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
…will be announced very soon. They have been selected and notified. First, however, I’ve heard from several applicants who never received a response from me. It seems that there was a glitch in the application process, and I did not receive all the applications (even if there was an immediate official “thank you we have [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>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 »>“Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »>I’m not going to spell it out, but consider these two images. The first is the cowboy on a bronco logo the University of Wyoming uses, and in fact much of the state. The second is an image one of my former grad students took of a memorable life-size T-rex statue we have on campus [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>I pulled some pranks in my day. There’s nothing like hearing a blood-curdling scream from a good friend in the middle of the night, in a good, healthy, fun way of course. (Okay, he might not fully agree, but I don’t feel *that* guilty about that one. It was clever and he was high-strung.) When [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>My taxes are done at least, and the telescope proposal is probably done (sent out to colleagues for final comments prior to submission). I’m also director of graduate admissions for our department, and April 15 is the day for offers to be accepted or declined. Usually what this means for me is scrambling to find [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No 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 [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »>Had my birthday Monday. Yesterday my thoughts turned toward Gemini telescope proposals. I got confused about deadlines — there are a bunch of them depending on who you submit through (e.g. foreign collaborators, or NOAO, etc.). Anyway, one of my collaborators casually let me know that proposals were due Thursday at midnight. I worked like [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>At first I was pleased, then horrified, as all the young science fair winners were female. Then I was pleased to see some male winners as the ceremony continued, but horrified when I realized it was girls winning all the biological science awards, and the boys winning all the physical science awards. Seemed like close [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>I didn’t say “no” when I should have, and now I get to wake up early Tuesday and present the physics awards at the Wyoming State Science Fair. I don’t really like award ceremonies, or ceremonies more generally, and I didn’t do the science fair thing in high school. I’m not against science fairs or [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>So I was having a dream last night, a pretty normal one for me, but I had a pretty good line from it I wanted to share. I’d moved to California and was getting acquainted, making new friends, and I was hanging out with William Shatner. He was a little younger, thinner, and wearing his [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>