (though it should be free to do so) unless you are just anal about having the most correct version of a book in your elibrary.
There were very few changes made– three or four incorrectly placed commas. The big thing was that I had not italicized the song titles and album titles in the book– and there are a lot of them. So now they are italicized.
Of course, the book now has the new cover, which I premiered here a few days ago. I liked the old cover all right, but I think this new one is much more striking.
If you haven’t read Tesla’s Stepdaughters, I invite you to, and let me know what you think. I’m not humble enough to deny that I enjoyed re-reading it. I think for 99 cents, its a good little sci-fi, rock ‘n’ roll, detective story.
City of Amathar 