Tag Archives: John Mark Ellis

Space Pirates’ Legacy Complete

In May 2017, the rights to my “Old Star Saga” novels reverted to me. Upon getting the rights back, I decided to add a new first novel, revise and update the existing novels, and rebrand the series as “The Space Pirates’ Legacy.” After almost five years, this project is finally complete. Today, I’m proud to announce the release of book four, Heirs of the New Earth.

Heirs of the New Earth

The Earth has gone silent. John Mark Ellis and the crew of the Sanson are sent to investigate. When they arrive, they find vast alien machines known as Clusters in orbit. Fearing the worst, they land and discover that the once overcrowded, polluted Earth has become a paradise of sorts. The problem is over half the population is dead or missing and the planet’s leaders don’t seem to care. As Ellis works to unravel the mystery, sudden gravitational shifts from the galaxy’s center indicate something even worse is in the offing. Can Ellis save the galaxy from the heirs of the new Earth?

I wrote The Pirates of Sufiro in 1993 while living in Tucson, Arizona. Once I finished, I knew I wanted to write a sequel, and perhaps turn the series into a trilogy. The novel ends with John Mark Ellis, grandson of space pirate Ellison Firebrandt, wanting to pursue a mystery. An alien intelligence called the Cluster had invaded the galaxy. At the end of The Pirates of Sufiro, Ellis had no idea whether the Cluster was a ship or a life form in its own right. He knew the Cluster was dangerous and it destroyed starships, but he had no idea whether the danger was intentional or accidental. If the Cluster was a life form in its own right, could it understand that human ships were vessels with intelligent beings aboard? I knew Ellis would want to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Around the same time as I started thinking about the sequel, a team of observers were at the Mayall telescope using the Infrared Imager we had at the time to take images of the center of the galaxy. During that run, I watched as they captured the deepest image of the galactic core taken to that point. Since then, we’ve taken even deeper and more stunning images, but I was still mind-blown. I remember discussing what one would find at the center of the galaxy with the astronomers in the control room. We talked about the black hole in the center of the galaxy.

As we spoke, an image flashed to my mind. I imaged John Mark Ellis aboard an old-fashioned sailing ship at the center of the galaxy. I knew the rest of the series would tell of the story of how Ellis ended up on that sailing ship in that place. All I knew at the time was that somehow the Cluster was involved. Laura Givens’ cover art for the new edition, captures the image I’d conjured perfectly and I hope it makes you wonder how he got there. And this image isn’t a red herring. Not only does it reflect an image I had way back in 1993, it depicts an important scene from the heart of the novel.

The novel has just gone live in print and ebook formats and will start wending its way through the distribution chain soon. That said, you can pick up the print edition of the novel today at Amazon.com. The ebook is available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. It’s also available in a wide variety of additional formats at Smashwords.com. As always, you can find all the retailers I know who are carrying the book on the book’s page at my site: http://davidleesummers.com/heirs_new_earth.html

Children of the Old Stars – Twentieth Anniversary Edition

Children of the Old Stars

I am excited to announce that the twentieth anniversary edition of my novel Children of the Old Stars has just been released. This is the third novel in my Space Pirates’ Legacy series. In the novel just before this, an implacable alien intelligence called the Cluster arrived in the galaxy and began literally dissecting space ships. In an effort to stop the Cluster, the Confederation of Homeworlds united all the fleets and started building new ships, but a civil war on the galaxy’s key mining facility had slowed construction to a halt. Commander John Mark Ellis had been dispatched to get the scoop on the civil war and stop it if he could so mining the mineral, Erdonium, would resume. While at Sufiro, the Cluster appeared and Ellis had an experience which made him think he communicate with it.

Now, in the second novel, Ellis is on his way home after a successful mission when he’s called in to rescue a ship threatened by the Cluster. He tries to communicate with the Cluster and seems to succeed. The only problem is that from the crew’s perspective, he fainted on the bridge of his ship and the distressed ship is destroyed. Ellis is booted out of the service, but feels compelled to find a way to stop the Cluster. He seeks help from an alien warrior named G’Liat. The warrior suggests there might be a conspiracy regarding the Cluster that involves the galaxy’s most ancient lifeforms, the Titans. Ellis sends his mother, a renowned historian, to learn what she can about that. In the meantime, the leader of one of Sufiro’s armies also thinks he can communicate with the Cluster, but Clyde McClintlock has convinced himself the Cluster is nothing less than God incarnate.

Kate Hill, author of The Chieftain’s Bride said, “In Children of the Old Stars, David Lee Summers has created a wonderful mix of characters and a gripping plot. From the aliens to the whales of Earth, who now communicate with people, each character seems to come to life from the moment they enter the story.”

I love it when characters do their best to do the right thing even when they face insurmountable odds. I also love it when characters learn something about themselves while involved in such a quest. I gave Ellis a chance to grow and learn in this novel. Although Ellis is not a space pirate like his grandfather, we see Ellis come to embrace the legacy his grandfather left for him. Like The Pirates of Sufiro, I spent time revising this novel for the new edition. The plot is largely the same as it was in earlier editions, but I took more time to define G’Liat’s beliefs so he could convey them better to Ellis in the pages of the book. I fixed a lot of awkward moments in the dialog and action and did my best to improve the novel’s overall consistency.

You can order the ebook edition of Children of the Old Stars at the following places:

You can order the print edition of Children of the Old Stars at:

Lucid Dreams

Operating telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory means that I work a night shift. My working days typically start at 4pm and end in morning twilight, about a half hour before sunrise. Despite that, I often spend my off time on a day schedule. Originally this was a matter of necessity. Being on a day schedule allowed me to interact with my kids before they went to school and after they came home. I also find that I don’t do well staying on a night schedule all the time. I find I do need occasional time out in the sunshine. Also, the neighbors get a little cranky if I mow the yard at midnight!

One of the ways I’ve adapted to swapping schedules is that I drive to work the night before my shift begins. I stay up as late as I can and then sleep as long as I can during the next day. This works pretty well, though I do find the older I get the more my circadian rhythms resist the change back to nights. No matter how late I’ve stayed up, my eyes will tend to pop open for a while around 8am. If I’m tired enough, I will usually go right back to sleep. What I’ve also noticed is that especially on the first night getting ready for a shift, I’m prone to lucid dreams. In short, lucid dreams are ones where you’re consciously aware you’re dreaming. This has become common enough that I’ve discovered I can sometimes interact with my dreams. I can decide where to go or what to look at.

The experience of lucid dreaming feels at once profound and limited. It feels profound because it feels like I’ve gained control of a realm where we normally have no control. It feels limited because the control isn’t complete. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like playing a video game. I can move around, explore some things, but I don’t really control the “plot” or what other people in the dream do. Still, I can see why there’s a history of spiritual teachers, especially in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, ascribing special significance to lucid dreaming.

When I re-read Children of the Old Stars in preparation for starting a new edition, I noticed that I used dreams and dream imagery quite a bit. In my revisions for the forthcoming edition, I decided to enhance this and bring in some of my experience with lucid dreaming. I plan to expand these themes in the next book, Heirs of the New Earth. There, the protagonist’s experience with lucid dreams from Children of the Old Stars, prepares him for being able to move around a non-corporeal reality.

My Patreon supporters have been joining me as I rewrite Children of the Old Stars for a new edition. That journey will wrap up later this month. In fact, I’ve already started the process of giving the book a complete, comprehensive re-read for consistency and last-minute corrections. I’ve also gone ahead and set the ebook up for pre-order. It’s currently available for pre-order at the following stores: