FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHORS TRAVIS S. TAYLOR AND JODY LYNN NYE.A teenage girl and her fellow Bright Sparks must do what it takes to stay alive and achieve success in this sequel to Moon Beam.
Barbara Winton and the rest of the Bright Sparks, Dr. Keegan Bright’s team of young scientists, find themselves facing a challenge that will test all of their scientific skills and personal courage. They are competing in the first ever race to completely circle the Moon. The Sparks, and twenty-five other teams, have to count on one another as they face thousands of kilometers of unknown dangers, where even a simple accident can have fatal consequences. They form close friendships with racers from all over Earth, but also have to deal with former Spark, Pam, a mysterious and threatening figure whose departure from the Sparks program is shrouded in mystery.
While the Sparks compete in the race, Dr. Bright himself is part of a groundbreaking project to seek out rare minerals underneath a crater. On the far side of the Moon, in the airless, frozen depths beneath the lunar surface, disaster strikes. On the thinly settled Moon only the Bright Sparks may be close enough help him. The young scientist find themselves not only racing for victory, but to save their beloved mentor.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Praise for prequel Moon Beam:
“Taylor and Nye offer up a tense escapade with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot, but their true focus is on scientific detail, plausibility, and ingenuity . . . it’s an entertaining and even educational offering, perfect for those who demand science in their science fiction.”—Publishers Weekly
Praise for the work of Jody Lynn Nye:
"Infused with humor to keep you entertained and action to make you turn the pages."—Kirkus on Jody Lynn Nye’s Rhythm of the Imperium
“I thoroughly enjoyed it, the plot, the settlement, the whole nine yards, and especially the twitch of humor at odd moments...a book I can thoroughly recommend.” —Anne McCaffrey
“An unusual story well-told, with characters it's a real pleasure to spend time with.” —David Drake
"[An] innovative take on the well-loved theme of fairies and dangerous wishes." —Publishers Weekly on Wishing on a Star by Jody Lynn Nye and Angelina Adams
About Travis S. Taylor:
“[E]xplodes with inventive action.—Publishers Weekly on Travis S. Taylor’s The Quantum Connection.
“[Warp Speed] reads like Doc Smith writing Robert Ludlum. . .You won’t want to put it down”—John Ringo
Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” She lives northwest of Chicago with one of the above and her husband, author and packager Bill Fawcett. She has written over fifty books, including The Ship Who Won with Anne McCaffrey, eight books with Robert Asprin, a humorous anthology about mothers, Don’t Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear!, and over 160 short stories. Her latest books are Rhythm of the Imperium (Baen Books), Moon Beam (with Travis S. Taylor, Baen Books) and Myth-Fits (Ace). She is one of the judges for the Writers of the Future fiction contest. Jody also reviews fiction for Galaxy's Edge magazine and teaches the intensive writers' workshop at DragonCon.
Dr. Travis S. Taylor is the co-creator and star of the National Geographic Channel’s hit series, Rocket City Rednecks. Taylor is a physicist who has worked on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past twenty years.
Travis Shane Taylor is a born and bred southerner and resides just outside Huntsville, Alabama. He has a Doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering, a Master’s degree in Physics, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville; a Master’s degree in Astronomy from the Univ. of Western Sydney, and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Alabama.
Dr. Taylor has worked on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past sixteen years. He is currently working on several advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space based beamed energy systems, future combat technologies and systems, and next generation space launch concepts. He is also involved with multiple MASINT, SIGINT, IMINT, and HUMINT concept studies.
He has published over 25 papers and the appendix on solar sailing in the 2nd edition of Deep Space Probes by Greg Matloff.
His first science fiction novel is, Warp Speed, and his second is The Quantum Connection published by Baen Publishing. He is also working on two different series with best-selling author John Ringo also by Baen Publishing. He has several other works of both fiction and nonfiction ongoing.
Travis is also a Black Belt martial artist, a private pilot, a SCUBA diver, races mountain and road bikes, competed in triathlons, and has been the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of several hard rock bands. He currently lives with his wife Karen, his daughter Kalista Jade, two dogs Stevie and Wesker, and his cat Kuro.
The second entry in this series, and another great yarn!
A dune buggy - MOON buggy - race, around the whole Moon? Preposterous? Nope! A lot of interesting science again, and plenty of unexpected and frankly heart stopping surprises.
Once again the characters are well presented, and there's a bit of growth - and once again the exuberance of youth is captured, without making the kids look like idiots, or making them seem too mature to believe.
I continued to enjoy this second book in the series. This book and the previous one remind me in a way of Heinlein's so-called "juveniles". Fun, intelegent, and exciting. While they may be aimed at a YA audience, there is still plenty for an adult to enjoy.
I really like this series. I can certainly imagine a time when this kind of thing would be perfectly possible. It's always good to see scifi that fires the imagination. Great stuff here. I'd suspect most scifi fans would enjoy this one, regardless of age, even though it's written for a young adult audience.
The Bright Sparks are back with Moon Tracks (hard from Baen) in which Dr. Keegan Bright has set up a race around the moon with many teams from Earth. The Sparks are the youngest team and lack backing, and their vehicle is half made from left-over lunar parts. The four member team puts up with a lot of adversity and learns life lessons. Fun. Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press