The Fermi Paradox: A question famously posed by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1950 to his colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory. At its heart, it’s a statement of the apparent conflict between the overwhelming probability for life in the Universe and a complete and utter lack of evidence for it. In other words, “Where is everybody?”
Tabby’s Star, officially cataloged as KIC 8462852: A unique star spotted in the data returned from the Kepler spacecraft, one with a bizarre light curve which baffled astronomers and defied all of the usual explanations.
During a drive across the Texas Panhandle, a couple of scientists, Gordon Arnsbach and Mark Culpepper, come across a just-released observation from the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a brand new piece to the puzzle that is Tabby’s Star, a single measurement which rules out all of the previous theories, leaving only one possible explanation – the one most difficult to accept – that KIC 8462852 is orbited by an alien megastructure of immense size, built by beings to encircle their star and harness its energy. Such an advanced civilization might choose to grow their food somewhere else, instead seeding other habitable worlds with organic-rich ecosystems.
Gordon decides that when they see our world, green and ripe for the taking, they will most likely pick the plump ones first. The problem is that harvest time might be nearer than anyone ever thought.
Tabby’s Star, officially cataloged as KIC 8462852: A unique star spotted in the data returned from the Kepler spacecraft, one with a bizarre light curve which baffled astronomers and defied all of the usual explanations.
During a drive across the Texas Panhandle, a couple of scientists, Gordon Arnsbach and Mark Culpepper, come across a just-released observation from the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a brand new piece to the puzzle that is Tabby’s Star, a single measurement which rules out all of the previous theories, leaving only one possible explanation – the one most difficult to accept – that KIC 8462852 is orbited by an alien megastructure of immense size, built by beings to encircle their star and harness its energy. Such an advanced civilization might choose to grow their food somewhere else, instead seeding other habitable worlds with organic-rich ecosystems.
Gordon decides that when they see our world, green and ripe for the taking, they will most likely pick the plump ones first. The problem is that harvest time might be nearer than anyone ever thought.
Exobiologist Velara Holden and a survey team from Earth encounter a semi-aquatic species who call themselves "Shepherds of the Tides." With a body plan which looks like a cross between a six-legged octopus and a praying mantis, these highly intelligent, three-eyed beings are fascinated by all things human. Contact Protocols require a series of face-to-face meetings in order to exchange information on mathematics, physics and astronomy. When Moby, the alien Shepherd's apparent leader, asks for a kind of third date, an exchange of biological information, no one is at all surprised. At first. But when the demonstrations begin, the science really starts to get interesting.
Professor Diggz Dorin is not just another tomb raider. She’s a planet-hopping exoarcheologist skilled in unearthing alien artifacts. While tunneling deep below the crust of a small moonlet orbiting the gas giant planet Epsilon-413, she discovers a strange bio-mechanical device, a living trans-dimensional Entity, which claims to serve as a kind of cosmic genie. The alien seeks only to bring Order out of Chaos, to help shape the astronomical frontier by rolling back entropy and the thermodynamic laws which tend toward greater disorder. Or so it says.
When Diggz wishes for Peace on Earth, the Entity grants her desire in a totally unanticipated way. Since the very nature of life is conflict, and the planet's biosphere functions in a finely-tuned frenzy of constant upheaval, the Entity's solution is to obliterate the planet's biological contaminant so that there can be peace at last.
Horrified by the devastating misinterpretation of her wish, and the accidental extinction of her home world, Professor Dorin sets out on a years-long quest to undo the damage she's caused, to find the Entity again, unwish her wish, and once again set things right. She's aided in her efforts by a renegade bartending android named Dent and a semi-aquatic, squidlike companion called Tucson. All the while, Diggz is being relentlessly pursued by survivors from the Earth's calamity, and alternately guarded and harrassed by Lt. Syrtis Gabriel of the United Mars Colonies Central Security. Only a miracle of divine proportions can restore the Earth and set Diggz's tortured soul at rest.
Be careful what you wish for . . . very careful!
When Diggz wishes for Peace on Earth, the Entity grants her desire in a totally unanticipated way. Since the very nature of life is conflict, and the planet's biosphere functions in a finely-tuned frenzy of constant upheaval, the Entity's solution is to obliterate the planet's biological contaminant so that there can be peace at last.
Horrified by the devastating misinterpretation of her wish, and the accidental extinction of her home world, Professor Dorin sets out on a years-long quest to undo the damage she's caused, to find the Entity again, unwish her wish, and once again set things right. She's aided in her efforts by a renegade bartending android named Dent and a semi-aquatic, squidlike companion called Tucson. All the while, Diggz is being relentlessly pursued by survivors from the Earth's calamity, and alternately guarded and harrassed by Lt. Syrtis Gabriel of the United Mars Colonies Central Security. Only a miracle of divine proportions can restore the Earth and set Diggz's tortured soul at rest.
Be careful what you wish for . . . very careful!
Praise for CoxwellHere are a few of the
Five Star Reviews posted on Amazon.com: Great read. Pulled me right in. [Coxwell] has been writing for nearly 30 years, but this is his first published work. The story is pure sci-fi . . . well written, and pulls you in from the first paragraph. I finished the book in one day -- it was that good. I simply couldn't put it down. I had to see what happened next. I highly recommend this book for any fan of Robert Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke, or any other classic science fiction writer. I hope there is more to come from this author.
Parecia T. Andalusia, AL (Verified Amazon Purchase) [The Epsilon Wish] is one of those novels that you will want to read through to the end in a single sitting! It is very descriptive and has lots of twists to keep you locked in until the end. Thanks for a great read. I'm looking forward to more from Joe T Coxwell.
Phillip R. Panama City, FL (Verified Amazon Purchase) What a great adventure! If you are interested in sci-fiction and love space and anything that deals with space exploration, then this book is for you. It offers quite a nice escape from every day life and allows you to sit back and enjoy a world that you have never envisioned before! You can gather more about the story line from the product description but I would suggest this book to nearly anyone. I also love the cover art, which I believe the author did himself. It makes it such a beautiful book to look at and just begs for you to open it's pages!
Jordan C. Meridian, MS |
This is the Solar Neighborhood --
the stars surrounding our Sun out to about 30 light years -- my "playground of the imagination" where strange planets and unique lifeforms might be found.
Exoplanet images represented here are artist impressions only. To date, no direct imaging of exoplanet surfaces has been possible. Later generations of space telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope may eventually be able to make such measurements.
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Featured Artwork
All images below by Joe T. Coxwell
Copyright 2019
All images below by Joe T. Coxwell
Copyright 2019
To view more artwork, click on the
Space Art Gallery TAB at the top of the page. A Slideshow is also available. |
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