My First Original Book Release!

The time has finally come for me to release a piece of original fiction. I promise not to waste too much blog space with things that aren’t pony–I’ll be brief about the story, explain what it’s like, and why I think my readers would enjoy it.

My first book will release on May 1st! Here’s an Amazon listing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F46RKY67

The book is called Forerunner’s Child, and here’s the cover:

The story might not be about ponies, but I think it’s got many of the same themes that will resonate with readers here. I enjoy hard science fiction (Forerunner’s presence in the title is no coincidence), but I also wanted a world that didn’t resemble the pessimism and general darkness I often see when I pick up contemporary sci-fi. I longed for a story that had the feel I missed in Friendship is Magic. I want a world where most people are good, where friendship is an important personal value for many. A kinder, gentler world.

The universe is neither kind nor gentle, of course. The unfeeling abyss over our heads is not merciful on our mistakes, or our ignorance. But how we live in such a world is our choice to make.

Forerunner’s Child follows an astronaut from our own world, a generation or two into the future. The first experiment with manned FTL travel ends somewhat unsuccessfully, and her ship is cast adrift. After an enormously long time, her vessel is discovered by a remote colony on the edge of the galaxy, and her cryogenic fossil is reconstructed.

The world she finds is a strange one: where a powerful AI named Forerunner acts as caretaker and parent to a colony of children, who have lived the same way in eternal youth in the Institute of Perpetual Luminescence.

Katlin still remembers who she was, and how much Forerunner took from her. Soon she makes friends in the colony, and comes to realize she’s the only one with a chance of setting them free.

The book represents the first in a series of at least four titles (already written at the time of this release). I may elect to add other titles to explore other characters or future periods in the timeline, but these four books will cover the complete narrative of the Institute of Perpetual Luminescence. My goal would be to release one of them every 2 months.

I fully realize I’m breaking convention with this book. Hard sci-fi isn’t told with a child protagonist very often (at least Ender’s Game exists, so I have that point of comparison). It’s a story with the same scope of drama and the same lethal consequences, but in a world I expect will feel familiar to many of my readers. I expect to explore many of the themes of identity and belonging that appear in my work on this site so far.

And of course, the universe is the same one I explored with Message in a Bottle. We won’t be looking at the Equestria ring. But the characters we came to know during that story may make an appearance here too–at least the human minds in Forerunner probes. This Persona developed in a very different way to the one in that story, but it started with the same goals and the same starting material.

I’m new at the whole publishing thing. But if I understand things right, everything should go live on May 1st. This includes hardcover and softcover editions, as well as an ebook. The series should also be enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program, so those of you with subscriptions can read my books there for no additional cost.

Those who previewed the book on my Patreon will find this version is radically altered from that manuscript, with about twenty thousand words worth of rewrites and edits. It should feel like a familiar story, but a greatly improved and refined version as I came to know the setting and characters better.

The book is live for preorder right now if you’d like to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F46RKY67

The physical versions will list for sale on May 1st, since for some unfathomable reason Amazon does not allow physical preorders.

An indie author like myself lives and dies by our reviews. I cannot express how grateful I would be if anyone who reads the book were to take the time to leave their feedback on the listing. The social proof of our review scores is the only thing we have to stand above the sea of slop that floods the book listings every day.

And for those who would like to read but can’t afford the cost of an ebook, I believe Amazon gives me a few codes when the listing goes live. If you’re in that boat, feel free to drop me a DM around the 1st and I’ll see how many codes they give me.

Lastly, there’s an audio version that should also go live around May 1st. I’ll have a future blog about the subject when it comes, possibly the last blog on this topic.

I know most of my readers are here for pony and only pony, so I’ll try not to spam your inbox with too many of these things. I’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming before too long.

I never imagined I would be writing fanfiction for so long. Firmly over a decade now, and still here. I’ve told millions of words worth of stories here on FIMFiction, and learned many lessons about how to make the most compelling stories I can.

I cannot express my gratitude enough to anyone who decides to give my original fiction a chance. I promise these stories will be my best work, months of my life and passion distilled into these little adventures. I doubt I’ll show all of them here on the site. But I’m sure if you’re one of my readers, you’ll enjoy this too, if you give it a shot.

And if you think anyone you know would enjoy a take on Ender’s Game crossed with The Martian, pass the story along. I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.

I’ve written over a dozen original novels outside the many stories I wrote here on fimfiction, and none of them are published. It’s time to start changing that. Maybe I’ll find readers, maybe I won’t. But I’d rather say I tried and failed than keep sitting on a stack of books no one will ever read. This way, maybe they can.

-Starscribe