A New Novel, Just for You

How about a little Atompunk to start the new year?

I lost a contest, and you’re about to reap the benefits.

AI art, to be replaced by real human art soon

I wrote a novel over the summer. See, for a while now I’ve been working on a near-future hopepunk Arctic airship novel, as well as shorter commissioned fiction. (The novel’s coming along quite nicely, thank you.) But for a couple of years, I’d been waxing nostalgic with friends about the good old days when the role-playing game Traveller was new and exciting. I started planning a one-shot scenario for it with a small set of players, to play during our annual holiday in Temagami.

Traveller is essentially the space-based version of Dungeons and Dragons—incredibly simple in its rules but infinitely flexible. That meant I could indulge my habit of extravagant worldbuilding, and so my mind wandered into an… interesting place.

One thing I like about Traveller is that it models itself unashamedly on old-style space opera. For example, you can buy computers for your starship; computing power is measured by the ton. This is a world of low-tech interstellar empires where Astrogators use slide rules to plot courses between the stars. I grew up reading the YA books of Andre Norton and Stanislav Lem’s atompunk classics like The Invincible (there’s a great new game based on that one) so I wanted a universe that had that flavour to it. I was just having fun on the side.

Then I stumbled across an ad for the SciFidea Dyson Sphere contest. Write a story about a Dyson Sphere, get $20,000. Hmm. Tough decision. I’ve never entered a writing contest and never planned to, but the prize looked nice. And, hey, I had this world I’d been developing that, while not exactly about a Dyson Sphere was, shall we say, Dyson-Sphere-adjacent.

So what the hell. I already had a spacefaring civilization that was naturally and believably low-tech, as well as the characters, and the scenario. I figured I’d write a 30,000-word novella and submit it.

It turned into a 60,000-word novel.

Which didn’t win the contest.

This did not bum me out the way you might expect; after all, I’m an award-winning, widely translated novelist, I know I wrote a fun story, and it’s perfectly fine that it wasn’t the kind of story the contest was looking for. It might just be the kind of story you’re looking for, to help you through this dark and gloomy January—if you’re interested in a classic space opera packed with loquacious aliens, nuclear-powered spaceships, free traders, a thieves’ guild, space pirates, secret societies, abductions, sword fights, disguises, intrigue, and an ancient secret so explosive that it could topple an entire civilization…

Best of all, you can read The Fallow Orbits right here, if you’re a paid subscriber.

I’ve lowered my subscription prices and have created a new Substack Section. Starting next week, I will be releasing a chapter a week, in two installments on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the book is done. (This is because of Substack’s length requirements.) I’m hiring real human artists to illustrate the story. After the newsletter run is finished I plan to create an ebook version that you can buy separately. Meanwhile, you’ll get other unique content from me, as I’ve started a podcast and will be doing readings of previously published stories, and possibly new ones. Chats and teasers of new work are also happening.

Once the newsletter run is done, depending on the response, I may do a Kickstarter to raise funds for cover art and design, promotion, etc., for the ebook.

The first chapter is free for all subscribers; it’ll be in your inbox next week. After that, if you’re finding it fun, you can subscribe to read the rest. Or, you can do that right now:

About That Art

You’ll have seen that I often use AI-generated art to illustrate the newsletter. I do this in cases where I can’t afford to hire an artist. I’m working on a new website, and it’s tempting to use AI art to make it look gorgeous, but wherever I can afford to, I want to pay real artists to make real art. I’m applying that policy with The Fallow Orbits.

I don’t yet have a cover artist but will be hiring one. Meanwhile, here is another Midjourney teaser of the style I was writing in:

Rocketships should have fins, Elon.

Hand-drawn interior illustrations by Chinoso O will be appearing starting with Chapter 1, and regardless of your subscription level, you’ll be seeing that first chapter of The Fallow Orbits in your inbox next week.

NOTE: As of February 16, 2025, I have removed this publication from Substack so that I can expand on it and publish it in print and ebook editions. You’ll be the first to know when those become available!