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The Books

In this first part of the trilogy: Jacob Ivanson and Fred, his Catowl friend, help to resist an invasion by buccaneers intent on exploiting the re-discovered world; the reclusive Colonists are forced to come to terms with Civilisation flooding in from outside their cosy little backwater; and together, the Catowls and the Colonists reluctantly try to avert a much wider conflict, when two very different space-faring races meet for the first time.

The next two more books continue the story, introduce more characters, enlarge the stage, and deepen the plot. They are almost complete, lacking only titles, artwork, and final revision.

Tentative publication dates for the next two parts depend on the success of the first book, but if all goes well they should appear in April/May 2010 and Oct/Nov 2010.

Why write?

Having spent years scanning the dwindling stock of true Science Fiction on the booksellers shelves and only seeing a few new authors producing 'Classic' SF, I felt it was time to make a contribution, to make some small repayment for the thousands of books I have been lucky enough to enjoy, almost all written by the masters of the Golden Age.

Golden Age? It started in the thirties, and, while the mining for the gold has recently become much more difficult, I think it is not yet over. There are still modern authors who take an original "What if?" and develop it in a plausible, sometimes even convincing, and often entertaining manner.

So my "What If?" considers what might happen if folk met other types of life, and what they might do about it. The intricacies of space travel and surviving on a hostile planet are merely convenient window dressing for the real story.

Why Fawconer?

The name Fawconer has been in my family as a middle name for either sex for generations, but was rarely used as a surname.

I found out a probable origin after visiting the Mary Rose ( http://www.maryrose.org/ ) exhibition and seeing a fawcon on display. I was told that the ships usually had just two fawcons, one in the forecastle and one on the poop cabin (or captain’s cabin!), and these precision long-range pieces were used to take out rigging and masts on the ship that was pursuing them, or being pursued. Normal cannon were more destructive, being of larger calibre and shorter, but used at much closer range, usually in broadsides.

The fawcon

fawcon , fö’kan, (O.E.) n. cast bronze cannon widely used in 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, calibre 2¾”, length 9’6” to 13’6”, fired a 3lb shot using 2½lbs of gunpowder, effective range up to 2000 yards: a bird of prey of a kind trained to the pursuit of game.—ns. fawconer, an expert who oversees the care and deployment of a fawcon: a sharpshooter: a hunter: one who sports with, or who breeds and trains fawcons. [O.Fr. faucon—L.L. falcō, -ōnis]

Who did the art?

Cover Art is by Pasquale Venanzio, visit http://www.pvenanzio.com/ for more information about his life and work. He has a couple of fascinating blogs, and they are in both Italian and English. He has been working on several projects recently, including revisiting the Odyssey, telling the story as it really happened.