Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve mentioned before my nostalgic love of Tom Swift Jr. Books by Victor Appleton (pseudonym). Most of the original Tom Swift books by Victor Appleton are available for free download on a number of sites, but one can find relatively few of these more recent books. Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung is available for free download from Manybooks.net and other free book sites. I still remember fondly reading it for the first time. It must have been about 1972, though the book was published in 1961.

The Steel Dragon – Characters Part 2

Posted on by
Reply


With the huge number of characters in The Steel Dragon and the other two books of the series, it was always a challenge to find character names. A few of the names just popped into my head and one or two I made up. I wanted unusual names, because the story takes place in a fantasy world and not on Earth. On the other hand, I wanted them to seem real and organic. I made great use of Baby Name websites for most first names. In some cases I would look up historical people and use their last names. If I had a character who was a naturalist, I would find the last name of a nineteenth century naturalist.

I listed the main characters in the previous post. Here are some of the major supporting characters.

The Steel Dragon: He is a tiny little creature in the first book, but by the second has grown to the size of a pony and is speaking. By the third book, he is on his way to becoming a fearsome beast of legend.

Augustus Dechantagne: The younger brother of Iolanthe and Terrence is a happy-go-lucky rogue, and a suspect in a string of murders.

Pantagria: A mysterious angelic figure from a strange alternate world who visits Terrence when he is in drug-induced dreams.

Professor Merced Calliere: A scientist and inventor, Calliere has created the Result Mechanism, a steam powered computer.

Egeria Lusk: Professor Calliere’s assistant and programmer, Miss Lusk is probably the smartest person in the new colony.

Graham Dokkins: A boy the same age as Senta, Graham becomes her closest friend.

Hero & Hertzal Hertling: Twins from Freedonia and members of the ethnic minority, Hero and Hertzal are the same age as Graham and Senta.

Out Sick

Posted on by
Reply

I’m out sick this week. I’ve got a sinus infection and I feel like crap. Like most teachers, I have a bazillion sick days saved up, so I could quite literally take off sick the rest of the school year, but like most teachers I won’t… cause I’m all “responsible” and “caring”. Fat lot of good it does me. But, pending sudden death, I will be back teaching about the thirteen American colonies on Monday.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Posted on by
Reply

In a previous post I complained about the new 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I don’t like it at all. I think it changes the rules to the point that it should not be called D&D anymore but something else. Even more importantly, it makes it difficult to create any world but one which looks just like those that Hasbro dishes up for you. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game however is based on the d20 3.5 system. The rules have been cleaned up and corrected and the whole thing is presented in a single volume. Right now you can download the beta edition for free.

Princess of Amathar – Culture

Posted on by
Reply

One of the great things about writing a science-fiction story, is creating new and interesting cultures and societies. In Princess of Amathar, I created the Amatharians. They are an advanced human culture. I wanted them to seem human enough to identify with, but to be alien enough to make them interesting. First I took all the things that I thought, when I was a kid, we would have on Earth by the time I was an adult, and gave them to the Amatharians. Moving sidewalks. Flying battleships. Laser guns. Monorails. I also gave them swords, because I knew I was writing a sword-swinging homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Finally I gave them all the quirks that I myself have. I hate talking on the phone, so the Amatharians have no phones. I like to write, so every Amatharian writes letters every day, and most have written books. I’m not a cat or dog person, so the Amatharians don’t have pets. I have no money, so the Amatharians don’t use money. In the end, creating the culture of this alien people was one of the most enjoyable parts about writing the book.

Princess of Amathar – Aliens

Posted on by
Reply

Princess of Amathar is a science fiction novel. What would a science fiction novel be without aliens. The story takes place in a hollow world which was long ago stocked with life from other planets. The primary races in the story are:

Amatharians: Humans with blue skin.

Zoasians: Reptilians with snake-like faces and massive bodies, nearly as wide as they are tall.

Malagor: Furry aliens with some ape-like and some dog-like traits.

Pell: Large, intelligent spiders.

Kartags: Semi-intelligent subterranian rat creatures.

Bloobnoob: Slimy amphibians.

The Steel Dragon – Setting Part 3

Posted on by
Reply

The Steel Dragon is the story of a group of settlers founding a colony in a distant mysterious continent. It is a fantasy world and I could name the continents and countries anything that I wanted. I really don’t remember where some of the names came from now. Mallon is the continent in which the story takes place. I think of it geographically as China. The colony is set up in the country of Birmisia and there is another distant colony in Mallontah. I think of them as China and India, respectively. Physically, culturally, and socially, these lands are not anything like Asia, India, or China, but putting them in that frame helped me imagine how settlers from a continent similar to Europe might see them.

Iguanas

Posted on by
1

We have two iguanas at our house. The one pictured is Cissy, named for a character in my book The Steel Dragon. The other is named Iggy, as are about 95% of iguanas everywhere. Cissy is a red iquana and is very friendly with everyone. Iggy is a green iguana and really only likes my wife, and usually only when she’s carrying a big plate of mustard greens. If you are thinking of getting an iguana, I highly recommend the book Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner’s Manuel

The Steel Dragon – Setting Part 2

Posted on by
Reply

My novel The Steel Dragon is set in an alternate world based very loosely on our own Victorian/Edwardian age. I wrote a bit before about how I came up with the map. Let me now tell you a bit about how I came up with the concept. Originally I was thinking of creating a role-playing game setting. I had seen a few Steampunk campaigns, but none of them really fell in line with what I would have wanted to create. I want my campaigns to be unique. I invisioned a world that was so large that the age of exploration would have taken longer, and it would only be in the nineteenth century when people from Sumir (my Europe equivalent) would venture forth to discover the world. In the distant lands would be primitive tribes and savage civilizations. They would not be human, but other forms of intelligent life. The lower forms of life would match as well. There would be a continent with reptilian people and dinosaurs. There would be a continent with insectoid intelligences and giant monster insects. When the story came to me, and the world became the setting for the story rather than for a role-playing game, I kept the reptilians and dinosaurs and pushed everything else to the back burner.

Richard Adams

Posted on by
Reply

Richard Adams is probably my favorite author, though there are a few others that would be in the running. He is justly famous for Watership Down, which is by far his best-selling book, but some of his other works are just as brilliant, if not more so. If you haven’t read any of his books, pick up a copy of Watership Down. You can find a copy at almost any used bookstore, or you can buy a new edition just about anywhere. If you’ve already read it, check out Maia or Shardik.