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
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Meta

Crime in Brazil

May 24th, 2008

I’m not going to pull out some googled-up statistics or anything like that, or tell a horror story from personal experience. I’m just going to relate a few things that I’ve seen or heard about on this trip.

My last full day in Rio, I went with a friend to a tattoo parlor where she was getting her first tattoo (a star on her wrist). While she was getting her tattoo done, a woman was mugged, about 5pm, right outside the parlor in a mall area.

Today, while sitting in a real estate place in Porto Alegre investigating apartments, a bank robbery was occurring just a few dozen meters down the street. We got in a taxi to look at a place, and drove past a robber being handcuffed by police (I’m told another 2-3 accomplices escaped).

I went out with a couple of new friends tonight in a very nice part of town (a block from the bank robbery) and we stayed until midnight at an Irish pub listening to live rock music. On the way out, my friend explained to me that when we got to her car we had to get in very quickly for safety. And, on the drive back to the hotel — and here’s a real crime if you’re Fred Phelps — saw two men together on the side of the road making out.

One of my new friends, who is finishing an astronomy degree at the university here, told me that he’d only been robbed once while in Porto Alegre. He and his cousin walked through a normally very safe park, but at 4am. I can avoid doing that. The thing was, a guy on the bus the very next day tried to rob him, except he had nothing left!

I’ve been scammed for a couple of bucks by Rio cabbies, or suckered into buying food for street kids, but nothing worse or violent. I’ve done a few dumb things, too. Need to sharpen my big city skills, which were never a very high level, if I’m going to live here this next academic year.

Now, for a realistic depiction of the most extreme Brazilian violence, check out Tropa de Elite. My friend with the new star tattoo has a tiny part as an extra, and is on screen for less than a second.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.