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.
"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
I should have known that some astronomer would have already tackled, quantitatively, some aspects of what I discussed as an “Academic Ponzi Scheme” a few weeks ago. Travis Metcalfe wrote a paper last year which is publically available here. Here’s the title and abstract: The Production Rate and Employment of Ph.D. Astronomers Authors: Travis S. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>As reported here. Not science mistakes, which is my usual area, but apparently gross errors confusing Mexico and Peru, Mayans and Incas, and related issues of culture, language, and geography. I understand the average movie-goer won’t care, but I also think that consistently underestimating the public helps reinforce negative attitudes toward education. I mean, if […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>Yesterday I was going through the mail I’d missed while I’ve been traveling, and came across the official letter finally that I am being promoted to Associate Professor with tenure on July 1, 2008, the start of our fiscal year. Woo hoo! So I knew this was happening. My department and department chair all supported […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »>Over at www.sfsignal.com here. Just plain missed it last week while I was traveling, which is dumb of me since sfsignal is one of the best sites to keep up with the science fiction world. MIND MELD: Scientific Accuracy in Stories Science fiction would be nothing without the science. Who doesn’t like reading about new […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>My mother is reading Spider Star and liking it significantly more than Star Dragon, primarily because she feels more for the characters. She hasn’t finished the book yet, but did tell me on the phone the other day that she’d noticed an error. Not a typo, but an outright mistake. She claimed I’d gotten the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>Writers have to have thick skins to reach success. Rejection and criticism are a daily experience, even after being professionally published. On a good day, it isn’t a big deal. On a bad day, it’s depressing. One of the reasons that some writers achieve success is because there are things to be learned from the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>I had excellent sushi for lunch/breakfast, then spent the day at the beach in Impanema sipping drinks from a coconut enjoying totally perfect weather here in Rio. Comparing this to mountain life in Wyoming, I can only conclude I’m no longer on the same planet. I am not sure I have ever seen a girl in […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »>I wanted to talk about what the experience feels like while it’s fresh. There were nine of us sitting for 2.5 days in a board room at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), with a panel chair, plus two support staff from the institute to help with technical issues/questions. We also had various observers come […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>I have a little time before I have to catch a taxi to the airport, and I will get some things down while they are fresh. First, my primary reason to do this review this year was that the proposals were for a post-repair mission refurbished and repaired Hubble Space Telescope. This involves repairing not […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>I tried for ten physical science-based science fiction movies a few months back. Five is less ambitious and easier, letting them pick better movies on average, although I have quibbles. This is the list from New Scientist: 2001: A Space Odyssey. I agree. Tops my list, too. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s a […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>I want to talk a little bit about the dark side of academic sociology, a dark side that does have a silver lining. This situation I will describe may be obvious to some of you reading, and a complete surprise to others. For those to whom it’s obvious, perhaps I’ll still have some subtle insights […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »>At the risk of making some overly general statements based on my own personal experiences, I wanted to put down some thoughts about how the approach toward science — at least astronomy — seems to differ between the U.S. and Europe. I’m hip deep, or maybe neck deep, in Hubble Space Telescope proposals in preparation […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>