The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin
"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine
"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review
"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly
"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
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So there’s a new movie coming out next month, Jumper, based on an sf novel by Steven Gould, whose writing I’ve admired over the years (“Peaches for Mad Molly” is a truly original story). I just came across this story about the director Doug Liman and lead actor Hayden Christensen of Star Wars infamy visiting […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »>From time to time I’ll write about the courses I’m teaching, at least when I think it’s interesting behind the scenes. It should be this semester. Last year and this year both I’ve started my Science and Science Fiction class with “The Cold Equations,” a famous proto-hard sf story by Tom Godwin. My course is […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »>A few days ago there was a New York Times Freakonomics blog entry on this question that’s worth a read. I suspect anyone finding their way here is going to agree with the people interviewed there, and with me, that the answer is “yes.” In particular there, the question referred to “manned” space exploration, which […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>I posted this originally at www.sfnovelists.com, but decided that I’d like it in my own archives, too, and it would make a good filler for a lazy Sunday (which isn’t really because I have to write a self-assessment and run for three hours today, but that’s my problem). Anyway, here it is in case you […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »>So yesterday I had a post about what I thought were the ten best science fiction movies in terms of the physical science. I’ve been convinced to make a couple of substitutions and will do that over at www.sfnovelists.com tomorrow with a link from here. One reaction I often get when I become critical about […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »>Every top ten list is biased, and so is this one. My particular biases are that the movies have to strive for, and achieve most of the time, scientific accuracy. At least nothing too grossly wrong, and some instances of, “yeah, that’s not intuitive but that’s how it would work!” I’ll limit my list to […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 59 Comments »>“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.†— Albert Einstein This is going to be a call for reason to the smart people out there who do stupid things too often, too consistently, or too loudly. All smart people do stupid things. I’m a really smart guy, and I’ve been […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »>I was in the habit back in the 1990s of collecting quotes. I came across the file earlier today and thought I’d share. Quotes range from Einstein to Hemingway to the Tick and even Mariah Carey. I used some in my first novel. Enjoy! Because the heart beats under a covering of hair, of fur, […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »>Recently I blogged about the five qualities required to be a scientist. I realized I left one out, thinking the categories of dedication and curiosity covered it in some fashion, but they don’t quite do it. The sixth quality is love of science. Love of science and your particular chosen field are what leads to […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>Neil Tyson’s Ten Favorite Things About the Universe A few of his are a few of mine. Perhaps I’ll enumerate and post my own list later. Share/Bookmark
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>I’ve refereed a couple of papers recently, and had several papers refereed, with a variety of results that has had me thinking a lot about peer review lately. I personally know the chief editors of a couple of the leading journals in astronomy and have had the chance to discuss the job with them one-on-on […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »>There’s an easy answer to this question, and a better but more challenging answer. The easy answer is that when you’re just poking around, you might discover something important. A number of very important discoveries have been made that could not have easily been anticipated. Plastics and penicillin are two major serendipitous discoveries. My field, […]
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