Martin D Birch

Based in Scotland with more than 30 years working with ground-breaking technologies gave me a wealth of knowledge on which to build a framework for the future. The minor but nevertheless significant involvement with SETI (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence) certainly assisted in forming the view for the Centaurean Tribes.

Having previously studied Marine and Maritime Ecology certainly whetted the appetite over how a life spectrum can evolve differently (sometimes dramatically so) depending on what, to the casual observer, appears to be quite minute differences.

Several readers have asked my influences and the drivers behind the Centaurean Tribes so will attempt to give an overview. Most of the comments I make about the book story-line are apparent in the first chapter of the eBook, visible on-line free of charge on Amazon so it’s not really a spoiler alert but please be aware I will however discuss some elements of the plot so “Spoiler Alert” just in case.

Personally, I’ve been really interested in dystopian type fiction (e.g. relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice or the events following a cataclysmic outcome) for as long as I can remember. Embarrassed to admit it now but I first read 1984, George Orwell, in the late 60's when it was still in the future. I particularly appreciated the development of Winston Smith in the totalitarian environment unaware that the deck was stacked against him right from the off and, to be honest, he never really had a chance.

The film Soylent Green was based on the book "Make Room! Make Room" by Harry Harrison; dealing with the problems of a heavily over populated world what we perceive to be our basic necessities are running out and something a simple as a razor blade becomes of immense value. The solution to the worlds food shortages, suggested in the film, does not actually appear in the book although I felt it added an interesting edge to the story which was, otherwise, pretty depressing.

“Blade Runner” was itself simply brilliant and possibly the best Sci-Fi film made for its time (apologies to all those Star Wars addicts and trekkies).

Robert Louis Stevenson’s was years ahead of his time with “The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde”; first published in 1886. The story line is so well known that it requires little explanation. It is rarely described as Sci-Fi or Techno Thriller or even Speculative Fiction; indeed, most book lists will categorise it as Gothic Horror but, to my mind, that does it a dis-service. The underlying driver of Doctor Jekyll’s experimentation is ultimately with the best intentions but possibly based on flawed logic. It constantly amazes me that this book was written no more than half a century when Burke and Hare were active in Edinburgh and medical treatment often involved leaches; chloroform wasn’t first widely used until fifteen years earlier and most psychological treatments involve narcotics.

The likes of “I am legend”, Richard Matheson, and films like “28 days later” (expanded in “28 weeks later”) introduced another element into the genre; the zombie element was scientifically described with people being infected by some human generated virus or similar affliction. Actually, it is a weird offshoot of our medical treatment that the better it gets the weaker the human race gets to battle against disease. Historically diseases either killed you or your body developed a way to battle against them. Some have suggested that over reliance on antibiotics downgraded the human body’s ability to protect itself; whether true or not it is apparent that some viruses are now developing an immunity to treatments and the medical fraternity are now looking at different ways of tackling infection by assisting the human body to fight the disease rather than replacing the ability.

The event that stimulates such an occurrence on the Emain Ablach doesn’t follow the same infection idea but the psychological changes brought about by four decades of space travel; many of the psychological conditions that give rise to the “Terrors” are in existence today but rarely manifest themselves to such a level. However irrespective of the type of shielding available to the Emain Ablach’s hull; the passengers will have been subject to higher levels of radiation that would normally have been experienced on today’s Earth surface. That will have given rise to a weakened mental state in some crew members making them more susceptible to the effects of the mysterious cloud.

Originating from a more totalitarian world order the initial response is deemed to be almost entirely military; rather than medical or psychiatric. The wisdom of this is left to the reader to decide.

As previously mentioned my taste in fiction is in the futuristic suspense genre but the science must be realistic and achievable and as such have aimed that 90% of all technology on the Emain Ablach is around today in one form or another (although the size may be substantially different). Likewise the sleeper are put into an induce coma (as can be done today) and their heartbeat slowed to about 120th of the normal flow; fast enough to avoid brain damage but also slow enough to dramatically slow the ageing process.

Finally, as this is the first book of a series, a fair amount of time has been spent in developing the crew’s personality during the first book. By contrast the second book is almost all action right from page one. For those that have been on the old-fashioned roller coaster I would prefer to offer the following analogy; at the beginning of the ride you are climbing and climbing; there may be the occasional dip or curve but you know that you are going to get to the top and your stomach starts to knot in anticipation; this is book one. Book two and I’m sorry but you’re over the top; there are no brakes and no way back.

Book two, “Terror Form”, is hopefully to be released in late summer / early autumn with book three already on the drawing-board.

I truly hope you enjoy the book and feel free to post (hopefully positive) feedback on Amazon.

Thanks again for your support.

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(Also includes "The Abridged History of the 21st Century" - a free short story giving an explanation of the planet Earth with the events leading up to the launch of the W.O.S.S. Emain Ablach)

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