Tag: first contact

Is Gunslinger to Earth for You?

Gunslinger to Earth is a character-driven space opera adventure about crossing a cosmic no-man’s-land to discover what happened to the home you thought was lost forever. It blends gunslinger-style starship action, found-family dynamics, political revolution, and end-times mystery as Rex Carter, Sam Kletchka, and Jane Kletchka risk everything to follow Earth into an impossible anomaly. It’s a fast, hopeful, and surprisingly tender finale that wraps up the Gunslinger Trilogy with both high stakes and a genuine sense of homecoming.

What Kind of Reader Will Love This Book?

If you love…

  • Space opera that feels like Firefly meets end-times science fiction, with a gunslinger pilot, a loyal found family, and a war-torn galaxy trying to pull them apart
  • Stories where faith, prophecy, and cosmic mystery actually matter to the plot, not just as window dressing
  • Coming-of-age under fire, as Rex Carter tries to decide who he is and where he belongs while revolutions, wormholes, and vanished planets rearrange the map of human history
  • Character-focused military SF with moral clarity, loyalty, and hope, rather than grimdark cynicism

…then Gunslinger to Earth is probably your kind of story.

What You’ll Find Inside

Gunslinger to Earth is a story rooted in space opera adventure, end-times science fiction, and prophecy-driven mystery. The hero of this third book in the trilogy is Rex Carter, a cadet still reeling from the day Earth and Luna vanished into an impossible anomaly. Torn between his patriot girlfriend Charlotte, his loyalty to Sam and Jane, and his fear for his family back home, Rex has to grow up fast as he’s swept into a mission to follow Earth across the “world-bridge” and find out what really happened.

The mood balances tense, boots-on-the-deck action (derelict ghost ships in the anomaly, desperate battles near wormholes, claustrophobic escapes from Luna) with a deep, almost awe-struck sense of wonder as the crew finally confronts a transformed Earth and the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The style is fast-paced, voice-driven, and accessible—more “frontier adventure with big ideas” than hard-science textbook—with a strong throughline of family, faith, and the search for home.

What Makes It Different

Fans of classic space opera and military SF—think Firefly, The Expanse, or David Weber—will recognize the starship battles, political tensions, and ragtag crews, but Gunslinger to Earth takes those ideas in a very different direction. Instead of treating religion and prophecy as background flavor, this book leans straight into them: the disappearance of Earth isn’t just a physics problem, it’s tied to the City of Enoch, the fulfillment of Latter-day Saint-style millennial prophecies, and a literal “new Earth” where history has turned a corner.

Where many space war stories focus on winning the next battle or installing the next regime, this one asks what happens when the war is suddenly dwarfed by something much bigger—when the homeworld itself is renewed and taken off the game board. It’s less about toppling empires and more about how ordinary, stubbornly decent people respond when God, history, and politics all collide at once. And because it’s the capstone of the Gunslinger Trilogy, it doesn’t just raise the stakes; it actually lands them with a clear, hopeful ending.

Readers who enjoy the moral backbone of Lois McMaster Bujold, the frontier grit of Firefly, and the cosmic mystery of The Expanse will find familiar elements here—but woven together in a way that feels genuinely new.

What You Won’t Find

You won’t find grimdark nihilism, graphic sex, or wall-to-wall gore here. The story has violence, war, and real loss—this is a revolution and an end-times crisis, after all—but it’s written at about a PG-13 level, with the camera panning away from anything needlessly explicit. You also won’t find a sneering, anti-religious tone; faith and prophecy are treated respectfully and sincerely, even when characters struggle to believe them. This is a cleaner-but-still-intense sci-fi adventure that focuses more on meaning, loyalty, and wonder than shock value.

Why I Think You Might Love It

I wrote Gunslinger to Earth during a major turning point in my own life—just after I started dating the woman who would become my wife, at a time when I was reinventing my writing process so I could tell better stories more consistently. In a lot of ways, this book is about that same kind of turning point on a galactic scale: the moment when old patterns break, a long-promised future finally arrives, and you have to decide who you’re going to be on the other side of it. My hope is that if you care about loyalty, about home, about the possibility that history is going somewhere meaningful, then this story will leave you with the same feeling it gave me while I was writing it: that even in the middle of chaos, there’s a way through—and it leads somewhere worth fighting for.

Where to Get the Book

Related Posts and Pages

Explore the series index for the Gunslinger Trilogy.

Return to the book page for Gunslinger to Earth.

The Choice to Believe in Gunslinger to Earth.

See all of my books in series order.

Is Gunslinger to the Galaxy for You?

Gunslinger to the Galaxy is a character-driven space opera about two gunslingers and the interstellar war that forces them to risk everything for Earth. It’s a fast-paced space-opera adventure told through the sharp, heartfelt, often hilarious voice of Jane Kletchka—a xenolinguist newly married to a mercenary gunslinger whose moral stubbornness keeps getting them both into trouble. This is a story about love, loyalty, danger, and the terrifying size of the galaxy when everything collapses at once. Expect a cinematic blend of military sci-fi, first-contact intrigue, and found-family courage.

What Kind of Reader Will Love This Book?

If you like…

  • Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet
  • Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga
  • Character-driven space opera where the heart of the story is a loyal crew that refuses to quit
  • Western-flavored sci-fi heroes who charge headlong into impossible odds (with big guns and bigger convictions)
  • Xenolinguistics, alien politics, and intergalactic mystery woven into a sweeping adventure
  • Married-couple banter, warm emotional stakes, and a hero/heroine partnership forged in fire
  • High-stakes battles, warp-drive exploration, and cosmic consequences

…then Gunslinger to the Galaxy is absolutely your kind of story.

What You’ll Find Inside

You’ll follow Jane Kletchka, a brilliant xenolinguist, as she returns to Earth with her gunslinger husband Sam—only to be swept into a galactic crisis involving shattered jumpgate networks, Immortal civil wars, refugee swarms, and a catastrophic threat to Sol itself.

The tone blends romantic adventure, military sci-fi tension, and classic space-opera wonder, all grounded by Jane’s warm, honest, often funny narrative voice. Expect tight pacing, big emotional beats, and a story that moves from intimate family moments to galaxy-spanning stakes without missing a beat.

What Makes It Different

Fans of The Expanse, Honor Harrington, or Firefly will recognize the blend of frontier grit, military realism, and cross-species politics—but Gunslinger to the Galaxy takes those ideas in a fresh direction by placing a married couple at the emotional center of the story. Where many space-opera series focus on lone-wolf heroes, this book leans into the dynamics of partnership, trust, and being “equally yoked” in the middle of interstellar chaos. It combines xenolinguistic problem-solving, Immortal cosmic lore, and Western-style gunslinger ethos in a way no other space-opera series does.

What You Won’t Find

This isn’t grimdark, dystopian, or nihilistic sci-fi—there’s hardship and tragedy, but the story is ultimately hopeful, heroic, and rooted in family and faith. There is no gratuitous violence, no graphic romance, and no cynical “everyone is corrupt” worldview. If you’re looking for bleak anti-heroes or hard-SF technobabble at the expense of character, this won’t be the right fit.

Why I Think You Might Love It

At its core, this book is about ordinary people thrown into extraordinary crises who choose—over and over—to do what’s right, even when it costs them everything. Jane and Sam aren’t superheroes; they are a married couple trying to build a life together while the galaxy falls apart around them. Their courage, humor, and stubborn devotion give the story its heartbeat. If you’ve ever wanted a space-opera that delivers big adventure without losing its humanity, Gunslinger to the Galaxy was written for you.

In short, if you’re looking for a hopeful, high-adventure space opera filled with alien civilizations, military sci-fi battles, found-family warmth, and a fiercely devoted married couple, Gunslinger to the Galaxy delivers exactly that.

Where to Get the Book

Related Posts and Pages

Explore the series index for the Gunslinger Trilogy.

Return to the book page for Gunslinger to the Galaxy.

Being Equally Yoked in Gunslinger to the Galaxy

See all of my books in series order.

Moral Courage in Gunslinger to the Stars

What does it mean to do the right thing when the galaxy around you is chaotic, corrupt, or outright absurd? Gunslinger to the Stars takes that question and drops it squarely in the lap of Sam Kletchka—a mercenary gunslinger navigating a dangerous galactic frontier who keeps choosing responsibility even when no one is watching, rewarding, or deserving. At its heart, this space-western adventure is about moral courage: the stubborn, unfashionable insistence on doing the right thing in a universe that rarely makes it easy.

Where the Idea Came From

This theme grew out of a mashup of influences—long conversations with writer friends, a subplot from Schlock Mercenary, and the realization that a “rogue Immortal” character needed a counterweight with a strong personal code. Around the same time, I was watching Breaking Bad, fascinated by characters like Mike Ehrmantraut—tough, pragmatic men who do terrible things for complicated reasons. To push back against such a villainous force, I imagined Sam Kletchka: a gunslinger in a messy, morally gray universe who lives by a code and keeps choosing the harder path simply because it’s right, even when the galaxy doesn’t care.

How Moral Courage Shapes the Story

At every major turning point in Gunslinger to the Stars, Sam Kletchka’s choices are defined by moral courage—the instinct to protect others even when it’s dangerous, inconvenient, or unwinnable. He charges after kidnapped empaths when walking away would be safer; he shields Jane’s diplomatic idealism with his hard-won pragmatism; he survives abandonment in the desert through sheer stubborn responsibility; and he repeatedly throws himself into battles around war rigs, jumpgates, and alien war parties because no one else can or will. His personal code drives the story’s conflicts, shapes the character dynamics, and pushes this space-opera adventure toward a climax where courage isn’t about glory but about doing the right thing in a lawless, unpredictable, morally gray galaxy.

What Moral Courage Says About Us

Sam’s story reflects something deeply human: we don’t get to choose the worlds we’re born into, but we do get to choose what kind of people we become. In a galaxy run by Immortals, riddled with slavers, warlords, and manipulative telepaths, Sam’s personal code becomes his anchor—the thing that keeps him from becoming the very wolf he warns Jane about. His courage isn’t flashy heroism; it’s the uncomfortable, everyday kind that demands sacrifice, loyalty, and integrity when it would be easier to look away. In that sense, the book becomes a mirror for readers who love character-driven science fiction that asks what we stand for when the world pushes back.

Why This Theme Matters to Me

I wrote this book at a very different time in my life—years after Genesis Earth, when my own view of the world had shifted. I still believed in cultural understanding and bridging divides, but I’d also seen enough to know that evil doesn’t always yield to good intentions. Like Sam, I firmly believe in the right to defend oneself and others, and I’ve had long debates about the responsibilities that come with that. I wanted to write a character who lives at the intersection of those values—someone who understands violence, hates it, but won’t walk away when others depend on him. That tension, that conviction, is why moral courage felt like the beating heart of Gunslinger to the Stars.

Where to Get the Book

Related Posts and Pages

Explore the series index for the Gunslinger Trilogy.

Return to the book page for Gunslinger to the Stars.

Discover if Gunslinger to the Stars is for you.

See all of my books in series order.

Is Gunslinger to the Stars for You?

Gunslinger to the Stars is a character-driven space opera novel that blends Western adventure, first-contact science fiction, and pulpy action. It’s fast-paced, voice-driven, and built around a loyal, reluctant hero navigating a dangerous galactic frontier. It’s told in the unmistakable voice of Sam Kletchka—half gunslinger, half star-hopping troubleshooter, and 100% fun.

What Kind of Reader Will Love This Book?

If you like…

  • Classic space adventure with modern voice and humor, where the hero solves problems with grit, guts, and an outrageous arsenal of lovingly described guns
  • Found-family dynamics between a rough-around-the-edges gunslinger, a principled xenolinguist, a telepathic outcast, and a trio of shapeshifting empaths
  • Galaxy-spanning mysteries, alien politics, and first-contact stakes that push characters to their limits
  • The feel of a Western gunslinger dropped straight into a richly imagined galactic frontier

…then Gunslinger to the Stars is absolutely your kind of story.

What You’ll Find Inside

Gunslinger to the Stars (Book 1 of the Gunslinger Trilogy) follows Sam Kletchka, a New Texas gunslinger stranded in the Gorinal Cluster just as the local jumpgate—the only way out—mysteriously goes dark. What starts as a simple job escalates into a battle for survival involving hidden alien races, shape-shifting empaths, worldships, and a rising threat the Immortals never wanted anyone to discover. The tone blends wry humor with escalating danger, and the style is fast-paced, voice-driven, and cinematic—equal parts action romp and big-idea sci-fi. The result is a story that feels both classic and fresh: a pulpy, heartfelt adventure that’s as much about loyalty and moral clarity as it is about space battles and exotic technology.

What Makes It Different

Fans of Firefly and Schlock Mercenary will recognize the snappy banter, the found-crew dynamic, and the blend of humor with high-stakes action. But Gunslinger to the Stars pushes those familiar ingredients in new directions: the gunslinger-as-space-ranger angle gives the book a distinctive American-frontier voice, while the empath culture, the Immortals’ centuries-deep manipulations, and the emergence of the Draxxians create a myth-arc that feels simultaneously expansive and personal. Where many space operas lean on military hierarchy or techno-fetishism, this one leans into character, moral philosophy, and the uneasy tensions between peacekeeping and necessary force—all told through Sam’s dry, self-aware perspective.

This story blends classic space western tropes — the reluctant hero, the ragtag crew, and the dangerous frontier — with a deeper mystery about ancient alien powers. If you enjoy space western stories with a strong first-contact throughline, you’re going to enjoy this book.

What You Won’t Find

If you’re looking for grimdark bleakness, heavy technobabble, or a cynical antihero who never grows, this isn’t that. And if you want romance-heavy sci-fi or endless political intrigue, this book doesn’t go down those roads either. But if you want hopeful, character-focused adventure with humor, heart, and a hero who takes responsibility for his choices—sometimes reluctantly—you’ll feel right at home.

Why I Think You Might Love It

I wrote this story at a time when I needed to shake things up creatively, by writing something fun, energetic, and different from what I had been writing at the time. I was also going through a time when my worldview was changing, and I was questioning a lot of my old assumptions. This book grew out of a number of things: from my conversations with close friends, my love of classic pulp sci-fi, and from the idea of a lone wanderer who tries—however imperfectly—to do the right thing. The result, I believe, was a book with a lot of heart that captures that spark of wonder that made me first fall in love with science fiction. If that’s what you’re looking for, I think you’re going to love it!

Where to Get the Book

Related Posts and Pages

Explore the series index for the Gunslinger Trilogy.

Visit the book page for Gunslinger to the Stars for more details.

Read about moral courage in Gunslinger to the Stars.

See all of my books in series order.

The Loss of Innocence in Edenfall

Edenfall is a young adult first contact science fiction story about a paradise that doesn’t fall to invasion, but awakens to adulthood. Set on an isolated colony world, it blends coming-of-age, alien-world survival, and military first contact, telling a story where the shock isn’t meeting the unknown—it’s realizing that humanity is the unknown.

All of us are born innocent, but none of us can grow up and stay that way. What happens when innocence is shattered by forces beyond our control? Can lost innocence ever be reclaimed—or does the very act of reclaiming it make it something else?

These were my thoughts as I wrote Edenfall. From those seeds grew a story about childhood, family, first contact, coming of age, and the tragedy of how confronting evil forces us to grow up.

Where the Idea Came From

After I wrote Genesis Earth, I knew I wanted to turn it into a trilogy someday. I also knew that Michael and Terra’s idyllic paradise would not remain isolated forever. So I began to ask myself: what would happen when their children—raised entirely outside of human civilization—encounter humanity for the first time, with all of its violence, possessiveness, flaws, and messiness?

As the ideas came together, I realized that I was writing a different kind of first contact story—not a story of discovery, but a first contact science fiction story of intrusion and loss, told through the eyes of a girl who never knew humanity included armies, geopolitics, militarization, or hidden agendas. In other words, I was writing a story about the loss of innocence.

How the Loss of Innocence Shapes the Story

In Edenfall, every choice Estee makes is a response to the forces that ultimately shatter her world. The adults think in terms of strategies, secrets, and keeping their family safe, but Estee and her siblings have no concept of these things. Instead, the children ask themselves things like: why do we have to go away? What are my parents trying to hide? Who are these people, and why do Mommy and Daddy fear them?

Estee’s journey is not merely one of survival, but the collapse of everything she thinks she knows. By the time things get violent, her world has already ended, because contact itself changed the rules of innocence. That tension—between wonder and dread, belonging and displacement—drives every emotional beat of the book.

What the Loss of Innocence Says About Us

We live in a world where children inherit consequences they did not choose for themselves. Edenfall reflects the quiet tragedy of that handoff: that sometimes the most precarious moment in life is not the arrival of the monsters, but the arrival of adults who aren’t immediate members of our family.

All of us lose our innocence at some point in our lives—and once it is lost, we can never gain it back. That is the tragedy of growing up. But even though we cannot reclaim our innocence, we can become pure again—and purity is stronger and more resilient than innocence. As Estee struggles with the trauma of betrayal and violence, she ultimately learns this lesson as well.

Why This Theme Matters to Me

For many years, I tried to write this book but found it just wouldn’t come. Then I became a father, and suddenly everything just clicked. I think a large part of that had to do with this theme of the tragedy of innocence lost, and the importance of family to guide and protect us through that. This was something I couldn’t fully understand until I had gained that life experience, and I think it made the book much richer as a result.

n the end, Edenfall became a young adult science fiction story about first contact, not as a moment of discovery, but as a moment of collision. It is a coming-of-age novel where paradise is not lost through rebellion or choice, but through the arrival of the wider human world—with all of its fear, power, and politics. In many ways, Edenfall is a first contact story where the aliens are us, and growing up means realizing that the universe is bigger, darker, and far more complicated than childhood ever prepared us for.

Where to Get the Book

Related Posts and Pages

Explore the series index for the Genesis Earth Trilogy.

Visit the book page for Genesis Earth for more details.

Find out if Edenfall is for you.

See all of my books in series order.