Wings of Earth: Three
It was only a four-day safari.
On a super-earth, covered with a deadly jungle.
Captain Ethan Walker takes what should be an easy run to Watchtower Station in orbit above the inhabited heavy-world of Dawn. A delay in unloading their cargo forces them to layover for several days, and the station’s science director offers them the chance to visit the surface to observe the indigenous culture firsthand.
When a mistake leaves the human outpost on the surface exposed, a hunting party of superhuman Ut’aran natives capture Walker and his crew, and haul them off into the impenetrable jungle.
With the power to their life supporting exosuits dying, they must fight to survive against twice the gravity of earth while the three newest members of his crew try to pull off an impossible rescue mission.
Unfortunately, to escape they have to take on a cargo that puts them so far outside the law that if the Coalition catches them, the best they can hope for is death by hanging.
Grab the third book of Wings of Earth to discover just how far Captain Walker and the crew of the Olympus Dawn will go to survive.
Reviews
“Craig’s style hearkens back to the sci fi greats. His characters are not 2 dimensional puppets, well drawn actors on the stage of space….truly great reading, and I am looking forward to much more.”
“A lot of the action takes place on the planet Dawn. Dawn is a super earth, with twice our normal gravity, and Craig does a wonderful job of making the setting just as much an antagonist as any of the characters. Not only does this add a dose of realism to the story (of all of the exoplanets found so far many are super earths with a much higher gravity) it also adds in wonderful opportunities for drama and tension.”
“… a fast-paced sci-fi adventure that ratchets up the tension and drama for Captain Walker and the rest of the crew of the Olympus Dawn. If you love sci-fi, especially in the vein of Star Trek and Firefly, then I highly recommend Chains of Dawn.”
Author Comments
This novel was a throwback to my earlier style of writing, where I wove diverse parallel threads into a common story line. In both of the earlier novels in Wings of Earth, I stayed tightly focused in the main character’s head space (Ethan walker tends to not like me being in there all the time). But this story was a lot more complex. Unfortunately, there was just no way to tell it from a single perspective. He couldn’t possibly know everything that had to happen “off screen” so to speak.
Fortunately, I have several other strong characters that I can use to tell the rest of the story. This also gave me a chance to go deeper into the backstory of these other crew members. Especially Kaycee, Ammo, and Quinn.
I do have to admit that I just love Quinn… he’s a bit on the overly enthusiastic side of… well, everything. Thankfully, he’s tough enough to get himself back out of most ugliness that he stumbles into. Also apparently, he has an uncle who used to hunt badgers… naked (that just spontaneously came out when I was writing dialog… now it’s something that impacts several downstream characters). I guess some days, being a writer is a strange thing <wink>.
If you’ve read Chains of Dawn carefully and have already read the prequel trilogy, you will probably catch a lot of details that will give you a clue about Ammo as well. Any guesses?
Shoot me a note, and let me know if you’ve figured out where I am going with her. I’ll post some of the more interesting guesses in future newsletters.
One of the things I’ve discovered is that by this point in the series, a lot of my readers are rushing headlong into Beyond the Edge and they aren’t slowing down long enough to give me feedback. I guess that’s a good thing, but as much as I appreciate watching my readers push through the stories enthusiastically, if you’re willing, I’d always appreciate a review!