Hi again all. I'm back! (gawds have I been busy) Anyhow, while my current books gain some steam under them, I'm looking to work on some experimental stories and post them a chapter at a time in my blog for people to read, critique, and so on. The problem is, I have three really great stories (at least IMHO) I'd like to post, but I only have the space to post one of them. Well, I *could* post all three, but that'd be information overload. Thus I want to pick just one. Here's the overview of the 3 stories.
Whalandria
This story is a mixture of high seas action mingled with some fantasy and sci-fi. It tells the story of a group of colonists who came from outer space and landed on the world of Whalandria. It's called that because it's a gigantic water world (98% of the surface is water) populated by gigantic whale like creatures called "Whale Ships". They are sentient creatures who sail through the water like little floating islands.
The colonists end up creating a relationship with these whale ships and they soon build their society on the backs of these monstrous, island sized animals. This is because the whale ships always float close to the surface allowing islands to be formed on their backs where animals, trees, and other things grow. The ships come in various sizes and also include large submersible Sting Ray like ships, massive turtles (who also have islands on their backs), pirates who ride on gigantic shark islands, and so on.
The story is told through the eyes of Elizabeth, daughter of the captain of a whale ship, and includes her family, her sister, and her pet birds Nigel and Grace, both of whom are sentient, and can speak, which adds another interesting twist to the story.
Warbirds
Warbirds tells the tale of a planet where the animals are sentient and can talk/reason for themselves. Yes, this might sound cliche, but it's not. The story actually touches on a lot of modern day social issues and puts them into a rather fun and interesting parable of sorts. Some of the things touched on is the balance between the natural world and technology, the belief in "superior" vs "inferior" life forms and races (and the consequences this causes), the consequences of science gone too far, the idea of sworn enemies working together as friends, and much more. There's even lots of humor involved in the book, as well as some interesting character types you will enjoy, and it's all told through the eyes of the animals.
The main character in the book is a sparrow hawk named Tails. He, like all the other animals on this planet, are genetically altered animals from Earth whose ancestors were brought to this world, experimented on, changed, manipulated, enhanced, etc and then let loose into the wild when the humans were forced to flee back to their world due to an as yet undecided reason. But when they left, they just dropped everything, packed up, and left, leaving behind their technology, their buildings, and more.
The animals then took and improved on what their creators had left behind. So there's a lot of stuff that happens out in the wild between animals, and a large amount of sci-fi stuff as well, such as the MEPs vs the Naturals. MEPS are genetically and cyberneticly enhanced animals that prey on the "inferior" (well, they treat them as inferior) naturals who have a more naturalistic view of technology, instead of an all encompassing one as the MEPs do. The core of the story focuses around the struggle for survival by the naturals vs the fight for superiority by the MEPs.
Empire
Empire is a very dark book that focuses around a secretive organization called "Empire" who holds power by altering the truth and history while holding power with an iron fist. Taros, the book's main character, is a simple merchant tradesman who lives a normal, boring life moving cargo from one side of the galaxy to another. That is, until Empire discovers he's the one the prophesy talks about who will destroy them and bring freedom and truth to the galaxy.
The story then goes into his attempts at first surviving, with the help of his trusty robotic friend Menos, and then later striking out against Empire in an effort to first free Earth, and then the entire galaxy from the power of Empire. If you want an analogy, think 1984 meets Star Wars meets Lost in Space. That's probably not a totally accurate comparison, but it's the best I can come up with.
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Ok, that's the general overview of the three stories. Which would you like to see? Also, is any of you willing to make input into the stories and give your 2c on the writing as I post the chapters for the winning story in the future? It's primarily why I'm doing this, to further improve myself so that my next book series is even better than my last one. Thanks in advance guys! Oh, and PS, the story will be free for you to share if you like. Being an experimental story I don't plan to do anything with it, save for using it as writing practice. So you can do anything you want with it. Just don't steal it. Well, at least not without my permission. lol.
