Books and Short Stories by Lindsay H.F. Brambles

[Lindsay Brambles]

In Darkness Bound is an epic SF war novel, focusing on the lives of individuals involved in a conflict that is centered around a remote world, the possession of which holds the key to potential untold wealth. For those who enjoy military SF with a deeper look at character, this novel is likely to appeal. Below is a brief teaser synopsis of the book. Sample chapters can be found at www.freewebs.com/lindsaybrambles . The book is widely available in hard copy format from numerous online book retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon.ca, etc. It can also be purchased from Mobipocket.com as an ebook, and should soon be available for the Kindle (Amazon.com's ebook reader) from the Kindle Store. For more details visit the aforementioned website.

If you would like to get a taste of the authors work, you will find a free copy of the shorter, related novel, Zero-Option, as well as the short stories Choices and The Wall at www.freewebs.com/lindsaybrambles . These stories can also be downloaded from other sites, including manybooks.net. They are released via a Creative Commons License, and the author encouraged their dissemination.

In Darkness Bound:

John Carter was born and raised a spacer, his life determined before he was even born. Now a captain in Fleet, he finds himself questioning his commitment to a path in life he did not choose. But Fleet is all the life he has ever really known; and in a world where spacers are ‘crippled’ and essentially outcasts, he is a man with few choices. To leave Fleet would be to leave life itself. But Fleet is old and battered, a pale shadow of the force it once was in the Earth Empire, and its enemies are powerful and growing stronger by the day.

On Inkasar he watches as a mission he should never have had degenerates into chaos. He is lucky to escape alive, and the fleet he commands limps out of the system in need of repairs and R&R. But the political leaders of the Federation have other ideas, and Carter’s fleet, beaten and weary after the debacle on Inkasar, is ordered to Obsidian, a backwater world of religious fundamentalists, out on the Fringes.

In the Obsidian system the two most powerful corporates in the empire are set to wage war. At stake: an inhabitable planet and the transit point that lies close to it, a gateway to a possible treasure-trove of riches that will make the victor the most dominant force in existence. But Danielle Grenier, the Secretary General of the Federation Assembly, is determined they will not have it, and she doesn’t care what she has to do to stop them—even if it means bending the very laws that are the foundation of the Federation she so strongly believes in.

Tensions rise as Fleet takes up position around Obsidian and on the surface of the planet. Fleet Marines, under the command of Colonel Suzanne Morrow, prepare to evacuate the population. In orbit, Carter’s ultimatum to the commanders of the corporate fleets lays the groundwork for all out war. As the situation deteriorates, the citizens of Obsidian scramble to secure allegiances.

Back on Isis station near Earth, Grenier wages a silent war with Admiral Christiana Novarro, abetted by her ally Admiral Silas Jackson, the head of Naval Intelligence, a man with ambitions of his own who is determined to replace Novarro and return Fleet to its former glory. Using the resources of his division, Jackson has conspired to send one of his operatives to Obsidian to ensure that Fleet is the victor.

As ships battle in orbit about Obsidian and conflict rages below, the odds seem stacked against Fleet. But Carter knows his enemies well, and events are about to take place that will change the face of the empire forever. The question is, will history remember Carter as a hero or as the man responsible for setting the Federation on the path to destruction?

One thing is certain: lives will be changed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

[nina munteanu]

Looks like a good read, Lindsay! Great military SF. Is this part of a series?

[Lindsay Brambles]

In Darkness Bound if the first of five books that are set in the same universe. The sequel is completed and I'm now in the process of looking for a publisher. Rough drafts for the other three main novels are done, but there remains a lot of work to be completed on these. There are also some shorter novels that are again related to the story arc that begins with In Darkness Bound. However, lest anyone fear that by reading In Darkness Bound they'll be getting only part of the story, I should assure readers that each novel is written to be wholly independent of the others. It will not have been necessary to have read previous works to understand or enjoy the story of a given novel, just as it won't be necessary to read any of the following works. Indeed, while In Darkness Bound is ostensibly a war story, the follow-up novel is more focused on time travel.

Aside from this line of SF novels, I have also completed a science fantasy trilogy designed to suit readers of all ages. It's an adventure that begins in Canada, then shifts to parallel worlds in which magic of a sort is extant to varying extents. The completed work runs about 700,000 words, which unfortunately appears to be a problem for agents. Thus far I've had no success in finding one to take it on, the argument being that it is either too long for them or simply not the sort of thing they are prepared to put the effort into pitching to publishers. I suspect, however, that when all is said and done, I simply do not have the sort of proven track record they want in order to be bothered to take me on as a client. It's a pity, because I would very much like to submit the trilogy to Scholastic, since I feel it would be a great fit with them. But Scholastic won't consider work that isn't submitted by an agent.

My next book may be something else entirely, as I'm considering the possibility of doing a pseudo-biographical work about my parents. My mother died in 2006 of Alzheimer's disease. During the last few years of her life I went to visit her several times each week and watched the slow and painful degeneration of the woman I had known to be so full of life. The saddest thing is the fact that she died the way she feared most. She had spent several years looking after Alzheimer's patients and had always said that she would prefer to die of anything else rather than suffer the erosion of the intellect she so valued and the loss of the memories that meant so much to her.

Anyway, I hope this may have answered some questions. You can find out more about me and my writing at my website, www.freewebs.com/lindsaybrambles

[nina munteanu]

Yes, thank you. Your current project appears rather compelling and timely too... I think many of us are pondering this challenging disease and several excellent movies have just come out on the subject.