The Science of the Red Planet
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W. Michael Gear is better known for the books he and his wife write about Ancient America (which I am a fan of). It turns out, he also does science fiction. Outpost is about Port Authority, a long-abandoned human colony on the cratered, volcanic-soiled world of Donovan orbiting the star Capella. It is also about Talina Perez, the half-Spanish, half-Mayan woman who rules the colony. After so many years, the starship Turalon has discovered the long-lost colony. But will this be a rescue mission or the colony's doom? And even if the colonists can be saved, only 1 out of 5 starships actually return to Earth. This book mentions real places in the universe like Tau Ceti and Earth's Solar System including Earth, Transluna (the Moon possibly? The book does not say), Mars, Jupiter's moon, Io, and Neptune. It also describes the soil on Donovan: volcanic clay that, when hardened, forms a ceramic that can cut through diamonds like butter (I found this interesting as a soil scientist and geologist). Slightly off topic, the main character, Talina's mother was a Mayan archaeologist. Being an archaeologist myself, I found this tidbit to be very relatable and interesting.
If you were a sci-fi nerd like me in high school and were bullied a lot, then you can sympathize with this book. In this classic by Orson Scott Card, the main character: Ender, is constantly picked on by his peers in Battle School in the Asteroid Belt, but, through his strategic wit at knowing the feelings of his enemy, he perseveres to fight the enemy alien race known as the Formics or "buggers" (so-called because they are insects), only to find he had been tricked into destroying a race that was merely protecting itself from us. Now, Ender must find a new home for the Formics. Equipped with an introduction (which bashes archaeologists like me, Boo!) and an excerpt from Ender's Shadow (the next book in the series), this takes place all over the galaxy from our Asteroid Belt to Saturn and its moons to the asteroid-turned-starship Eros to the Formics' home star system.
This comic book mostly takes place in the mythical lands of the Norse Gods of old. However, there is one part where Thor is traveling through space in the vicinity of the planet Uranus. He has a run in with Ego, the living planet, and his counterpart from an alternate universe, Alter Ego (which both can travel through space using continent-sized volcanoes to propel them). Ego and Alter Ego battle each other around Earth.
From the creators of the Firefly Guide Deep Sky Observers Guide, The Solar System: A Firefly Guide, Firefly Guide to Minerals, Rocks, and Fossils, Firefly Moon Observer's Guide, and Firefly Mars Observer's Guide comes a Question and Answer book that will enlighten you about the planets, space travel, and astronomy at large.
Darth Bane is trying to prolong his reign over the galaxy by eliminating all conspirators. He hires an Iktotchi (a weird, mammal-like alien) assassin to hunt down Darth Bane's enemies including a Dark Jedi. What is the difference between a Sith and a Dark Jedi you say? A Sith wants to rule the galaxy whereas a Darki Jedi only cares about himself. The Dark Jedi Darth Bane is hunting is covered in chitinous parasites which act as armour for the Dark Jedi. The hunt for the Dark Jedi takes him and his apprentice all over the galxy, from the twin-mooned Ciutric IV, to Nal Hutta and its pirate moon, Nal Shaddaa, to the Stone Prison of Doan (which Darth Bane destroys).
After the loss of Captain Kirk, Spock, the crew of the Enterprise, and Spock's childhood friend, Captain David Rabin, must save a dying race of a desert planet called Obsidian (because the planet is covered in obsidian and other volcanic rock) from the radioactive star Loki and the Romulan Empire. This book includes extras including biographies of the authors and a sneak peek at Star Trek: Vulcan's Heart.
Obsidian: a dark, sharp, glass-like volcanic rock Romulan: native to the planet Romulus, warlike cousins of the Vulcans |
Ryan Knipple
"In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, established a presence there, and fulfilled a century of dreams." Archives
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