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...
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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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How To Live

November 17th, 2009

I’ve been busy the last week or so revising a grant proposal for the National Science Foundation. I finally finished yesterday, and am relaxing a little. It’s fine to work hard, and it’s fine to take a breather in between. I have a lot to catch up, and if you’ve been waiting for a reply from me about something, I should get to it soon now. Feel free to bug me again if necessary.

But I need to remind myself that running around with giant “to do” lists, losing sleep over deadlines, watching shows on the DVR only because it is filling up (Damn you Prisoner!) and not because you want to and have the time, always feeling overwhelmed, and letting life control you, rather than controling your own life…this is ok once in a while but not as a way of life.

We’re here. We should be having fun. If you’re not having fun, well, go have some!

I am thinking about this today because one of my favorite teachers from high school passed away, and I just learned about it. James Alverson was my history teacher, and pretty cool. He was a scary looking bald guy with a beard and glasses, an American version of Vladimir Lenin, but with only one leg and a limp. He was often serious and appeared disconnected as he limped up a stairwell, but the truth was that he was fully engaged with the world in a deep way and cared very, very deeply about things. I remember one year he filled his room with pieces of artwork showing voluptuous women — fat, the girls then and now surely thought. And that was why. Anorexia and bad nutrion was becoming an issue and he wanted students to realize that the present ideal of beauty was a cultural artificact, and didn’t have to be the truth. He put up the paintings and sculptures, and never told anyone why until someone asked.

My favorite episode with Mr. Alverson was one day when he came late to class. He hobbled in and strangely sat on the edge of the front desk and just started making small talk. This went on for 5-10 minutes. He had a glass with dark liquid inside that he sipped from. He joked around, teased some of the students. One asked what he was drinking, as he did come off a little drunk. “You want to try?” he asked Bob, who quickly declined. Coffee was all it was, but he wanted to have a bit of fun. One of his friends had told him that he was becoming a sourpuss, being serious all the time, and needed to lighten up and enjoy things. He did, in a way I will never forget.

I lectured this morning myself, and I realize that he taught me so much that day. I go into class and I plan to teach, but I also expect to have fun. Instead of showing a slide of a map of the cosmic microwave background, I drew it. Three times. First with the dipole motion, the redshift/blueshift pattern caused by our motion. That looks like a cosmic yin-yang symbol, and I’m sure some Eastern mystics have made some bogus claims based on this coincidence. Then I drew what was left when you corrected for the motion — a lot of galaxy contamination. Finally, after subtracting off the Milky Way emission, I drew the temperature fluctations and discussed their power spectrum. I joked about my abstract art and how these scribbles were appropriate for a graduate-level astrophysics course.

I also offered to share my drink. I had a whole case of Diet Mt. Dew with me, but no takers. A couple should have, as I saw them nod off early, but I had them awake and egaged by the end of class.

I like teaching. I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m a little strange. I have fun, and that’s the best way to do it.

So please, go throw in a little fun into whatever you’re doing today, tomorrow, whenever. This is your life, and why not make sure to have some fun?

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