Posts Tagged ‘science fiction series’
Meniscus: Return to Sintha … meet the characters
I have completed the final edits of my new book Meniscus: Return to Sintha and my beta reader’s comments are in. The book is heading towards its publication in early March, under my pen name Alexandra Tims.
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For this post, I will introduce you to some of the characters in the book. If you are a reader of the series, you will already know many of these characters, but some are new.
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In the book, Abra and Drag-on set out on a journey to deliver critical information about the Dock-winders to every population centre in the Prell-nan District of planet Meniscus. Abra’s friends, Tagret and Rist, set out in the opposite direction to help with the distribution of the information. The information will, they hope, end the Dock-winder hegemony, the enslavement of Humans and the indenture of Gel-Heads. That word ‘hegemony’ is known to me because my son is a political science major, but it may not be familiar to everyone:
hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others.
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The main characters in the book are:
Abra: historian, who studies the languages of aliens on Meniscus; married to the Slain, Trath, she lives in the abandoned Museum in Prell-nan;
Trath: a Slain, a dealer in the illegal drug bellwort and an addict; Abra’s husband;
Drag-on: an alien native to the planet; looks like a forkful of spaghetti without the fork; telepathic and friendly to Humans;
Tagret: chemist, brought to slavery on Meniscus and freed by the Slain, Rist, who is now her companion;
Rist: a Slain, a courier, once married to a Gel-head named Semala; now companion to Tagret;
Semala: a Gel-head and Rist’s wife; died in an accident on the road to Sintha but she still haunts Rist and Tagret.




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In each city, our heroes must find the small group of Humans who work for the Resistance.
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The Resistance includes:
Aella: known as The Whirlwind, the one-woman resistance in Enbricktow;
Di-gett’ath Roth’: The Blood-Let, resistance movement in Prell;
Ora-nen Uth: Curfew Dark, resistance movement in Sintha, a spirited group who meet in the darkest of alleyways;
Ora-toll: Light Tunnel, resistance movement in Nebul-nan;
Marneth Hath-arn; the Shadow Builders, resistance movement in Bleth-nan, includes the triplets, Twilla, Titha and Trill who talk in their own secret language;
In De’men, the only resistance is a group of three street-sweepers;
In Tre’men, the only resistance is a wizened Gel-head named Weddle.
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Now that you know some of the characters in Meniscus: Return to Sintha, I hope you will read the book, to find out what happens and if the information changes the hegemony on planet Meniscus.
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On the release date, I’ll let you know where the book will be available. If you want to catch up on the series, you could begin at the first book in the Return to Sintha Trilogy — Meniscus: Rosetta Stone, available at Westminster Books in Fredericton, Dog Eared Books in Oromocto or on Amazon.ca.
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All my best,
Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)
New science fiction book: Why visit the planet Meniscus?
The next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series, Return to Sintha, will be here in March. Perhaps you’d like to know why you would want to visit Meniscus??? No, it is not a part of the knee, but a planet out there among the stars. The word ‘meniscus’ refers to its meaning as the ‘curved upper surface of a liquid in a tube’ and refers to the way water behaves (mis-behaves) on the alien planet.
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When you read, do you love:
- adventure – lots of action and danger?
- a short read (all the Meniscus stories are about 20,000 words or less)?
- an interesting setting – lots of alien species, plant and animal?
- an alien language with a dictionary and in-text translation of what the aliens are saying?
- a bit of romance – not explicit, but relationships front and centre?
- following the action with a map? and a glossary of alien terms for plant life, wild life and measurement?
- an annotated list of all the characters in the Series?
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There are twelve previous titles in the Meniscus Series. You could start anywhere, but I recommend beginning with Crossing the Churn, Oral Traditions or Rosetta Stone.
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as yet, has no title on the unfinished painting.
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In my next post, I will talk a little about the setting of Return to Sintha and some of its main characters.
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All my Best,
Jane Tims (a.k.a. Alexandra)
Next Meniscus: The Struggle
In the Meniscus Science Fiction Series, I am now working on Meniscus: The Struggle, the sequel to Meniscus: Rosetta Stone.
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Meniscus: Rosetta Stone introduced us to Abra, a translator who has discovered a manuscript containing the mysterious Dock-winder language. As Abra works on the manuscript, she begins to think the words will hold the secret to the downfall of the cruel Dock-winders.
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In the sequel, Meniscus: The Struggle, Abra will enlist the help of Tagret, a chemist, to decipher the symbols in the manuscript. She will also try to get the help of Don’est, the Dock-winder child adopted by the Humans of Themble Hill. But will peculiar Don’est be a help or a hindrance?
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Meniscus: The Struggle will be available in June, 2022. Next post, I’ll show you some of my work on the cover of the book.
All my best,
Jane
An Upcoming Trilogy in the Meniscus Series
To the right of the post, you will see, in a column, a list of the nine existing books in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series. This summer, I am working on books 10, 11 and 12, a trilogy in that the books are connected in theme and story. The three books are (provisionally) entitled:
Meniscus: Rosetta Stone
Meniscus: The Struggle
Meniscus: Return to Sintha
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The books tell the story of how Abra, historian and transcription expert, works to solve the mystery of the Dock-winder language, hoping an ancient manuscript written in Dock-winder will contain a clue to the downfall of these oppressive overlords.
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The books contain many old friends from previous books in the Meniscus Series, including the people of Themble Hill. They also introduce two new characters: Abra and her husband Trath, a Slain.


From the list of characters at the end of each book:
Abra– an historian; transcribes, transliterates and translates Museum manuscripts from Gel-speak to English; brought to Meniscus in the 2013 harvest; taken as she worked in the library of the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut, translating a codex of Maya glyphs into English; used as a processor of the beelwort drug by the Dock-winders of the Prell-nan Ogle-hath syndicate; met her husband Trath when he brought raw beelwort to be processed; lives with Trath in the Museum of Dock-winder Legacy, Prell; as she works in the Museum library, she sometimes forgets she is no longer on Earth.
Trath – a trader; gathers wild beelwort for sale to the city syndicates and hospitals; brought to Meniscus as a baby by the Dock-winders in the 1988 harvest and genetically altered to be a Slain; makes his home in the Museum of Dock-winder Legacy, in Prell; addicted to beelwort; married to Abra.
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Here is an excerpt from Rosetta Stone:
“Why did you leave me?”
says Trath.
Abra lifts her head.
Stares at Garnock,
the Wandering Star.
Careful of her words.
“You are never home.
Never tell me
where you have been.
Hardly speak to me
when you are there.”
“You are always
in the archives,”
says Trath,
“with your books and papers.
Never seem to care if I come or go.”
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All my books are illustrated and include maps, a character list, a glossary and a Gel-speak dictionary.
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Meniscus: Rosetta Stone will be out this fall.
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All my best,
Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)
Available now – Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill
For those who are reading my Meniscus science fiction series, my new book Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill is now available at Westminster Books in Fredericton and from Amazon, in paperback and Kindle formats here.
I will be launching this new book at Westminster Books on May 25, 2018 at 7:00, so mark your calendars!
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Humans on the planet Meniscus have had it hard. Used as slaves by the Dock-winders and Gel-heads, they live without hope, deprived of family and community. A few Humans have escaped and band together to build the first Human community on the planet. Odymn and the Slain are part of the community of Themble Hill but can they escape interference from the Dock-winders?
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You will enjoy the continuing adventures of Odymn and the Slain, as Odymn tries to recover from a parkour accident and cope with the Slain’s former girlfriend.
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Find out who is lighting a line of purple gettle-shells (the Meniscus version of the Jack-o-lantern) on the heights of The Fault where the Dock-winders can see them!
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For more information and an excerpt from Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill, click here.
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Kindle Countdown Deal – Meniscus: South from Sintha
From March 8 to March 15, 2018, you can buy the Kindle version of Meniscus: South from Sintha at a reduced price. In the Kindle Countdown Deal, the price begins at $.99 and is increased by $1.00 increments during the deal promotion. Buy now and get a great read for a bargain!
Meniscus: South from Sintha is the second in the Meniscus Series. It is illustrated, written as a long poem. Science fiction, romance and adventure.
Just click here.
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Follow the continuing adventures of Odymn and the Slain as they try to undo the past wrongs of the Slain.
Together, they will try to:
break an evil Gel-head out of jail and return him to his home
release a captive, wolf-like kotildi to his pack
rescue a cook from her bondage in Sintha
take an eight-year old Dock-winder child back to her family
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You can try to mend the broken, to right the wrongs of the past, but sometimes you can`t go back.
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free book … Meniscus Science Fiction Series
Do you like to read? Would you like to start a new series, one with adventure and a good love story? The Meniscus Series follows the adventures of two Humans trying to build a life together on a rather nasty alien planet. The first book in the Meniscus Series, “Meniscus: Crossing The Churn” will be free on Amazon Kindle today until October 8, 2017. A good chance to give it a try. To order, just click here.
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2017 has been a productive year for me. I completed three of the Science Fiction Series “Meniscus”. By the end of the year, I will add a forth book to the Series … “Meniscus: One Point Five”. This is a short book, intended to tell the story of the six months between the first and second books. The writing is almost done and I am about to begin the illustrations. In January, I will be publishing number four in the Series … “Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill”.
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I am biased, of course, but I think the books tell a great story. On Meniscus, Humans have lost all the progress they have made and are slaves to the ruling Dock-winders. My books tell the tale of one Human’s search for freedom and relationship. Against all odds, Odymn finds a partner and builds a new life in the dangerous Meniscus landscape. The books are full of romance and adventure, and the Meniscus world is packed with interesting plants and animals. Some are good to eat; some want to eat you!
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If you haven’t read “Meniscus: Crossing The Churn”, try it out. It tells the story of how Odymn meets the Slain. He is a trader and his motives are not at all consistent with his kindness. But Odymn is beautiful and capable. In the end, love is sure to win out over the Slain’s desire to keep his good reputation as a trader.
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To help introduce you to the story of Odymn and the Slain (eight books are planned for the Series), I am running a Free Book Promotion on Amazon Kindle from October 4, 2017 to October 8, 2017. You can get a Kindle version of “Meniscus: Crossing The Churn” for free. Discover what Odymn finds hidden away in the Slain’s backpack!
To order “Meniscus: Crossing The Churn”, just click here!
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Book giveaway
Are you a Goodreads subscriber? I keep track of the books I read there and maintain an author profile. I have also decided to try their ‘giveaway’ tool.
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So, if you live in Canada, United States or Great Britain and you would like to enter to win one of four paperback copies of Meniscus: South from Sintha, you can enter between August 6, 2017 and August 14, 2017. Meniscus: South from Sintha is the second book in the Meniscus Series. Odymn and the Slain are off on an adventure to return some of the Slain’s former ‘acquisitions’ to their homes. Well that was a really bad idea!!!!
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I’ll let you know the results since some of you may be curious.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
new book in the Meniscus Series
My new book in the Meniscus series … Meniscus: South from Sintha … is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats! The book follows the continuing story of Odymn and the Slain as they head out on a new adventure and build their relationship with one-another. To purchase the book click here for the paperback and here for the Kindle edition.
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On a planet where Humans are slaves, Odymn is free. Her companion, the Slain, was once a trader in sentient beings. Now, for love of Odymn, he has agreed to change his ways and to return his former captives to their homes. Together, he and Odymn travel the urban alleyways and wilderness woodlands of the Southern District of Prell-nan, risking everything. They must battle wild life, outsmart power-hungry Dock-winders and dodge the grasp of ruthless Gel-heads. But in spite of good intentions, will the Slain be able to right the wrongs of the past? Or will the consequences of his actions outweigh the good he and Odymn want to do?
In the second of the Meniscus series, South from Sintha tells the continuing story of Odymn and the Slain. Odymn loves her silent companion, but trying to help his former captives may be a challenge she did not anticipate.
You can try to mend the broken, to right the wrongs of the past, but sometimes you can`t go back.
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Copyright 2017 Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra) Tims