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:
David Lee Summers' Web Journal 