Hunting Ice: Collecting Dust

Coming

Q1 2027

Watch the newsletter for the cover reveal.

Would you let tiny aliens get in the way of your terraforming Mars project?

Captain Jane Silver has finally financed her mission to terraform Mars. On the way to slam the asteroid 7968 Elst-Pizarro into Mars, the resident scientist, Rick Tyson, discovers unusual dust grains in the engine fuel separator.

The corporate execs aren’t pleased with Jane. Rick’s mystery grains just got mysteriouser. And the crew are enjoying each other’s company more than the employee handbook allows.

Meanwhile, there’s that critical mission to complete with the future of humanity in the balance. Poker anyone?

Hunting Ice: Collecting Dust is book 2 in the Colonial Contest: Mars series, which is included in the broader Flashing Lights series. Hunting Ice and the Colonial Contest: Mars series are typical of the Flashing Lights series, a classic sci-fi story with a heavy dose of humor. Although the story includes some hard science for those who enjoy it, Hunting Ice is closer to the space opera end of the sci-fi spectrum.

If you enjoy Hunting Ice, you will certainly want to read the rest of the Colonial Contest: Mars series, which includes the novels Mars Now! Ltd., Areforming Earth, and Gathering Stones and four short story interludes. You may also enjoy the many short fiction stories included in the Flashing Lights: Short and Weird series, available in collected volumes.

(Cover design by Ross Flaven. Cover images by NASA Images and joshimerbin/ shutterstock.com).