Tribal Wars | World 12 K75 | The Rim

Mars in the Milky Way.The planet Mars glows like a brilliant burning ember amongst the Milky Way stars of the Scorpion. Note the smaller glowing red star beneath Mars known as Antares. Dark lanes of dust between the stars of the Milky Way obscure the light of the stars behind. Taken through a 50mm lens.All photos Copyright Greg Bock.

Orbital Scribe

The Illusion of War on the Rim
World 12 archives.

Background

With the incredible advancement
of nanotech and biosciences,
humans have managed to get
their foot in the door
to exploring the local galaxy.

A small team is resident on Phobos
to do research on Kleeches
(lifeforms that corrode metals
and plastics).

Live Kleeches are taken from Phobos
in special containers for penetrative
research, Kleeches are hard to catch,
the work is dangerous,
the environment is deadly.

The Rim Wars
Humans come up against the
deadly and brutal enemies
of the Kleeches.


I've moved the rest of the Story and will continue with it in due course.

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some thougtful reading

Land of the Headless by Adam Roberts.

Set in a future where IslamBibliq, is the religious
government that governs all.

Strict laws are applied in this society, the
story is narrated by a man who was sentenced
to headlessness because he protected the
morality of the women he was having an
affair with - big no-no.

The sentence is:
headlessness - the head is lopped off and replaced
with a square bin to which technology can be
added if the headless can afford it.

So the headless are like the lepers of old, walking
around with metalbins for heads, they are
recruited into the army, where they are used
as cannonfodder to clear the ground for troops
with heads.

The narration is somewhat philosophical and intellectual
and brings to the fore the question: which punishment
fits which crime.

A very grim book

I read Icarus by Roger Levy. At first I was shocked at the author's insight into domestic violence and sexual abuse, I almost put the book down as the author manages to provoke strong emotional feelings from me, the reader.

The story is one of the ultimate betrayel - and I mean ultimate !

Follow the actions of a charismatic evangelist/healer and watch how he descends into insanity step by step.

The story starts on earth and ends on another planet.

Lovely strong characters, strange locations and the slow awakening of a people who have been hoodwinked in the most astonishing and cruel way.

I am not going to give the story away, read it yourself and lament !

This is a very good book and readers should take heed of the underlying message.

Mid Winter Blues

Just finished reading Romanitas by Sophia McDougall,
A futuristic novel of the Roman Empire Today, this was
an easy read, with a love story within the central storyline,
tying together the political struggle for change and
the abolishment of slavery and crucification.

I found my lost book, The Skinner by Neal Asher, I was
tidying my library and noticed that it was missing.
I searched everywhere for weeks, and recently I
opened a cupboard stuffed with partie hats and the
book came tumbling onto my head.

I am reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville at the
moment and I am pleasantly surprised, it is a very
good read, with lots of innovative ideas and
characters, I highly recommend it to the established
SF reader who has come across every conceivable
idea in their readings before, if you have not read
Perdito Street Station, go and get a copy now !

Today I purchased two new books, The Prefect by
Alastair Reynolds and Un Dun Dun by China Mieville,
I'll be tucking into them soon.

I promised my kids I'll read Stephen King's Cell
when I finish reading Perdido Street Station, so
I'll have to gobble it, before I read The Prefect.

It's been a rather wet and cold winter in Cape Town
this year, just like I remember from my childhood.