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The Galactican Series #1
SpaceCorp
2070 AD—The dire prophecies of the Kessler Syndrome have rendered Low Earth Orbit non-viable for conventional satellites. SpaceCorp has solved the problem with giant ring-shaped space stations that protect their payload instruments while housing a large human crew to affect the continuous repairs needed to keep the stations in orbit. But the people of SpaceCorp dream of one day living among the stars. This is the first of the Galactican Series where SpaceCorp moves to LEO. Future books will take them to CisLuna, Mars, the Main Belt Asteroids, the Jovian and Saturnian moons, the Trans Neptunian region, Alpha Centauri, and beyond.
New Features in 2nd Edition:
--New cover artwork by master space artist Douglas Shrock
--New Epilogue describing migration to CisLuna
--28-page essay ‘On Becoming a Spacefaring Society’
--First 3 chapters of Book II, CisLuna (planned for mid-2017)
New Features in 2nd Edition:
--New cover artwork by master space artist Douglas Shrock
--New Epilogue describing migration to CisLuna
--28-page essay ‘On Becoming a Spacefaring Society’
--First 3 chapters of Book II, CisLuna (planned for mid-2017)
- GenresScience FictionFiction
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 10, 2014
16 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 21, 2015
I'll never forget the summer afternoon in 1987 when I watched the NASA documentary The Dream Is Alive at the IMAX theater at the Museum of Science and Industry Museum in Chicago. An awe-struck 5-year-old, I watched a breathtaking shuttle launch spanning my entire field of vision, powerful speakers pumping the rumble of ignition through my thin chest cavity. A tower of light and smoke ascended into the sky, curving upward as the two rocket boosters disengaged and fell toward earth. The film was breathtaking, awesome, and for me, life changing.
THE DREAM IS ALIVE inspired me in a way nothing ever had before or since. Though I realized by middle school I lacked the prerequisite aptitude for math and science to become an astronaut, my love for space remained and fueled my reading interest as a child and now as an adult. SpaceCorp summoned in me that same love of space that I felt as a child. The novel frequently references THE DREAM, and each and every time, I could not help but remember my own first taste of that same dream in cinematic form.
Set in a dystopian future where the United States is on the verge of fragmentation, political assassinations are commonplace, and the world is beset with apathetic leadership and rogue nation states, SpaceCorp paints an all-too-plausible picture of a bleak future for planet Earth. Only SpaceCorp, a business that functions more as a corporate quasi-state, has a real solution to the problems that plague Earth: moving humans toward becoming a space-faring society.
Filled with specifics and technical details (sometimes to a fault) SpaceCorp provides a roadmap for humanity to reach the stars. Author Ejner Fulsang, aided his incredibly accomplished career as a Captain in the Army, research scientist, and technical writer for NASA, provides a tour de force of scientific accuracy and believability that make SpaceCorp some of the best hard science fiction I've ever read. Dense at times, not always easy to digest for my admittedly non-scientific brain, I found the book fascinating, compelling, and even at times frightening.
My only substantive compliant with the story (and this is common to "big idea" science fiction) is that the characterization and development of the same wasn't as robust as I might have liked. I wanted more human connection, in particular to "Mack" the self-styled genius driver behind SpaceCorp's advancement into nuclear rocket powered space stations. I wanted a closer narrative lens. That said, writers (I write fiction myself) are notoriously critical of other writer's work.
As a work of hard science fiction, SpaceCorp is unique in its emphasis on the PROCESS of how we might someday reach for the stars. Most hard science fiction stories set in space assume that as a fait accompli. Kudos to Fulsang for telling this less-common story and making it both believable and aspirational.
This exchange in the first third of the book summarizes the ethos of the novel:
"But there's not money to be made in the stars!" Jason said.
"Give the man a prize! You don't go to the stars to make money. You go to the stars for the %#*@ of it! Because you can. Because they're there!"
Amen to that.
Those who demand accurate, cutting edge science will LOVE SpaceCorp. I look forward to the rest of the series and any other work by Mr. Fulsang.
THE DREAM IS ALIVE inspired me in a way nothing ever had before or since. Though I realized by middle school I lacked the prerequisite aptitude for math and science to become an astronaut, my love for space remained and fueled my reading interest as a child and now as an adult. SpaceCorp summoned in me that same love of space that I felt as a child. The novel frequently references THE DREAM, and each and every time, I could not help but remember my own first taste of that same dream in cinematic form.
Set in a dystopian future where the United States is on the verge of fragmentation, political assassinations are commonplace, and the world is beset with apathetic leadership and rogue nation states, SpaceCorp paints an all-too-plausible picture of a bleak future for planet Earth. Only SpaceCorp, a business that functions more as a corporate quasi-state, has a real solution to the problems that plague Earth: moving humans toward becoming a space-faring society.
Filled with specifics and technical details (sometimes to a fault) SpaceCorp provides a roadmap for humanity to reach the stars. Author Ejner Fulsang, aided his incredibly accomplished career as a Captain in the Army, research scientist, and technical writer for NASA, provides a tour de force of scientific accuracy and believability that make SpaceCorp some of the best hard science fiction I've ever read. Dense at times, not always easy to digest for my admittedly non-scientific brain, I found the book fascinating, compelling, and even at times frightening.
My only substantive compliant with the story (and this is common to "big idea" science fiction) is that the characterization and development of the same wasn't as robust as I might have liked. I wanted more human connection, in particular to "Mack" the self-styled genius driver behind SpaceCorp's advancement into nuclear rocket powered space stations. I wanted a closer narrative lens. That said, writers (I write fiction myself) are notoriously critical of other writer's work.
As a work of hard science fiction, SpaceCorp is unique in its emphasis on the PROCESS of how we might someday reach for the stars. Most hard science fiction stories set in space assume that as a fait accompli. Kudos to Fulsang for telling this less-common story and making it both believable and aspirational.
This exchange in the first third of the book summarizes the ethos of the novel:
"But there's not money to be made in the stars!" Jason said.
"Give the man a prize! You don't go to the stars to make money. You go to the stars for the %#*@ of it! Because you can. Because they're there!"
Amen to that.
Those who demand accurate, cutting edge science will LOVE SpaceCorp. I look forward to the rest of the series and any other work by Mr. Fulsang.
November 16, 2019
Great subject matter and some awesome ideas. The book suffers a bit in plotting and characterization though. And be prepared for long sections where the main characters stand around and explain science to each other via dialogue, because the author wants to explain the science to the reader.
Finally, the end material reads like a snobby lecture to eager undergraduates about how space exploration *will* be done over the course of the next 200 years. The author freely attributes all the ideas he's proposing to (the people who I assume are) their original authors/proponents. But he seems to discount the possibility that someone else will come up with a new idea anytime over this period that will fundamentally change the human race's approach to solar and/or extra-solar exploration.
I found the book via a note in the rule book of the board game inspired by Fulsang's writings (SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD, available from GMT Games). I'll probably continue reading this series, but so far: I like the board game better.
Finally, the end material reads like a snobby lecture to eager undergraduates about how space exploration *will* be done over the course of the next 200 years. The author freely attributes all the ideas he's proposing to (the people who I assume are) their original authors/proponents. But he seems to discount the possibility that someone else will come up with a new idea anytime over this period that will fundamentally change the human race's approach to solar and/or extra-solar exploration.
I found the book via a note in the rule book of the board game inspired by Fulsang's writings (SpaceCorp 2025-2300AD, available from GMT Games). I'll probably continue reading this series, but so far: I like the board game better.
October 18, 2019
Having played the game before I read this book, I was expecting so much more. Was expecting at least to get beyond LEO.
The pacing was slow and the plot was not really space based as much as political dystopia. Sure there is space stuff but besides an attempted murder and a couple of missiles attacking a space station I felt they talked about space more than being in space.
The discussion of changing humans to meet space seems a bit of a cop out. I wanted to see more technology that enabled humans as opposed to technology to change humans. I also feel that the author takes a pretty dim view in our ability to develop technology. But with the current anti-science sentiment running through one of the political parties I can see where it comes from.
As a huge space junky, I will read Cislunar someday but maybe when there is a few more of these books so that we can get to at least the first phase of the game (Mariners).
The pacing was slow and the plot was not really space based as much as political dystopia. Sure there is space stuff but besides an attempted murder and a couple of missiles attacking a space station I felt they talked about space more than being in space.
The discussion of changing humans to meet space seems a bit of a cop out. I wanted to see more technology that enabled humans as opposed to technology to change humans. I also feel that the author takes a pretty dim view in our ability to develop technology. But with the current anti-science sentiment running through one of the political parties I can see where it comes from.
As a huge space junky, I will read Cislunar someday but maybe when there is a few more of these books so that we can get to at least the first phase of the game (Mariners).
December 22, 2017
Reads a bit like a technical paper, with characters. In a good way. I enjoyed SpaceCorp a lot. It is dry reading for sure, as it's heavy on science and light on character development. Book two is already on my Kindle to be read.
May 25, 2020
Fascinating hard science speculation about a near future in which the earth develops spacefaring capacity. Great stuff that almost makes up for the ham fisted dialogue, wooden characters, and goofy politics. Almost
October 13, 2017
This book is about (possible way to) explore Solar System even if it looks like it's about 'The Sat Company'. Example: Author just forgets about Supreme Leader's threats...
February 25, 2020
The writer is more ambitious than capable.
February 19, 2015
Earth is dying. Government in America is dead. Marauding bands of thugs rule the country. Can mankind find its salvation in the stars--in a fleet of giant space stations poised to colonize asteroids and other planets? Deadly space debris and The Supreme Leader of Iran suggest the odds are long.
Ejner Fulsang's background as a NASA tech writer is well evident in this technofiction tale about Man's last hope. His extensive grasp of space technology gives this book an unimpeachable credibility. I strongly recommend SpaceCorp for those who like a good apocalyptic yarn.
Ejner Fulsang's background as a NASA tech writer is well evident in this technofiction tale about Man's last hope. His extensive grasp of space technology gives this book an unimpeachable credibility. I strongly recommend SpaceCorp for those who like a good apocalyptic yarn.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews