HALTERES: BAD ASS SCIENCE FICTION OR BAD ASS FANTASY?

I'm a little bit sci-fi.

I'm a little bit fan-ta-sy








What makes Halteres science fiction?

Science fiction, tucked below the canopy of speculative fiction, is intended to offer scenarios that entice the reader to question the world around them through an alien lens.  Here's what Halteres offers:

*Halteres- A wholly unique terrestrial planet extensively researched and rendered with as much accuracy as possible in order to appropriately place it at the center of the story.  Halteres is the heart that pumps life into every element of the novel.  It is the construct that germinated creative life into the entire project.

*The Arca Trochia- Vast mycelial networks through which countless polar microbes flow.  Their potential to provide energy to a planet crippled by electromagnetic decimation has been oppressed by those who control the lands where it exists in situ.  It is supremely coveted by the main antagonist of the story; Archon.  The device through which Archon seeks power, the SCATHE, is powered largely through Arca Trochia.

*Three Sentient Hominoid Subspecies- The Haltierre, the Mendax, and the Ratnik comprise the majority of main characters in Halteres.  They are presumed to have arisen from an as yet unknown common ancestor through punctuated equilibrium at the beginning of the last epoch.  Their shared origin is a crucial plot element.

*Fascinating Flora and Fauna- Most biotic elements on Halteres are realized with the laws of nature kept firmly in mind.  Noctvyl, the primary non-hominoid beasts, have their construct borrowed largely from arthropoid and crustacean origins.  Mutualistic annelanche, chromatophoric rept-phibian xile, and lumbering vertebrate marsopods all draw from science fact.  Two primary species of flora, thigmotropic mongosas, and phototropic fungal zygoverts are similarly imagined.

*Dystopian Cultures and Their Rulers- The Fylax lead the Haltierre clan through oppression and imposed ignorance.  The EGOs lead the Ratnik by controlling their population and breeding through the Tri-Ball wars; endless intraspecies combat.  The OAs lead through the Failure Laws; a set of mandates that reassign first time offenders to Relegation in the wastelands of the Akros, and subject second time offenders to outright banishment as Cussus at the Fate Plateau.

*Olys; The Emergent City- The Alaska-sized uber-city occupied by the Mendax and Archon has achieved emergence.  It builds and demolishes itself based on its own needs and resources.  It also autonomously adapts to threats.

*Bad Ass Weaponry, Vehicles, and Technology- The Proton Evaporator, the Battle Dozer, the Akros Perimeter Exile Stormer (APES), the Cry-Viscerator, the Quark Vault, Neural Innoculators, Skidders, Combat Carapaces, the Kynoi Cannon, the Omni-lect, the Wraith, Hover-liths, RATs, Plasma Rifles and Cannons, the Ribo-Rifle.

Until the next time; I'm writing a book and...