Oliver Davis Pike's Blog

We are migrating some of the old post to the new place and it will shortly be operations, though viewable right now. The new ODP site/blog may be found at: https://odpike.blogspot.com/

As we said before, this site will stay up for a while, but there will be no new content. Any of that will go to the new site.

It is our intention to close down this blog and move Oliver Davis Pike to a different platform. This has nothing to do with WordPress (or any recent controversies); we were quite satisfied with this site and grateful for the free hosting. This move will simply allow us to streamline our operation and delete the number of accounts we maintain. The new address will be announced here when ready, and this site will remain up for a while.

In the mean time, of course, OD continues work on new fiction for all of you.

I opened the first Jack Mack novel, ‘Among the Many Stars,’ with Jack McFee making jumps from system to system in a highly modified McFee W-4A. This was a very small vessel to be fitted with a jump drive and a great many compromises had to be made to jam in both the drive element and an array of surveillance equipment.

The W-4, in any of its iterations, was never intended to be a jump ship. Jack’s machine may well have been the only one ever converted! Nor was the earlier W-2B from which it, in part, derived. The W-2C was another matter, a bit larger vessel which was designed with an eye to possible jump drive installation.

Not that most were. W-2Cs mostly served as medium fighters and the mass of a jump element would have seriously impacted their performance. A handful were equipped, however, some serving as jump-couriers and some as trainers. A number of early C-types, fitted with the relatively low-performance Riley-Thule twelve-tube engine, served as the core of the jump school operated from Fundy Station.

I mentioned jump-couriers. This was the most common use of lighter machines fitted with jump drives—to be relatively quick couriers from system to system. Most were a bit larger that the W-2C. Among McFee machines that would include W-6s and W-9s, both multi-engine types. We have Jack being conveyed home from Oz Station in a W-9 in ‘Among.’ These machines were rarely used in combat with jump drives. Again, the extra mass involved would have seriously impaired their effectiveness. Most jump ships were quite a bit larger.

Jack’s Nativ spy ship is another matter. It is not particularly large and certainly doesn’t have a lot of power. Performance-wise, it is the proverbial dog. But its role is to jump into systems to conduct long-range surveillance patrols. It is most certainly unsuited to any sort of combat.

The bulk of combat vessels that were fitted with jump drives were carriers, with complements of smaller, non-jumping machines. This was generally the most effective approach. Larger cruisers were also fitted out to jump, being too heavy for use with carriers, for the most part. There was always some compromise in performance with the mass of a jump element but that was less noticeable with larger ships.

I may drop Jack into a new jump ship for the next Jack Mack novel, essentially a customized civil ship suited for a post-war spy. And his AI buddy ‘M’ may just be moved from the Nativ to accompany him on his missions.

We—meaning me and Arachis Press—have decided to remove our print novels from general distribution. They will, of course, remain available at the AP store (https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/arachispress). This allows much lower pricing, a third to a half less than books purchased through various online retailers. We never expected physical bookstores to carry them, of course, though in theory they could have ordered copies for their customers. Here are links for the three current novels (or one may find them at the Arachis Press site (arachispress.com):

Alienese: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/alienese/paperback/product-1z7mwy65.html

Among the Many Worlds: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/among-the-many-worlds/paperback/product-gz2zpp.html

Jumping Jack: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/jumping-jack/paperback/product-vpkm84.html

The ebooks (EPUB and PDF) remain free downloads at Arachis Press. There will also continue to be regular discounts, posted at the Arachis Press blog (https://arachispress.blogspot.com/).

The ‘thrust tube’ has been the primary form of engine used in space craft in my Jack Mack novels. I have gone into very little detail of how they work, nor is it necessary to know. A bit of information is dropped here and there, such as that their workings are related to the super-heavy element technology used in many roles, or that their fuel is ‘inert,’ and that there are gravity fields involved. I am unlikely to go into any of it much deeper, but may drop the occasional detail. That’s how we make it more real.

By making my lead character a bit of a technophobe, I have an excuse not to say too much, anyway. I did mention that ion drives were still used by freighters that did not require a more sophisticated—and costly—propulsion system.

The simplest form of thrust tube is the steady-tube, commonly referred to as an onoff. In other words, it is either on, delivering full power, or off. This certainly can work but is far from ideal for most craft. Onoffs are most typically used for large freighters, typically with an array of tubes that can be sequentially switched. They are also used for small-scale propulsion at times, hand-held devices, probes, couriers, even torpedoes.

If the steady tube is switched on and off rapidly it becomes, in essence, a pulse-tube. A truly practical pulse-tube was a goal that had only been achieved shortly before the period when the Jack Mack stories are set. More on that, but first, the variable-tube, or varitube.

The varitube was the go-to drive for most craft for some some centuries. It allowed power to be increased or decreased smoothly, by varying fuel supply (using the term ‘fuel’ very loosely here). This was not as efficient as an onoff, nor did it allow the same power to be generated. However, it was the best choice available. Varitubes continued to be used in many roles, especially civil craft, air cars, and so on. They were also favored by some for maneuvering tubes in craft with pulse-tube main drives.

Why for maneuvering tubes? Because these were often a single tube, and prone to the vibration problems that had hindered pulse-tube development. The best solution for some time was to attempt to synchronize multiple-tube engines to cancel out the vibrations. Some large ships used big arrays of small pulse-tubes that allowed random firing to even things out. These solutions worked, in their fashion, but were not suited to a typical small craft.

So along came Davi Jager, an engineer and inventor in the Corvan sphere, who developed a new pulse-tube design, capable of operating nearly as smoothly as a varitube. Its operation was more efficient; simply increasing the speed of its on-off cycle allowed it to work at its ideal fuel ratio at all times. In conjunction with the Nativ company, Jager founded Corvanaut, and his design—and those based on it—soon spread through human space. With small improvements, to be sure, but his was the big step forward.

Multi-tube engines still tended to be favored for dampening vibration, but the new pulse-tubes were quite usable in single and double tube engines. We have the Riley engines built by the McFee Concern using this technology. Indeed, pretty much every military ship mentioned in the novels has pulse-tubes. Those I might explore some other time.

None of this is the sort of thing I’m likely to explain in any detail in the books. An occasional hint is enough. But I might drop in a bit of this world building here, now and again. I might even explain why one can safely stand behind a thrust tube. 

As I do not think I have mentioned it here previously, I shall now: all my books are available as free downloads in EPUB and PDF formats at the download page at the Arachis Press site (arachispress.com). The work of fellow Arachis authors Sienna Santerre and Stephen Brooke are there as well, along with some other freebies.

All the books remain for sale in print editions. Obviously, we couldn’t give those away! And they remain copyrighted work. Maybe on the distant day (we hope it its distant) I kick the bucket, I’ll let them move to a Creative Commons license, but for now all rights are retained. Download and read what you will, and feel free to pass copies (or the link) to others, as long as you don’t charge or remove copyright information or, basically, change anything. And reviews and other ways of spreading the word are always welcome. The books were written to be read.

All three of my novels (Alienese, Among the Many Worlds, Jumping Jack) are now out in revised editions. There was not a great deal of change to any of them, some typos fixed and that sort of thing. The print versions are now up at the Arachis Press site (arachispress.com) and at our store at our distributor. They will reach retailers eventually; how long is always a guess!

The other news is that we have decided to make the ebook versions (EPUB and PDF) free. They may be downloaded directly from Arachis Press. If you like the digital versions, consider purchasing the print (or merchandise from our Peanut Road Emporium).

Here is a somewhat simple physical map of Jack McFee’s home world, Scotia. Scotia is the only planet I’ve described in any detail in the two Jack Mack novels (Among the Many Worlds, Jumping Jack). I may work up some other view of the planet eventually (or other worlds, if and when he visits them).

This particular map was generated in a map-making program though I prefer to draw my maps, whether with pen or a graphic programs.

I do not write ‘hard’ science fiction but I attempt to write plausible science fiction. That works best if I remain somewhat vague on details; that is, the more we attempt to explain things, the more likely we are to be wrong!

When Jack McFee claims his sidearm is constructed of a ‘carbon-beryllium matrix,’ it is a meaningless statement of itself. I give no further explanation as to what that entails but Jack does make an offhand assertion that it is difficult-to-impossible for sensors to pick up. All that is plausible if I don’t go further and attempt pseudo-scientific explanations.

Similarly with the various ships’ drives: I name some that are known today (such as ion drives) but only in passing as propulsion units no longer in wide use or only for specialized applications. But I do not explain at all the ‘thrust tubes’ that power most craft (including air-cars). Even while pointing out they come in more than one version, pulse-tubes and so on, and attempting to give a very rudimentary idea of what the differences are. I will probably never give any sort of details on the science behind the thrust tube, though there is information in my notes that may fill out my readers’ understanding in future books (as much of the technology I allude to in the novels, it is based on the use of ultra-heavy elements). They do not really need to know more, of course, but most SF readers like a little detail in their world-building.

Nor do I give any explanation of jump-drives, other than some quantum cliches and the suggestion that my folk of the future don’t completely understand the mechanisms themselves. At least, there does seem to be science involved, though the human mind also plays a part (though it’s not teleportation purely by thought, as in ‘Alienese’).

The best way to make science fiction—or any fiction, for that matter—plausible is to be consistent. Have reasonably clear-cut rules and stick to them. That I do attempt. I do fairly fully-realized world-building, both before and as I write, and if things do not fit, I will probably change the story before the rules. Definitely if the rules have already been stated in a previous book in a series.

As far as hard science-fiction goes, I’m doubting I’ll ever write any, under this name or another. I’m no scientist, though knowledgeable enough—at least about things that interest me.

Here are links to JUMPING JACK at the Arachis Press store. This is my second Jack Mack science fiction novel, official release date February 25, 2023. The print edition should be available from retailers everywhere.

print: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/jumping-jack/paperback/product-vpkm84.html

epub: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/jumping-jack/ebook/product-qpqpmw.html

pdf: https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/jumping-jack/ebook/product-9g7wpn.html