I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately revising the first book in the Dinosaur Wars series. It will be published online soon as an electronic version. As part of that effort, I’ve created a map of the military action in the unfortunate conflict that started our new relationship with the Kra, which I’m sure everyone will agree has improved quite a bit since the armistice.
As a refresher for those who’ve read some of my writings on the war, and as an introduction for those who haven’t, here’s the map in all its glory.
Places and events described in Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall
The new edition, officially Edition 3, will have a new title, Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall, to distinguish it from the other stories in the series, Dinosaur Wars: Counterattack, Dinosaur Wars: Blood on the Moon, and the original first edition book, Dinosaur Wars. I’ve tried to avoid making big changes in the story I first told in Dinosaur Wars, but here and there, for the sake of completeness, I’ve added a bit more detail.
For instance, Saurgon, the Kra in charge of the deadly particle beam emanating from Phaeon Crater on the moon, was absent from the original Dinosaur Wars, but now he makes a couple of appearances in the revised book, Earthfall, just so people can get a feel for how low his opinion of humanity is. And his relationship with Gar, the only Kra willing to see humans as worthy of something more than extinction, is clarified. Did you know that Ugon, Saurgon, and Gar were co-equal leaders in a triumvirate of power at the top of the invasion force? That and a few other significant points are now to be found in the third edition. Third time’s a charm, right?
I have a quick question. I’ve been chatting with someone regarding Dinosaur Wars. He asks why the military didn’t just nuke the base on the moon. As I recall, though, most of the world’s military was destroyed. Am I remembering this correctly? Been a while since I’ve read the books.
Good question. In my first draft, I wrote that we had launched nuclear missiles toward the moon but they were shot down by the beam. However, I met a guy who had worked in the real nuclear missile silos of the midwest, and he said there’s not a single nuclear missile on earth with enough fuel to reach the moon, so I just dropped the whole idea. I think General Davis makes a quick remark about the impossibility in the story as it now stands.
Ah I see. Yeah I thought they couldn’t reach the moon. I just wasn’t sure. I also heard that, in the absence of an atmosphere, a nuclear explosion wouldn’t be able to cause as much damage.
When will the next dinosaur wars book come out on the ereaders
Craig, the good news is that book two, Counterattack, was released a short time ago, so go check it out. Just click its image on the right, or search for my author listing with your ebook seller. It’ll be there. You’ll also notice two short stories in my Dinosaur Tales collection, “Something in the Jungle,” and “Riding Quetzalcoatlus.” The DInosaur Tales are meant to occur just after the conclusion of the third novel, Dinosaur Wars: Blood on the Moon. Only trouble is, I haven’t finished writing Blood on the Moon. Don’t worry, I’m busy writing nearly full-time these days. I expect that DW3 — as I call it — will be released sometime in 2012.