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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"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
With the loss of NASA and NSF funding (due to grants expiring, funding opportunities being canceled, and dropping application success rates), we have moved to a version of Launch Pad that no longer offers travel stipends and charges tuition. We hate to do this because we feel participants, while gaining valuable personal knowledge, already offer [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>Slow with this due to a computer glitch eating some applications and trying to track down the unlucky. In the meantime, here’s this year’s line-up: Instructors: Mike Brotherton Jim Verley Christian Ready Andria Schwortz Plus our usual assortment of special guests from the University on topics of their specialty Participants in no particular order that [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »>Still on vacation, with another week plus to go. The internet is pretty flaky here at the hotel in Dumaguete, Philippines where my wife and I are staying, so the blogging hasn’t been there this week. While the internet does seem to be behaving well at the moment, I wanted to share some good news. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>The statement can be found here online. Here it is below with some of my thoughts. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has issued a statement addressing the potential elimination of the education and public outreach (EPO) activities in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, as called for in President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget proposal. The [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>I’ve blogged about Uwingu before, discussing their initial crowd sourcing efforts last year (I contributed) and their more recent planet-naming activities. They are an organization dedicated to novel methods of raising funds that they will in turn use to fund scientific research and education. Well, I know they’re already starting to do it from a [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »>In this corner, the defending champion, the International Astronomical Union, or IAU, who last KOed Pluto in 2006, reducing it from planet to dwarf planet. And in the other corner, upstart Uwingu, a new company looking for alternative ways to fund science and science education. Disclaimer: I am a member of the IAU and have [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »>Here’s the scoop and the pertinent quote: “I will apologize for Armageddon, because we had to do the whole movie in 16 weeks. It was a massive undertaking. That was not fair to the movie. I would redo the entire third act if I could. But the studio literally took the movie away from us. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>The talented Todd Vandemark is in town this week helping our department make some videos to help advertise / humanize our department to prospective physics and astronomy students, so I have videos on the mind. I’ve been thinking about them, researching, and seeing what’s out there and finding some cool stuff. You may or may [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>I own the books, but haven’t read them. I do watch the show, and enjoyed the recent season 3 premiere. I’ve also posted some short articles in the past in which people tried to explain the complicated seasons in the Game of Thrones universe. I never worried too much about them given it’s a fantasy [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>What’s wrong with giant bugs? Or human bodies exploding in the vacuum of space? Or the answers to any of a bunch of other questions science fiction writers need to know to craft their story? I’ve written blog posts about some of these in the past, but started noticing videos with similar explanations and thought [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments »>This is the short story collection that has stories with settings based on confirmed exoplanets discovered by NASA’s Kepler Mission. Table of Contents Middle Ground by Mike Brotherton Turtle Soup by Laura Givens The Gloom of Tartarus by Gene Mederos A Glint off the Glass by Rick Novy Omega Shadows by Carol Hightshoe Daniel and [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »>My dad knows me, my interests, and my sense of humor pretty well. Check out the card he sent me for my birthday! The front has a wheel to let you dial in the appropriate phase of the moon. Half moon, full moon, waxing crescent, etc. My mom made sure to tell me that [...]
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