Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #13 April 2015 | Page 24

banking capital of New Sparta, to the knock-off
gang-infested world of Babylon, from the superficially civilised Brannan’s World to the Xter-dominated
frontier world of Leesa’s childhood, Liaise. I loved
the interplay between the characters and the wealth
of secrets hidden by so many of them. I loved writing the wise-cracking Mudball and hinting at his
real intentions, and I loved thinking up the different
wonders found in the cache chamber and writing the
action sequence that occurs towards the book’s finale… Most of all, I think I enjoyed taking established
SF tropes such as alien caches bootstrapping humanity
to the stars and turning them on their heads. Yes, I
really have had fun writing this one, and look forward
to continuing the story.

In one sentence what’s your second best piece
of advice for writers? (since I have your first
best in the last interview)
Hey, that’s unfair, I cheated last time and actually
gave you two because I couldn’t choose between them
(don’t take rejection personally and join a writers’
group). Okay, something new… Write short stories.
Even if your real ambition and focus is the novel,
you’ll gain so much from mastering the shorter form
– in a short story you have to establish character and
setting in a few deft sentences as opposed to doing so
over the course of chapters – that sort of discipline,
that ability to make very word count, will stand you in
good stead whatever you then go on to write.
Many thanks to Ian for taking the time to provide
answers
The BRSBKBLOG review:
Take an ensemble cast in a Fireflyesque small trading
ship, add a dash of secret backgrounds, a banker, an
alien and a treasure cache. Stir gently with memorable
characters and locations. Add a dash of wisecracking
language and what you end up with is a highly entertaining space opera. Mr Whates obviously had a great
deal of fun whilst writing this and it’s bound to rub
off on you when you read it. It left me wanting more,
which is the point of a first in a series isn’t it?

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I wanted more of the mysterious aliens that left behind
a treasure cache and note that there is the promise of
revelations in the future with keen anticipation. The
universe building is deftly done and this is a tightly
plotted book. My only, very minor, grumble was with
the treasure cache itself. I would have liked to have
seen more made of it, both in the heist part itself and
in the possibilities of the treasures.
Really looking forward to the next one!
Overall - Highly entertaining space opera.