Earth in 2064 is politically corrupt and in economic decline. The Long Depression has dragged on for 56 years, and the Bureau of Sustainable Research is hard at work making sure that no new technologies disrupt the planned economy. Ten years ago a band of malcontents, dreamers, and libertarian radicals bolted privately-developed anti-gravity drives onto rusty sea-going cargo ships, loaded them to the gills with 20th-century tunnel-boring machines and earthmoving equipment, and set sail – for the Moon.
I backed this book and its sequel on Kickstarter and have been hounding the author to get it out there so people could buy it. He finally has and you should!
If you liked Heinlein’sĀ Moon is a Harsh Mistress, then you’ll love this series.
The premise is sound, the science is hard — with only one conceit that isn’t entirely plausible given today’s science. The writing is polished and solid, well beyond what should be expected of a first book. The story and characters are entertaining and compelling.
I can’t recommend this one enough! Buy it now!
So i am a little confused. You wrote as if this was just published yet it appears to have been out for years…and though the sequel has every appearance of also being released, I don’t actually see it available anywhere.
Good book, but I am worried I will not get a resolution to the massive cliff-hanger left at the end.
Between this and Privateer it seems to be my lot in life to wait for completion š
So here’s the story on Powers of Earth, as I hear it from the author. The book was actually finished over the summer and he did a kickstarter for it then (one of the more successful ones for fiction, in fact). But back in 2011, when he started writing the series, he played around with Amazon’s publishing tools and got stuck with that release date for the title. I think he could have started a new project and gotten the right release date of 11/2017, but he didn’t and now it has reviews he doesn’t want to give up, so he’s kind of stuck with it. He’s doing final formatting on the 2nd book in the series and working on the third, so #2 should be available soon (with a proper release date) and #3 following on when it’s finished.
Regarding Privateer — I really am sorry for the cliffhanger, but it’s a longer story to resolve and I couldn’t find a better place to break it. š It’s the longest book in the series as it is. I promise not to make a habit of it.
Is there an anticipated resolution date for Privateer?
I was sorry that you didn’t choose to keep Mr. Artley alive to resolve his stepfather later. I know that it’s possibly an overused trope that the small young man goes to war and returns a man with more than expected skills, but it is a fun one.
When I get annoyed over cliffhangers, I remind myself that it is the risk of reading from the living. There are plenty of deal writers with completed series. I would point to C.S. Forrester et al. Keep up the good work. Hopefully you have an editor who is a hard taskmaster but easy on the cat.
I shouldn’t have made the comment about cliffhangers, I know all too well that light sarcasm doesn’t carry in print.
Write the books however you please. They are my favorite series, and “The Little Ships” is probably my favorite book period. It is not the consumer’s place to tell an artist how they should create.
No, I got it, but it’s a legit criticism, as well. š It’s rough when a book ends without resolution of the main story.
I think Little Ships is my favorite so far, too. I’m really proud of that one — thank you.