Because a very special project deserves its own page despite being out of print.
Space: 1889 is a role-playing game of Victorian-era space-faring,[1] created by Frank Chadwick and originally published by Game Designers' Workshop from 1988 to 1991 and later reprinted by Heliograph, Inc. in 2000 and 2001.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_1889
Space: 1889 & Beyond, a series of books based on the award-winning steampunk role-playing game created by Frank Chadwick. A universe in which Victorian science has breached the barrier of Earth's atmosphere and is spreading out among the stars.
Space: 1889 & Beyond, a series of books based on the award-winning steampunk role-playing game created by Frank Chadwick. A universe in which Victorian science has breached the barrier of Earth's atmosphere and is spreading out among the stars.
I was pleased to be approached and
commissioned to write for this series. I'm delighted to have been given
such great characters to play with, and awestruck to receive the
approval from an editor and author like Andy Frankham-Allen, and an
author/creator like Frank Chadwick.
Mundus Cerialis
A Fistful of Dust
The Draco Eye
***
Mundus Cerialis: The Heart, a mysterious ancient life form around which the Earth's moon was shaped, contains the secrets of the ages. Secrets it is willing to share with humanity. Only the British Empire is telling no one, not even their allies. In a concealed base, researchers are developing a method to push the Empire beyond the limits of the Asteroid Belt. To succeed they need certain, previously unknown, minerals and metals.
To that end they have assembled a top covert team: Scientific genius, Professor Nathanial Stone; American adventuress, Miss Annabelle Somerset; and the former captain of the Royal Navy's flagship, Jacob Folkard, who is linked telepathically to the Heart. Before the mission can begin, though, they require one more person: French mineralogist extraordinaire, Arnaud Fontaine.
Their journey takes them on a detour to Messor Base, a mining instillation on Ceres, the largest body in the Asteroid Belt. Things are not running as smoothly as they appear. People are missing, fresh meat is being served in the canteen... How far will Dylan Blayney, administrator of the base, go to keep the truth hidden?
For in the world of Ceres something has been disturbed and a great price must be paid.
***
A Fistful of Dust: Phobos, fearful son of Mars. A moon often likened to a diseased potato…but is there more to the legends surrounding the satellite than mere rumour? Drawn to Mars as part of a covert mission the team of the Esmeralda 2 are waylaid by Sir Henry Routledge, governor-general of Syrtis Major. Although at first reluctant to take on an additional mission -- a search for a missing man -- they change their minds upon hearing one Henry Barnsdale-Stevens has gone missing on Phobos, the mysterious moon of Mars that many say inspires fear.
The explorers set out for Phobos believing they may well find the minerals they’ve been looking for, and save a man’s life. Another myth calls to them -- the strange monolith that rises from Phobos’ surface…but does it extend below? The team discover this is not an ill-formed ‘bit of rock’, nor a remnant of the Stickney crater impact. It’s much more mysterious and marvellous for there are words and drawings on the stone.
What secrets does Phobos conceal, and why does it inspire dread? Will the team manage to survive long enough to find the answers? Their descent beneath the surface may lead to the most amazing discoveries yet.
***
The Draco Eye: HMAS Sovereign has breached the asteroid belt, chasing the Russians to the mysterious Planet X, but this is also a mission of exploration. Their first stop is Jupiter, King of Planets and Destroyer of Comets.
Many onboard feel Jupiter’s mighty pull, and their intuition has nothing to do with its great magnetic field. Jupiter has much to reveal, including an inner core that all the scientists on Earth insist cannot exist, and a type of life that’s the most incredible yet—the most legendary of creatures.
Already sensing he’s on the trail of something incredible, Nathaniel Stone has to ask whether this beast is an element of the same puzzle. Has it been created for a specific purpose? He may never know the answer if he doesn’t survive getting up close and personal, yet the draco may be the key to the very thing he’s looking for.
Deep in Jupiter’s core, there’s a trap, and no one sets a trap unless there’s something worth protecting. No stranger to suspicion, Nathaniel Stone is about to demonstrate the luck of the Irish and a willingness to sacrifice his self-respect for the good of the mission.
***
Mundus Cerialis: The Heart, a mysterious ancient life form around which the Earth's moon was shaped, contains the secrets of the ages. Secrets it is willing to share with humanity. Only the British Empire is telling no one, not even their allies. In a concealed base, researchers are developing a method to push the Empire beyond the limits of the Asteroid Belt. To succeed they need certain, previously unknown, minerals and metals.
To that end they have assembled a top covert team: Scientific genius, Professor Nathanial Stone; American adventuress, Miss Annabelle Somerset; and the former captain of the Royal Navy's flagship, Jacob Folkard, who is linked telepathically to the Heart. Before the mission can begin, though, they require one more person: French mineralogist extraordinaire, Arnaud Fontaine.
Their journey takes them on a detour to Messor Base, a mining instillation on Ceres, the largest body in the Asteroid Belt. Things are not running as smoothly as they appear. People are missing, fresh meat is being served in the canteen... How far will Dylan Blayney, administrator of the base, go to keep the truth hidden?
For in the world of Ceres something has been disturbed and a great price must be paid.
***
A Fistful of Dust: Phobos, fearful son of Mars. A moon often likened to a diseased potato…but is there more to the legends surrounding the satellite than mere rumour? Drawn to Mars as part of a covert mission the team of the Esmeralda 2 are waylaid by Sir Henry Routledge, governor-general of Syrtis Major. Although at first reluctant to take on an additional mission -- a search for a missing man -- they change their minds upon hearing one Henry Barnsdale-Stevens has gone missing on Phobos, the mysterious moon of Mars that many say inspires fear.
The explorers set out for Phobos believing they may well find the minerals they’ve been looking for, and save a man’s life. Another myth calls to them -- the strange monolith that rises from Phobos’ surface…but does it extend below? The team discover this is not an ill-formed ‘bit of rock’, nor a remnant of the Stickney crater impact. It’s much more mysterious and marvellous for there are words and drawings on the stone.
What secrets does Phobos conceal, and why does it inspire dread? Will the team manage to survive long enough to find the answers? Their descent beneath the surface may lead to the most amazing discoveries yet.
***
The Draco Eye: HMAS Sovereign has breached the asteroid belt, chasing the Russians to the mysterious Planet X, but this is also a mission of exploration. Their first stop is Jupiter, King of Planets and Destroyer of Comets.
Many onboard feel Jupiter’s mighty pull, and their intuition has nothing to do with its great magnetic field. Jupiter has much to reveal, including an inner core that all the scientists on Earth insist cannot exist, and a type of life that’s the most incredible yet—the most legendary of creatures.
Already sensing he’s on the trail of something incredible, Nathaniel Stone has to ask whether this beast is an element of the same puzzle. Has it been created for a specific purpose? He may never know the answer if he doesn’t survive getting up close and personal, yet the draco may be the key to the very thing he’s looking for.
Deep in Jupiter’s core, there’s a trap, and no one sets a trap unless there’s something worth protecting. No stranger to suspicion, Nathaniel Stone is about to demonstrate the luck of the Irish and a willingness to sacrifice his self-respect for the good of the mission.
