Verdant Pioneers - sequel to Verdant Skies

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Verdant Pioneers, the sequel to the hit Verdant Skies, is now available at Steven Lyle Jordan books and other major booksellers, for $2.99US.

The city-satellite Verdant has spent a year out in deep space, moving from system to system in search of the raw materials it needs to survive, fighting off terrorist factions that seek to force their return to Earth influence, and unsure of Earth's state. No one on Earth knows Verdant's status, either, and both sides are afraid of aggression from the other.

And when the deep-space discovery of the age is spoiled by the unexpected disappearance of one of their freighters, Julian Lenz and his staff must make a difficult decision: To take Verdant into hiding, perhaps forever; or to return to Earth, and risk Verdant's survival.

By popular demand: Fans everywhere (especially around here!) raved over Verdant Skies, and demanded to know what happened to the satellite and its residents after they left Earth orbit. Verdant Pioneers is the second chapter of Verdant's epic journey.

[Stormchild]

Bout bloody time mate.

Seriously, good news. Will be starting it tonight.

[dreams]

Whoop!! Thanks, Steven.

[GraceKrispy]

Excellent! Verdant Skies was an awesome tale!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I forgot to mention: The text of Verdant Pioneers contains the "longest word in the English Language."

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilic​ovolcanoconiosi s" is listed in the Oxford English dictionary and others, as the longest actual word in the English language... and it fits the context of the book! (Read the book to see what it means.)

Who's got the number for Guinness? (The records guys, not the beer.)

[caleb72]

What a word!

I really need to schedule Verdant Skies higher up in my TBR.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by caleb72

What a word!

I really need to schedule Verdant Skies higher up in my TBR.

If, for no other reason, than to see how that word is used!

(Oh, heck... just read the free excerpt, it's in Chapter 1.)

You might be interested to know that, in the same way Verdant Skies had a mystery (how will they get out of harm's way when everyone wants to board and co-opt them?), Verdant Pioneers has an interesting mystery as well (which, heh, I will not divulge here).

However, the sequel is the same as Verdant Skies in that it is primarily a people story; it examines the lives of Verdant's residents in their new and unique situation, and how they deal with it. It features many of the same characters familiar to Verdant Skies readers, plus a few others.

When I wrote Verdant Skies, I had no intention of writing a sequel; I thought it was perfectly formed and finished as it was. Needless to say, a number of readers disagreed, and it became my second most popular sequel-request (after the Kestral stories).

Part of the reason I didn’t want to write a sequel to Verdant Skies was, I didn’t want to turn it into a sort of Space:1999, where the intrepid but otherwise helpless residents of Verdant would be subjected to regularly meeting predictable alien races, battling their way out of mischief, and "translating" off to another episode. I knew there were readers out there who indeed wanted to see them meet alien races, and to engage in surrealistic battles ala Star Wars. But that just wasn’t what I’d envisioned for these characters or this universe. This was supposed to be a very realistic scenario (as much as travel to other worlds can possibly be, at any rate), and I didn’t see intelligent aliens and “take me to your leader” to be a part of that scenario. I’d found a way out of it by creating the Kestral universe, and I wasn’t going to make this a part of that.

All the same, I did have some ideas along those lines (aliens, I mean), and was able to explore them in Verdant Pioneers. I think the result is, again, very believable and realistic, and I'm proud of the way it came out.

[Stormchild]

Well after a very busy time and only reading a couple of pages before falling asleep, I decided today to stop, sit down and finish the story. So glad I did. Excellent read Steven, thank you for finishing the story (almost finishing).

I for one would love another book in the Verdant Universe but understand your reasons for not planning one. I suppose I will have to put up with another Kestral book.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Stormchild

I for one would love another book in the Verdant Universe but understand your reasons for not planning one.

Wellll... I'm not actually planning one... but that doesn't mean I won't write one...

In fact, right now I have no idea what my next writing project will be, a continuation of something I've already done, or something completely different. A lot depends on the TV series project I've been pulled into, and how it impacts my writing time in the future (ie, if it gets picked up, and whether I'm still attached to it when it is). So all new writing projects are in limbo right now.

[Bikeridr]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilic​ovolcanoconiosi s"

I actually know what it means
I also know it is three letters longer than the longest Norwegian word:
"Lengdeutvidelseskoeffisientmålingsapparatur" but only half the length of the longest Swedish word of 94 letters:
"Spårvangsaktiebolagsskenssmutsskutarefackförening sbeklädnadsmagasinsdepotsförrådsförvaltare". (It is actually a job title!)
(I also know about 50 decimals of pi by heart).

Anyway, I bought both the Verdant books and the three Kestral books to put into my evergrowing TBR-list. I may be able to start reading within the next couple of months as I plan to read "Dirk Gently" first.

Which series do you recommend to start with? Verdant og Kestral?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Bikeridr

Anyway, I bought both the Verdant books and the three Kestral books to put into my evergrowing TBR-list.

YAAY!

Originally Posted by Bikeridr

Which series do you recommend to start with? Verdant og Kestral?

Depends on your mood; the two series are very different in feel.

The Kestral stories are reminiscent of Star Trek (TOS) and Firefly, sci-fi adventure that doesn't get too nit-picky about the science part. (In fact, I originally designed the Kestral stories to be within the Trek universe, then redesigned the settings to what I considered a more realistic universe. Then Firefly came out, and I swear I wondered if Joss Whedon had somehow pinched my notes!)

The Verdant stories are based on hard science, with some interesting interpolations based on current theory. They feature a very realistic setting and characters, and a storyline believable enough that you can easily imagine being caught up in their situation yourself.

[Bikeridr]

Oh,
I loved Firefly, so I guess I'll start with the Kestral then.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Then Firefly came out, and I swear I wondered if Joss Whedon had somehow pinched my notes!)

Oh - huge Firefly fan here. That is very good information Mr Jordan. Kestral series now on my wishlist.

[Stormchild]

So have you written Verdant III yet? Have you, have you?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Ah, if only I had a million like you...

(You have told a million people about me, right? Haven't you? Haven't you?)