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The Cosmic Codex

By: Brian Scott Pauls
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  • Living in a science fiction universe...

    www.thecosmiccodex.com
    Brian Scott Pauls
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  • "Probability Amplitudes" has a new cover

    "Probability Amplitudes" has a new cover
    Apr 26 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in April and May, Free Sci-Fi and Fantasy.Check out nearly 75 books available for free.My latest novelette, “Long Night On the Endless City,” appears in Boundary Shock Quarterly 26: Tomorrow’s Crimes:On the vast ring habitat Ouroboros, Jel and her synthetic companion Marcus search for Arja, the third member of their triad. This quest leads them to a cryptic technology cult with questionable motives. When they suffer a vicious attack, Marcus and Jel join forces with one of Ouroboros’most renowned computer and robotics experts to get to the bottom of the mystery.This thought-provoking sf tale explores artificial intelligence, religion, and the ties that bind families together in a fast-paced story full of action, intrigue, and heart.Get your FREE copy of The Great Asteroid TheftA Star Lawyers Series PrequelThe Great Asteroid Theft – Murder, conspiracy, clash of rival star nations over vast wealth from mining asteroids. And sizzling romance on the frontier world of Olathe-5.Alien claim-jumpers are robbing asteroid miners of their hard-won discoveries in the vast, four-belted Olathe System. These pirates are carting off high value ores while officials of the Terran Commonwealth take bribes to look the other way.Meet young attorneys Tyler and J.B. Matthews long before they launched Star Lawyers Corporation. You’ll also encounter the spicy East Indian Lieutenant Varuna Singh, attorney with the Energy Consortium who teams up with the Matthews brothers to stop the Great Asteroid Theft.The Star Lawyers series starts at Olathe-5. Be there when Tyler and J.B. launch their careers in this 32nd century, crime and punishment legal thriller.I’m a visual thinker. Pictorial representations of my work serve as both an inspiration and a motivation to write.In previous posts about my upcoming collection, Probability Amplitudes, I’ve used the following image of the cover:I purchased this image in 2021, when I first began working on my first collection in earnest. I saw it available online and grabbed it before someone else did. I also wanted to see what my as-yet-nonexistent book would look like. Seeing it helped me believe I could do it.Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Since then, the length of Probability Amplitudes has increased, both in overall word count and the number of stories. This calls for a change in the subtitle. As any modification requires me to go back to the cover creator and pay a change fee, I’ve been holding off until I’m certain how many stories the book will contain.In the meantime, three years have passed. Tastes change. Even when I bought this cover, the image may have been on the outer edge of what the market preferred. Now I’m concerned it may be completely out-of-date.While I’ve been working on my stories, I’ve also been experimenting with artificial intelligence tools. These include Midjourney, which I use to create digital illustrations for The Cosmic Codex.Thank you for reading The Cosmic Codex. This post is public so feel free to share it.I realized with Midjourney and an affordable BookBrush subscription, I could make custom book covers using BookBrush’s cover creation tool. I tried it, and was more impressed with the fonts available from BookBrush than I had been with those on the cover I bought. I also felt Midjourney did a respectable job producing a background image, allowing me to specify elements I liked about the purchased cover. And if I change my mind, I can create new mock-ups myself, whenever I want.See the result below:When I shared both covers with a few prospective readers, asking which they preferred, sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the new cover. I plan to use it for the book when I’m ready to publish.As far as that goes, I’ve made a little progress chipping away at the amount of new material required. It’s down to 46% (from 47%) of the anticipated 160,000 words. But I noticed I had mis-categorized some material as “Final Draft” which was really “First Draft.” I’ve corrected this in the following chart:I still have long way to go, but I’m encouraged by what I’ve accomplished so far. The end is in sight.See below for links to three short stories (and the excerpt of another) which I plan to include in Probability Amplitudes.Short Stories* “The Play of Light In the Present Moment”* ”Critical Impact Vulnerabilities”* ”Chthonic Echoes”Excerpt* Long Night On the Endless CityQuestions or comments? Please share your thoughts! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thecosmiccodex.com
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    3 mins
  • An illustrious career in science fiction publishing

    An illustrious career in science fiction publishing
    Apr 20 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in April and May, Free Sci-Fi and Fantasy.Check out nearly 75 books available for free.My latest novelette, “Long Night On the Endless City,” appears in Boundary Shock Quarterly 26: Tomorrow’s Crimes:On the vast ring habitat Ouroboros, Jel and her synthetic companion Marcus search for Arja, the third member of their triad. This quest leads them to a cryptic technology cult with questionable motives. When they suffer a vicious attack, Marcus and Jel join forces with one of Ouroboros’most renowned computer and robotics experts to get to the bottom of the mystery.This thought-provoking sf tale explores artificial intelligence, religion, and the ties that bind families together in a fast-paced story full of action, intrigue, and heart.A reluctant thief. A caring robot. A death that changes everything.Get your FREE copy of Neuracode - Part 1 by Eris Goode and Kris Ruhler.QUINN wants nothing more than to live a normal life after being rescued from the New Realm station. But when he and his eccentric friend Hana encounter Cass, he finds himself dragged into countless daring schemes.Normal is no longer an option.And with their most ambitious job on the horizon, the stakes are higher than ever. They’ll need to pull out all the stops—their lives depend on it.TSUKI is a special PAC—Personal Assistant and Care—bot. Her unique personality chip allows her to experience the intricacies of life, including a wide spectrum of emotions.Humanity is hers to embrace.Through painting and taking care of her friends, Tsuki enjoys her life on the New Realm station. But she’s about to discover everything she thought she knew about humanity is wrong. So very wrong.Neuracode: Part I is the first half of the prequel to Project Juniper, a thrilling YA/NA cyberpunk series written by Eris Goode.Like millions of other science fiction readers, and thousands of science fiction writers, I found my view of the sf genre profoundly affected by Robert A. Heinlein. Throughout junior high and high school, the compelling characters and convincing science in his juveniles defined well-written, believable science fiction for me.Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.First the idea, then the reality of space travel inspired Heinlein’s writing. Unlike much of his work for adults, many of the juveniles were set within the Solar System. It didn’t matter they were already 30 years old when I read them. Heinlein described a future in which I wanted to live, and made it seem possible.In 2003, the Heinlein Society created the Robert A. Heinlein Award “[f]or outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space.” The Baltimore Science Fiction Society presents the award each year.Tom Doherty, founder of Tor Books, is the winner of the 2024 Robert A. Heinlein Award, “…in recognition of Mr. Doherty’s work in bringing the inspiring books of hundreds of authors writing about our future in Space [sic] to public awareness.”Thank you for reading The Cosmic Codex. This post is public so feel free to share it.Doherty was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1935. He majored in chemical engineering and philosophy at Hartford’s Trinity College. Following service in the Army, Doherty entered the publishing field as a sales representative. He worked for a number of publishers, including Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster.In 1980, Doherty founded Tom Doherty Associates Inc. and began to publish using the imprint “Tor Books.” With Jim Baen and Dick Gallen, he spun off Baen Books in 1983. Finding Tor’s growth constrained, Doherty sold the company to a subsidiary of Macmillan in 1987.Today, Tor is a major publisher of science fiction and fantasy, claiming the status of “…the world’s premier publisher of novella-length…” works in these genres.The Baltimore Science Fiction Society will formally present Doherty with this year’s Robert A. Heinlein Award at Balticon 58 on Friday, May 24.Questions or comments? Please share your thoughts! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thecosmiccodex.com
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    3 mins
  • "Long Night On the Endless City"

    "Long Night On the Endless City"
    Apr 3 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in March and April, Page Turner Freebies.Check out nearly 65 books available for free.Can Brodia slip into the enemy’s stronghold without risking her daughter’s life?Get your FREE sample of Withered Wizard by Kevin P. HallettGrab a sample of the sixth book in the series.After the Defenders of Vosj split up, Grand Wizard Preem goes south to create diversions to entice the count from his stronghold. Meanwhile Jisana starts a rebellion in the realm’s capital in the hope the enemy won’t see Brodia slinking toward their headquarters. But the crippled grand wizard sees enough and sets his own plans to eliminate the last of his enemies.Like any mother, Brodia is determined to protect her five-year-old daughter, Tresela. Unlike other mother’s, Brodia is a Defender and must risk all to win freedom for her people. But protecting Tresela will put her in greater danger where she could lose her ability to perform magic.In my own fiction, I enjoy examining themes such as artificial intelligence, life in the future, religion, and the human condition. I bring all these together in “Long Night On the Endless City,” my latest novelette, available in Boundary Shock Quarterly 26:On the vast ring habitat Ouroboros, Jel and her synthetic companion Marcus search for Arja, the third member of their triad. This quest leads them to a cryptic technology cult with questionable motives. When they suffer a vicious attack, Marcus and Jel join forces with one of Ouroboros’ most renowned computer and robotics experts to get to the bottom of the mystery.This thought-provoking sf tale explores artificial intelligence, religion, and the ties that bind families together in a fast-paced story full of action, intrigue, and heart.Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Here’s an excerpt:“Long Night On the Endless City”by Brian Scott PaulsStudy others to discern why they do what they do, but first study yourself for the same reason.—Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations”Ouroboros was well-named. It encircled the world. It was the world.The City stretched out before Jel, into what passed for night here. She couldn’t call it “dark,” not when compared with a moonless night on the far side of her homeworld, Callisto. But “bright” didn’t fit either, compared to what the City’s day must be like. “Dim” seemed to be the best word. It might be dimmer than twilight on Terra. Although she’d never been there and couldn’t know for sure.It was dim enough that the Ouroborans used artificial illumination at night.A broad swath of lights ran ahead of her. Close at hand, she saw the fixed points of windows, and the moving fireflies of traffic in the air and on the ground. Degree by degree, the brilliant strip narrowed with perspective as it gained elevation. In the far distance, it arced up to meet the terminator, where night ceased.Once in sunlight, the ring’s true glory became visible. Jel gazed upon a blue-green-brown ribbon of water, vegetation, and land. It spanned a width of four hundred kilometers from edge to edge. The City proper, a glittering band of diamond and titanium, ran down its exact center. This colossal structure looped up to an apex over four million kilometers away. There it bent back over her head and descended. It appeared to widen as it approached. The details of mountains and seas grew more clear as the distance decreased. The reflected sunlight shone brighter than hundreds of moons. Close to her, the ring dropped into light-spangled night once more, joining itself where she stood. Far off to her left and right, she saw the unbroken lines of the walls, two hundred kilometers away in each direction. Vast swaths of cropland and wilderness separated them from the buildings of the City. They rose 100 kilometers, higher than the air itself, holding in the sky. Constructing Ouroboros had required many scientific and engineering breakthroughs. No individual understood everything necessary to keep it functioning.Thank you for reading The Cosmic Codex. This post is public so feel free to share it.Jel wished she could see Terra, 60 degrees behind the City, in the same orbit. But at the moment it was “beneath” her, hidden by the ring on which she stood.Trillions lived here. Legend said if you wanted to find something in Sol system, you could find it on the Endless City.Somewhere within this mass of buildings and people, she would find Arja. And answers.“Jel.”The message broke through her reverie.“Hi Marcus. Need something?” She’d come up here to be alone, but the synth was the only partner she had left. They had to take care of each other.“My apologies, Jel,” it responded. “A gentleman has come to our suite. He claims to know Arja’s whereabouts and wants to talk with us.”“Who is it?”“He’s refusing to give his name.”Rend it. What in all the hells?“I'll be...
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    11 mins
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