Patrick G Cox

I guess one thing the Coronavirus (Corvid-19) is teaching us is that the more we get around, the more likely we are to encounter something we have no natural resistance to. This has been a major theme for science fiction writers for years. A quick glance at Wikipedia's list of disaster and "end of the world" fiction in books, television and film gives a good overview. I think the first such story I read must have been War of the Worlds by H G Wells, the twist there being that the technologically superior…

There are a range of opinions on that question! in the years I was growing up a great deal of science fiction was in the dystopian field (a lot still is!), and it certainly influenced some of us. Like the 'western' genre it often promoted the lone hero who triumphs through determination, ability and courage. It certainly has a huge influence on those who still follow that idealised view. There is certainly some evidence to suggest that certain types of story do colour our view of the world, though perhaps…

Science fiction is a curious genre in many ways. Thinking back to some of the books and authors that introduced me to the science fiction field, it often strikes me how much of what they wrote was impractical or simply outside the realms of physics. Among those is one story which centred around a ship propelled by light, and others that envisaged rocket propulsion systems. Others, notably Asimov, Heinlein, Vonnegut, built on the science then available. Unsurprisingly many of the things they wrote about…

With climate change so much in everyone's mind it seems appropriate to examine a few ideas on how humanity might end up having to think about our future habitations on our world. As you would expect, writing Science Fiction a writer needs to give the way humans might need to live on a different world a lot of thought. Personally I think we are a very long way from being able to "terraform" another world to fit our rather specialised needs, so, how would we adapt? What would we be realistically able to do…

Being an author is an interesting, and sometimes challenging, mix. You're constantly having to juggle ideas for your next book(s), identify the research, market your existing catalogue and find space to actually write something. This is true whether you're published by a 'traditional' publisher, or an 'independent'. It is up to the author to make sure the story hangs together, that the background research is sound, and, of course, the written word is going to hold your reader's attention. I find that once…

Part of the fun of writing science fiction is imagining what other life forms might look like, how and why they may have evolved that way, and what impact space travel would have on humans. Homo Sapiens Sapiens has evolved to suit the conditions of our environment on this particular planet. We breath an atmosphere that is mostly Nitrogen, with around 20% Oxygen. We can't survive in an atmosphere where the Oxygen level is below around 12%, and if it goes much higher than around 23% we're in trouble as…

It really is a great pleasure to announce that Harry Heron: Into the Unknown is now released as an Audiobook by Findaway Voices. It is now onsale through Amazon's Audible, Apple and many more. Lee Beddow of Abbeysound did the narration and recording, and it has turned into a stunner. Click on the image below for a sample ...

The Audiobook version of Harry Heron: Into the Unknown is now complete. It is being distributed by Findaway Voices, and will be available from some twenty-four different outlets including Audible, Apple, AudiobooksNZ, Beek, Chirp and many more. I will endeavor to post links to them as an when they go 'live'. In the meantime here is a small 'sample' clip ...

I'm doing some serious rebuilding of this website at present, so I hope you will bear with me if things don't work quite as smoothly as they should. Part of the process is to reorient this website so that it is entirely focused on the Harry Heron Series. To this end I have set up a separate site as Saints, Sinners and Survivors to showcase my other books, which are not in the genre of Science Fiction. Do take a look, and let me know what you think of the new layout and look.

As with all things, it takes…

Working on getting my websites sorted out reminds me how little I know about programming, marketing, and the clever things like key words, search engines, etc., etc. The general idea is to have two, one for my Harry Heron Adventure Series (this one) and the other for my books that are set in historical or contemporary settings. So, after a lot of running into odd little tricks and problems, I think I now have a reasonably presentable website set up titled Saints, Sinners and Survivors. There's a fair bit…