Jia
Morning came with a gentle rocking.
I opened my eyes. The sky outside was red, and dotted with birds. The pool of ruby light opposite the window crawled back and forth in time to the motion of the carriage.
I straightened and peered outside through the glass: the World Train seemed to be moving across a narrow causeway now, a sparkling ocean extending from horizon to horizon on either side, its surface whipped by wind. In the east the scarlet eye of Nsomeka Star burned through a thin veil of cloud, the west presided over by the striped face of a gas giant called Soshu.
Dear readers,
It's finally happened: the free version of this science-fiction novel has been taken offline in order to make room for the hard-cover printed edition from Ephemera Bound Publishing, on sale in stores and online beginning Valentine's Day, 2008.
I regret any disappointment. I kept the free version available as long as I could. Pleasure be sure to check out the new edition! See Cheeseburger Brown.com for more information and updates.
Love,
Cheeseburger Brown
P.S. You can read more of my free fiction via my weblog or in the complete story achives.
posted by Simon of Space at 02:38
34 Comments:
Never had a shot at being first to comment before. You write wonderfully well. I care about your characters and I am intrigued by your plot.
Dear Peter,
Hey, thanks for sayin' so. I hope you're in a saner timezone and not, like me, awake at 3 AM. (And the worst part is I think I left me Harry Potter upstairs in the bedroom. Fisk!)
Dear all,
For those of you who like keeping tabs of this sort of thing, as of this post the official SIMON OF SPACE wordcount stands at 62,253. This is now technically a "short novel", I think.
Don't worry, though, it's not over: Maja is not the last world we will see.
Nor is the next world. Nor the one after that.
...Actually, come to think of it, nor the one after that, either. Jeeze -- we've still got a ways to go.
I'm untired. I think I'm going to sneak upstairs and see if I can't grab me Harry Potter without waking up the missus.
By the bye: I fnished my storybook. The proof copy is being manufacturmalated now, and will soon be in my greasy little mitts. Should anyone from the general public end up wanting one, they should be available in about two weeks.
Love,
CheeseburgerBrown
CBB, you have no idea how many times I check this blog in a day for updates.
Anyway, outstanding chapter. I can totally visualize Jia and her emotional responses at Simon's naive disposition.
I am incredibly intrigued, at this point, about Jeremiah's involvement with Volmash, and the idea that Duncan is Volmash's alias. Please reveal more!! Damn Jeremiah for his robot-ness.
Again, excellent work. If this ever is released in print, I will definitely purchase it.
Happy writing, CBB! Looking forward to the next chapter.
"Nor is the next world. Nor the one after that."
Well this is Simon of Space after all ;)
Excellent chapter, Maja sounds wonderful, very colourful. My heart goes out to Simon's wife, I can understand her reaction to her husband. I'm looking forward to meeting Simon's children :)
I am curious to discover just how heavily embroiled Jeramiah is in the Duncan/Volmash plot, it's all very exciting!!!
I also check your site numerous times a day for updates, your writing really is captivating! I would certainly be interested in reading a copy of your storybook, where would I be able to lay my hands on a copy?
CBB, reading this at 3am on the West Coast.
I too check VERY OFTEN to see if a new chapter has
been posted!!! :)
Dude, you ARE an author. You MUST publish
novels! It is obviously your true calling! :)
FYI, my Harry Potter is sitting nearby, but Simon
in Space had to be read first. :)
I'm on page 261. Trying not to read this all in one
sitting. It's too bloody long between Harry Potter
books... got to make this one last. :)
Curious, did you mean to misspell "carafe"?
This just keeps getting better and better CBB!!!!
Damn you fcr getting me hooked on this... it's like a drug! *ROTFL*
CBB,
The interactions between Simon and Jia were moving and believable. Well done! This has been an engrossing tale so far. Thank you.
cheers,
Tom
Excellent as ever!
Well, now i am totally befuddled.
So, now what's it gonna be.
and will everyone except Pish.
What would Simon do if they don't??
Hmmm???
Is it me or is Jeremiah a bit to creapy? (i know i wouldn't be the one to tell him i didn't think i would be needing him any more we all know what he did everyone else that was standing in his way)
Dam this whole timezone crap!!!!
Thanks and keep it up
sanna
... the word 'Jia' means home ...
And the word 'Maja' is almost 'māja', which in latvian language means 'a house'. And if we add an 's' in the end, we get 'mājas' which means 'home'. Nice coincidence.
I've been reading both The Darth Side and Simon of Space and I like them both. I hope this novel won't end too soon so I'll have something to read at work (oops).
Keep writing...
I have noticed that the people that write a comment are just as intriguing as the story.(almost) And even though i constantly check for a new post i am just as draw to the comments.
I too find the commentary engaging and interesting. I wonder, CBB, if you would ever consider publishing a book version with the comments left in, as footnotes perhaps?
Oh curses!!!!!
i was so hoping that there would be another posting before I left work!!!
And now i must suffer and wait the weekend out. I must have checked back in about 50 times eariler just to check.. and now I have about an hour and a half left. and there is NOTHING!!
so Addictive.and yet so Satisfying.
If i was wearing a hat it would be off to you right now.
Thank you for this Journey :)
SantaMaria
Long time reader, first time commenter. I read through all of your Darthside postings, and just discovered Simon today, and had to read everything and catch up.
Interestingly, "jia" is Chinese for "home", and so I was certain that Simon would be coming home in this story. And I was right, but wrong; Jia is the name of his wife! Is it all just a coincidence, or is there a double meaning there?
Keep up the good work. Your writing is superb, and presenting it by way of a blog post is just a ridiculously good idea, and shows how the internet can foster new kinds of expression.
Dear all,
Weekend treat:
http://mfdh.ca/simon_of_space/Jeremiah_1024.png
If you don't care to have visual details dictated to you, don't look. It's a written story, so your imagination's version is as legitimate as mine.
Love,
CheeseburgerBrown
So, Mr. Fell was once almost assassinated eh? I'm very interested in discovering what kind of a man Nestor Simonithrat Fell was.
"You know not of which you speak," he said icily. "...Sir."
Gives me the chills. Great writing, CBB! I eagerly await the next installation.
-Ott
WOW !!!
I love the dialog with Jeremiah, he's so mysterious... and creepy.
And then you gave us an illustration too !! How frikin cool is that !!
What a treat !!
Thank You CBB!
"Pish's balloon-dog squeaked ominously."
I almost lost the contents of my bladder on that one. Nothing like a balloon animal squeaking to add tension to a scene! I also enjoyed the reference to Fartles, who is much missed, and his ominous "squeaking".
I don't usually give blanket statements, but I will purchase anything you put into print!
"I'm the mother of your children you selfish idiot," she spat venomously, and then ran away back up the stairs again.
If this isn't a reason to convert to misogyny ...
"I wondered briefly whether there was some kind of croaking noise I was supposed to be making at Jia...or that she was supposed to be making at me."
That is just frigging hilarious.
oh, meeting your own head of security 5 times total? Kinda weird. If I was rich and had a head of security, I'd make sure he is around me all the time.
Orick
This whole "read a chapter" then "comment on the
chapter, praise the author, help author correct
spelling or other mistakes" thing kindof reminds me
of this reading club I was in with some of my
friends.
So once a week, a bunch of us would get together in
somebody's place. And three or so of us would get
to read a chapter from one of the three books our
group was currently going through.
Then we'd get to sit around and comment about it
afterwards, remarking on either how weird, how
funny, or how true the chapter was, etc.
Like one gal read this really scary gothic horror
novel. Another one read all these short stories,
usually twinged with horror, often with alot of sex
and/or creepy sex. :) One person read from "The
Curse of Lono", which is hysterical. I read from
"Bright Lights, Big City", which I've identified with
alot due to once flunking out of college (I got back
and selected the right major the 2nd time, and
eventually graduated), and once getting totally
burned out in a software job and being grateful for
when the layoffs started!! My husband read from
Dracula.
Anyway, it sounded a little dorky at first, but it
ended up one of my favorite evenings of the week.
:)
This is SO much like it. And I get to do it 2 or 3
times a week!!! This totally rocks. :)
CBB, love the Jeremiah illustration. Although the first thing I thought when I saw it was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" - lethal, certainly, but lacking Jeremiah's dignity...
I don't like Jia.
And I'm growing attached more and more to Simon every day.
Which reminds me, I did a weird black and white pixel art doodle of Simon once.
I like how Jeremiah looks, anyway, allthough I always picture him with his chest forward, and looking slightly downwards.
Oh cool!!!
Love the picture!!!
I am soo happy!!
although i never would have thought Jeremiah would look like that. i guess it is like reading a book then seeing the movie the people that you as a reader picture them looking like generaly don't always match up. Sort of like the "Harry Potter" movies. i was abit disapointing at first but as you continue to go through the stories they tend to fit.
bravo to the drawing. i see your multi talented!!!!
thanks for the clearer picture.
sanna
The thought of Pish meeting Simon's children... That's a bit unsettling.
I am absolutely frightened by that vile robot. I don't know if that is your intention, but that is what shines through to me.
I always pictured Jeremiah more dalek-ish. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
Keep up the good work.
"Perhaps your usefulness has come to an end, Jeremiah," I warned. "You heard Omar: robots are eschewed on this world. Besides, Pish is safe now."
Jeremiah turned to face me, his carapace glinting in the lamps. "You know not of which you speak," he said icily. "...Sir."
Nice foreshadowing... while maintaining the ambiguous nature of the relationsip between Simon and Jeremiah, we see a hint of a larger story. And Pish seems to be the key.
What threat to Pish will Simon face? What is Pish's relationship to Terron Volmash? Now that Simon has arrived "home", I'm anxiously awaiting the next phase of this story, where we should start seeing some of the many "main" plot-threads being tied up!
I have posted a poll at
http://www.sfsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1257#1257
Go and make yourselves heard :)
Omar is a chiropractor? A useful skill in a security chief.
I was on the bus today, reading my new purchase of Cosmos magazine (not sure if it's published oversease) but it's a new science magazine here in Australia and I have to say, that's if you don't already know that they featured The Darth Side on page 110 of Blogosphere.
There I was thinking..geez they're slow! But I was ecstatic for you.
the site for cosmos magazine is
www.cosmosmagazine.com
"Pish has a discerning palette."
should be "...palate"
I'm catching up after a six week hiatus -- and it's just as good a treat to read lots of chapters at a sitting as it was to wait in anticipation for each one.
I really enjoy your writing. I never know what's going to happen next or even what what just happened really means.
Thank you!
There's a typo in this installment. You used 'palette' when you meant 'palate'.
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