Spider Star
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...
Read More.Praise for Star Dragon
"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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Busy Week…
August 28th, 2012
…and we’ll see how much I blog.
It’s the first week of classes, and I’ve got two sections rather than one for a change (but none in the spring). I’m also trying a bunch of new (to me) pedagogical techniques so I do have a lot of preparation to do, new technology and practices to learn. Still, my students seem engaged and enthusiastic for the most part, so I’m down for it.
One of my grad students had his candidacy exam yesterday, so I was helping him prepare for that and then had his talk and oral examination.
I’m head of graduate admissions/recruiting for the department, and I’ve got to update the website and write a proposal to submit Saturday.
Saturday I will actually be in Atlanta, at Dragoncon, giving about 5-6 hours of lecture as part of my astronomy workshop there (slots still available). Jean and I will have to get a hotel room in Denver Thursday night and fly out early Friday morning.
Since I have a Tuesday-Thursday class, I need not only my class preparation done for Thursday, I need it done for next Tuesday as well, since I don’t see the time available in Atlanta and anticipate being exhausted.
Other things were going on the last few weeks and I’ve been eying this week cautiously, expecting to be stressed out, which I am. Things are getting done, and so far done well, but I still have a lot to do and know I have to prioritize my sleep/exercise as much as the work, or at least pace myself.
So I kind of expect the blogging to drop off this week, but I’m sure I’ll share a few things that come up, and report on Dragoncon and how the astronomy workshop goes. I’m still worrying about how to do it all in a day, and what can’t be cut and what can, but I’ll find a solution.
I guess I should explicitly add that I continue to work with my students on their research and that fills a couple of hours a day as well, and my wife misses me, but I promised her vacation time together in Atlanta. I’m looking forward to that, assuming all is spaceship-safe.
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I feel your pain (sort of)…I’m doing 5-6 hours of talks at Chicon as well and there’s still prep work to be done. I refuse to spend this entire convention holed up in my hotel room frantically trying to get my talk ready but I fear I may end up doing that. I have to pace myself as well and be sure not to go overboard on the food (though I will have a stuffed-crust pizza. Or two) and be sure to exercise and drink plenty of water. I’m going to miss Jeri since she can’t make it this time out. And here I am, at 2am unable to sleep for some reason and I have to get up in 4 hours to head to the airport. Ugh