Astronomical

by K.G. Bethlehem

The year is 2025; Colonel Harrison is given a simple mission to discover potential allies to aid against a potential war from the Nexus Jor and to find the missing vessel of Captain Delcid that was sent out years ago on the exact same mission. But what Colonel Harrison does not know is that this mission will encounter life forms and technologies that are well beyond his comprehension. is the entire world is section off into two major provinces; the first being the United States of Western Lands (USW). Consequently, as Colonel Harrison is dealing with the impending war in outer space and an underground resistance movement on Earth is taking place led by a former X-Policeman named Mury Te. As his plight was shown by a mission too guided by gaining allies in different cities across the mainland, his mission for the TRUTH will have an eerie similar fate like Colonel Harrison with unknown results.

434 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2014

Reviews

[Ray Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astronomical by K.G. Bethlehem is a science-fiction story of the not too distant future. The action takes place in our solar system, which makes sense to me, because the solar system is huge and should be mapped, explored and settled before we attempt travel to and colonization of other star systems. Too many writers forget to build a believable community right here in our system and go straight to interstellar travel. K.G. Bethlehem doesn't make that mistake. There is a believable solar community in Astronomical and it is held together by military might. In fact, the story starts when Colonel Robert Harrison and his friend and second in command Lt. William Greer get a mission to the outer barrier. I love that this is a believable complex society with its roots shown to be in today’s world.

Astronomical is fun, action oriented, well thought out space opera. It is character driven and those characters are complex and very interesting. Colonel Harrison is prone to nightmares and this makes for some interesting scenes. He is a seasoned veteran of the Core, the military branch of the government and he has been given a rather vague mission: Proceed through the outer edge. Explore, make contact, and come back. Once the mission starts the story moves swiftly. It is almost like watching a good TV series. K.G. Bethlehem is a very visually orientated writer and I think it helps move the story along. Astronomical is a good story with great characters. I look forward to seeing more of this world and these characters.