Hey everyone! If you're not following me on social media or getting my monthly newsletter, you don't know that the second installment in The Andromeda Chronicles, The Andromeda's Captain, is going to be published this upcoming Tuesday (2/22/22). But now that you do know, feel free to start celebrating with me! The long wait is over. We're finally going to hear about what happens to Taren and the gang next.
In case anyone needs a summary, here it goes: I finished The Andromeda's Ghost on a bit of a cliffhanger. (Sorry, not sorry!) Taren Platinum--skilled bodyguard, master of escape, secret lover to the princess he swore to protect--turned himself in to the Mireling authorities in order to save his recently acquired family; a baby alien, a human pre-teen, and a teenage alien he sort of adopted while on the run. Of course, we can't forget about his half human/half reptilian alien partner, Jael, but she's not a kid and she definitely doesn't see Taren as a father-figure. In fact, she's developed serious feelings for the guy that are, at this point in time, unreciprocated. But more on that later.
The second book in this series goes back in time for the first few chapters and tells us what was happening on Taren's home planet of Jurthaan IV while he was on the run. These chapters are also told from Queen Miyako's point of view. Now, I know what you guys are thinking: Queen Miyako is Princess Kylee's controlling mother who doesn't like Taren and didn't approve of his relationship with her daughter so, naturally, we don't like her. Please withhold your judgments until after you've finished reading because we learn A LOT about Princess Kylee's past during those early chapters. We also gain a deeper understanding of the queen's motives, how her relationship with her husband got so messed up, and how it has effected her worldview.
I'm not saying you'll all be fans of Queen Miyako by the end of book two, but I think you'll come to sympathize with her at least a little bit. Or maybe you'll develop a love/hate relationship with her like I did. She's one of the most human characters in the book, in my opinion, the one who struggles with her flaws the most. Anyway, if you're halfway through chapter three and are seriously considering skipping the rest of her chapters to get back to Taren and the gang, please, for me, would you stick it out? I wouldn't have included those chapters in the book if I didn't think they were important. Thanks in advance for your patience. ;)
When we finally do get back to Taren and his damaged but loveable crew, we're caught up to the present. Taren's being arrested and the kids, along with Jael, are trying to figure out their next move. It's a scary and confusing place to be but also really great because we get to explore the backstories of these side characters, which we were only introduced to in book one. We also dive into Jael's past, see the consequences of some of her actions from book one, and explore the reason why she just can't seem to get Taren Platinum out of her head. Try as she might.
Then we get introduced to an entirely new character, Dr. Ezabrae (pronounced eh-zah-bray) Mortimer. She's a blasian cyborg doctor living on the Mireling home world of Palnach, the only human on the entire planet. Because of this, she's assigned to patch up Taren before his big trial which will be broadcast to the entire solar system. Why is Ezabrae there? How did she become a cyborg? How could she possibly help Taren? Why would she? Is she going to be Taren's new love interest? Why am I asking you all these questions when I already know the answers?
To quote Gonzo from A Muppet's Christmas Carol, "It's for dramatic emphasis." ;D
I have to say, out of all three of The Andromeda Chronicles books, this one is my favorite. Don't get me wrong; I had fun writing all of them. It's just that book one was my first attempt at writing science fiction. I was riddled with self-doubt, constantly doing research to be sure I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. It was also my first time writing an entire book from a guy's perspective--from a character I was basing off of a real person too!--so I felt a lot of pressure to make it good, authentic, and fun. It was the first time that writing a book actually felt like work! Book three was my problem child. I had a vague idea of where I wanted the book to go. I had key scenes already written out and I knew who I wanted the bad guy to be. But I had a heck of a time tying up all my loose ends. Plus, about halfway through, I changed my mind and tried to make a completely random character the bad guy which changed the trajectory of the story completely. (My beta reader was NOT happy and in the end I decided that my first villain was better so the book was saved! It just meant I had to do more work to undo all of the crap I threw in there at the last minute...Lesson learned, right? Your first instinct is always the best, at least when it comes to story telling.) Plus, I was working on a deadline so that kind of sucked the joy out of writing book three.
But book two was a breeze. I wrote the whole thing in six months and was done with edits after about two months. It was probably because I wrote it primarily from the perspective of three females (lol) but also because I had the whole thing mapped out in my head beforehand. Planning helps...sometimes...Writing is weird! But I wouldn't give it up for anything.
Thanks for bearing with me through this rambling session. I hope I got you guys at least a little excited for my upcoming release. It's available for pre-order right now at all of your favorite online stores. Check out the link if you're interested: https://www.bhcpress.com/Books_Fox_Andromedas_Captain.html
I'd love to hear what you guys thought after you read the book. You can comment here on this blog or leave a review on any of the vendor sights. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Catch you later and, as always, thanks for reading. :)