ROWELIT
Author's Commentary: "Exos: Before the War"
We’ve been to Exos before, sort of. Our poor friend Bartleby, who got stuck on Hahn for nearly two decades after spending a decade just trying to get back to human civilization, only to find the outpost on Hahn bombed out and ransacked, he had a rough go of it in the remains of the Garvin 8 system. I figured it was worth a return under better (albeit) worsening conditions.
Obviously, just like readers and listeners, I have different feelings about every story. I like them all or I wouldn’t put them out there, but some of them I really like. This one grew on me and grew on me as the writing progressed. It feels very complete to me, and very real, so I hope readers and listeners enjoy it.
Almost all of the systems my characters live in have some cylinders as part of the fabric of their civilizations—even around the ringworlds of Athos and Iophos or the ecumenopolis of Hellenia. It’s seems funny, but I’m struggling to think of stories set on one. I know there’s at least one (“Sondomme”), but I think that’s it. So I’m glad this week’s topic came up. It’s possible that the vast majority of humans to ever live will call a space cylinder home, so I definitely needed to set a story on one as the primary setting. I really liked the idea of a vast aperture, so we made sure our characters gathered there, as they would in a real-life cylinder. And I really wanted that look on the thumbnail!
I’m finding it extremely interesting to explore the many facets of the West Battery War, as well. I think this is story 8 in the W.B.W. series, and they all have a very different feel to them. The one aspect I think is really missing is a serious look at the Trasp, because they may be getting a bad rap by way of the perspectives these stories have taken up. There are other perspectives. The question is when the topics will mesh right to put those stories on the schedule.
Look for another episode of Rowe Writes this upcoming week, based on last week’s story “Lost on Port Cullen.” Tolstoy’s two master stories comes to mind, as we’ll be discussing the Quest narrative.
And of course, we’ll be venturing out into the galaxy again. Hope you’ll join us!
Rowe