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nebris~Essentially, this is a fanfic novel. It is based upon John Scalzi's Colonial Union series: “Old Man's War,” “The Ghost Brigades,” “The Last Colony,” “Zoe's Tale” and “The Human Division”. I gobbled up all five of them in May/June of 2013.
I had vaguely thought I'd read “Old Man's War” at some point or another up until I actually did read it. Scalzi has written about how he wrote it using a 1950's 'juvenile novel' paradigm, what we would call Young Adult these days, and that Heinlein was something of a role model. I suspect that is why the thing felt familiar to me before I ever cracked its spine. I cut my teeth on 1950's Sci-Fi Juvies, especially Andre Norton, and of course Heinlein is a role model for me as well. That you can tell by how my characters love to rattle on.
When I say I 'gobbled up' those five books I mean it. The first three went down each in two days a piece. I slowed up on the last two because I knew that would be all. But I quickly got impatient. And that's how this bit of fanfic came to be; as I say in the title, this is the book I wanted to read, so I chose to write it myself.
I have no idea what Scalzi will say if and when he ever finds out about this. I could try to blow smoke up his ass about it being an 'homage', but it's really just my selfishness. He probably shouldn’t read the thing. I'm arrogantly certain that it would contaminant his process for any further books in the series and I couldn't blame him for getting pissed about that.
As to the various lawyers, this work is Fair Use; I shall not seek, nor shall I accept, any type remuneration of for this work whatsoever from any third party, so save the C&D letters. However, while the concept and some of characters herein are clearly the property of John Scalzi and TOR books, this work is mine and cannot be reproduced in any form except under the following conditions: ya can't change any of it, ya can't charge money for it and, most especially, ya need to include this intro, because I want it to be very clear that this IS based upon John Scalzi's work.
Okay, some of you will ask why would I write an entire novel that I cannot sell? It's an exercise really, to create an inner template. I've written several screenplays, but have been struggling with the novel format for a number of years now. It's a 'psycho-emotional' dealio really. I'm an insane world builder and character creator, but get all caught up in Perfection and Format and Process and then grind to a halt. But with this someone else has done all that heavy lifting, creating a universe that I can truly enjoy playing with, but in which I have no emotional investment. That is very freeing.
One last thing. I strongly urge you read Scalzi's entire Colonial Union series before you read this. While “The Heavens Redeemed” is a stand alone volume, trust me when I say that you will enjoy this far more if you already know where it comes from...
...and so we start a little over three months after Harry Wilson jumped out of Earth Station.
I had vaguely thought I'd read “Old Man's War” at some point or another up until I actually did read it. Scalzi has written about how he wrote it using a 1950's 'juvenile novel' paradigm, what we would call Young Adult these days, and that Heinlein was something of a role model. I suspect that is why the thing felt familiar to me before I ever cracked its spine. I cut my teeth on 1950's Sci-Fi Juvies, especially Andre Norton, and of course Heinlein is a role model for me as well. That you can tell by how my characters love to rattle on.
When I say I 'gobbled up' those five books I mean it. The first three went down each in two days a piece. I slowed up on the last two because I knew that would be all. But I quickly got impatient. And that's how this bit of fanfic came to be; as I say in the title, this is the book I wanted to read, so I chose to write it myself.
I have no idea what Scalzi will say if and when he ever finds out about this. I could try to blow smoke up his ass about it being an 'homage', but it's really just my selfishness. He probably shouldn’t read the thing. I'm arrogantly certain that it would contaminant his process for any further books in the series and I couldn't blame him for getting pissed about that.
As to the various lawyers, this work is Fair Use; I shall not seek, nor shall I accept, any type remuneration of for this work whatsoever from any third party, so save the C&D letters. However, while the concept and some of characters herein are clearly the property of John Scalzi and TOR books, this work is mine and cannot be reproduced in any form except under the following conditions: ya can't change any of it, ya can't charge money for it and, most especially, ya need to include this intro, because I want it to be very clear that this IS based upon John Scalzi's work.
Okay, some of you will ask why would I write an entire novel that I cannot sell? It's an exercise really, to create an inner template. I've written several screenplays, but have been struggling with the novel format for a number of years now. It's a 'psycho-emotional' dealio really. I'm an insane world builder and character creator, but get all caught up in Perfection and Format and Process and then grind to a halt. But with this someone else has done all that heavy lifting, creating a universe that I can truly enjoy playing with, but in which I have no emotional investment. That is very freeing.
One last thing. I strongly urge you read Scalzi's entire Colonial Union series before you read this. While “The Heavens Redeemed” is a stand alone volume, trust me when I say that you will enjoy this far more if you already know where it comes from...
...and so we start a little over three months after Harry Wilson jumped out of Earth Station.
