‘The H. sapiens Problem’ Print Edition is Available

Posted on January 3, 2017 by GarryRogers

“The H. sapiens Problem” by Garry Rogers

The print edition of ‘The H. sapiens Problem’ is available. Here’s how it starts:

Prolog

Why didn’t intelligence appear in Earth’s first complex creatures during the Proterozoic a billion years ago?

What if it did?

Life in the Proterozoic: Waves from a passing pancake-shaped oblate spheroid shake two small cigar-shaped prolate spheroids with long fine flagellates. One Pro-sphere waves its flags with a question for the other:

“Know why the Obo-spheres can’t tell a joke?”

“No, why?”

“Everything they say is sooo flat.”

Jiggles.

Plot

A conflict driven by greed and an ancient grudge ensnares Corr Syl and Rhya Bright, two beautiful young warriors descended from rabbits. Humans from a neighboring city become violent and local authorities ask the two warriors to investigate. Along the way, readers meet a truly evil spider (with spider shape), witness Corr Syl’s clumsy comedic aspirations, endure silly games by other warriors, and wonder at Rhya Bright’s enthusiasm for wrecking enemies who happen along. They will also meet Z99, an intelligent warship whose quantum manipulations of dark energy allow travel through the multiverse.

Characters

Corr Syl and Rhya Bright are rabbit descendants and members of Earth’s global multi-species Tsaeb civilization. Like all Tsaeb, Corr and Rhya are beneficiaries of millions of years of natural evolution, scientific advance, and social development. They have internal control over their bodies down to and including their genes. Their mental control is highly advanced as well, but experiencing love, perceiving beauty, and choosing life’s directions remain the uncertain outcomes of experience and nature just as they do for one of civilization’s newest species, Homo sapiens.
Corr and Rhya have trained as warriors, an uncommon specialty infused with knowledge developed during Earth’s post-dinosaur Age of War. Though still highly respected, warriors have faded from importance in the peaceful world of the Tsaeb. Unusual childhood experiences influenced Corr and Rhya’s decision to become warriors. However, Corr also dreams of becoming a comedian, next to warrior, the most honored profession, and Rhya is studying human psychology. These secondary interests illustrate the allure of those things we do not understand and for which we have no talent–awkward times ahead.
Z-99 is an intelligent warship that Corr discovers mothballed in an old museum.
Lactella is a Black Widow spider whose evil nature causes trouble through the entire story.
Ivan Johns is a human infested and controlled by Lactella.
Aaron Li and Ya Zhōu are typical human leaders (so you know what to expect).
Others: Numerous members of the Tsaeb civilization play their parts. All but the birds have human shape. All retain the original skin covering: the fur, feathers, and coloring of their ancestors.

Story Provenance — Corr Syl Stories Merged

The principal conflict in the earlier books, ‘Warrior’ and ‘Terrible’, is between the Tsaeb and the human species. I considered spinning off stand-alone Tsaeb stories, but I was more interested in developing the Tsaeb civilization as a mirror for human nature. ‘Terrible’ is not really an independent story. It is the concluding chapter in the Tsaeb-human conflict. In fact, reviewers said that ‘Terrible’ was difficult to follow without first having read ‘Warrior’. Thus, it seemed best to rewrite and unify the stories. ‘The H. sapiens Problem’, has fewer slow spots and more character detail. It concludes with the revelation that two warring alien species are approaching Earth. Given a chance, either will consume our planet, leaving nothing behind. I have always loved space opera. The next book has space ships, grand starry vistas, and desperate flights across the cosmos.

WHOOPEE!

Print Details

Publication Date: Jan 3, 2017
Publisher: Coldwater Press – (928) 925-7191 – PO Box 1011, Humboldt, AZ 86329
ISBN-13: 9781541157187
ISBN-10: 1541157184
Size: 6.0″ x 9.0″ (15.24 x 22.86 cm),
88,300 words, 390 pages
Print Identifiers:
ISBN-13: 978-1541157187
LCCN: 2016921063
ISBN-10: 1541157184
BISAC: Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction
Subjects: LCSH Environmental protection–Fiction. | Conservation of natural resources–Fiction. | Human ecology–Fiction. | Environmentalism–Fiction. | Science fiction. | BISAC JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7 .R633 Hs 2017 | DDC [Fic]–dc23
Audience: Teens
Price: $21.95
Available everywhere, including Gifts and Games in Humboldt, Arizona (928-227-2775).

eBook Details

Publication Date: Dec. 7, 2016
Publisher: Amazon/Coldwater Press
Size: 3499 KB, 88,000 words
ASIN: B01N6EOQ1T
Audience: Teens
Price: $ 2.99
Available from Amazon.com

Story Provenance

The principal conflict in the earlier books, Warrior and Terrible, is between the Tsaeb and the irresponsible human species. I considered spinning off stand-alone Tsaeb stories, but I was more interested in developing the Tsaeb future. Thus,Terrible is not really an independent story. It is the concluding chapter in the Tsaeb-human conflict. In fact, reviewers said that “Terrible” was difficult to follow without first having read “Warrior.” So, all in all, it seemed best to rewrite and unify the stories. I removed some of the slow spots, added some character details, resolved the conflict, and set up the approaching confrontation with two alien species, a confrontation that humans must face along with the rest of the Tsaeb in a struggle to survive a massive onslaught by two advanced alien species. I have always loved space opera. So, the next book will have space ships, grand starry vistas, and desperate flights across the cosmos.

Reviews

Write a review for Amazon.

Inside the US agency charged with killing a ‘mindboggling’ number of animals

Posted on January 20, 2016 by GarryRogers

“Wildlife Services funds the lethal control methods, but they don’t fund the nonlethal,” says Fox. “That in and of itself disincentivizes nonlethal methods, and incentivizes the reliance on the federal government for predator control. The reliance on an agency for that kind of subsidy is really, really hard to counter.” www.theguardian.com

GR: The policies of the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service demonstrate the way American land-use agencies place the interests of ranchers first and the interests of wildlife and the land second. It is clear now that as long as land managers must fear politicians controlled by special interests such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (http://bit.ly/1Nkudid), and the National Livestock Producers Association (http://www.nlpa.org/), there can be no safety for wildlife and its habitats. Of course, the destruction of nature by its appointed stewards is not limited to America; human governments worldwide conduct it. Will we ever see a government created for the good of the Earth and all its creatures? In the midst of the great human-caused mass extinction, it appears that we will not.

I write EcoSciFi, science fiction with an ecological theme. Here’s an idea for a story about the future of nature conservation: As the destruction of wildlife becomes apparent to all people, privately funded wildlife-protection militias embedded with the animals will spread. Local governments will oppose these defenders of nature, arms manufacturers will sell to both sides, and violence will escalate. Humanity will have created another force behind its descending spiral to oblivion.

Fiction, Reality, & Responsibility: #EcoSciFi, #Climate-Change

Posted on July 15, 2015 by GarryRogers

#EcoSciFi and #Climate-Change)

The Tsaeb warriors appeared at a time when Earth’s intelligent creatures were endangering their own existence. War and environmental pollution were destroying the planet. These destructive forces were also sorting out Earth’s intelligent species by extinguishing those least able to compete. Evolutionary trial and error favored the swift and strong, and it favored species with a long-term view of their lives and instinctive acceptance of responsibility for their behavior. The rabbits were the first evolving species to understand and reject the destructive effects of industry and war; they formed the warrior guild and began helping evolution weed out irresponsible species.

Great Basin shrubland replaced by fire-prone invasive weeds.

In Corr Syl’s time and in ours, Humans are endangering their own existence. Unchecked, the Human population is spreading across the land plowing and bulldozing natural ecosystems. We are introducing invasive species, and harvesting plants and animals so fast that nature can’t recover. It is not surprising that wildlife biologists report that the numbers of many animal and plant species are sinking toward extinction.

The lands that we do not destroy, we pollute with artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and a plethora of chemicals in municipal wastes. However, the most widespread and deadly pollutants of all are the big-molecule greenhouse gasses emitted by our industries, automobiles, and fires. CO2 is the principal culprit among these gasses. When we burn fuels such as wood, coal, or gasoline, oxygen from the air combines with the carbon in the fuel. A 6.3-pound gallon of gas produces about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned. Though the new big CO2 molecules float in the atmosphere, they weigh more than the original carbon atoms in the fuel. Here’s a clear explanation of what happens from the U. S. Department of Energy.

CO2 drifts up into the air where it admits light from the sun and blocks heat radiating back from Earth’s warmed surface. The oceans absorb some of the CO2 and this causes seawater to become more acidic.

The oceans also absorb some of the heat trapped in the atmosphere by CO2. Since the Industrial Revolution when our CO2 production shot up, the oceans have protected Earth’s climate by absorbing CO2 and heat.

The atmosphere and the oceans are warming. As they warm—and it takes only a few degrees—mountain glaciers and the great polar ice sheets begin to melt. This adds fresh water to the oceans, diluting their salinity and further increasing acidity. Rising ocean acidity is reaching the point where it is beginning to kill corals and shellfish. At the same time, our harvest of fish from the oceans has substantially reduced many species’ numbers. Since all sea creatures, like all land creatures, depend on one another, numbers of many species are falling.

“Very hot temperature anomalies throughout the Eastern Pacific running from Equator to Northern Hemisphere Pole were a major contributor to record-breaking global heat during June. Still warming waters in the Equatorial zone are likely to pump still more heat into an atmosphere overburdened with human greenhouse gas emissions through at least early 2016”–Robert Scribbler. Image source: Earth Nullschool

As the atmosphere and oceans warm, changes occur in the great atmospheric pressure systems that steer cyclones and hurricanes. The North Polar Region is becoming warmer even more rapidly than other latitudes. In the past, cold heavy air at the pole blocked warm moist air from the south. Now, that air flows farther north than it used to and the global pattern of atmospheric and oceanic circulation is changing.

We are entering a period when evaporation from the warmed oceans is increasing, and the oceans are returning stored heat to the atmosphere. Storms, floods, droughts, cold spells, and heat waves are growing stronger.

Evolution took millions of years to cull the Tsaeb for species capable of living as stable elements of Earth’s ecosystems. I wrote that the Tsaeb wars were terrible, but I let them run for millions of years without destroying the Earth. Had they been as destructive as the side effects of our current population growth and pollution, there wouldn’t have been time for evolution to select for wisdom. The challenge for Humans today is greater than it was for the Tsaeb. Our impact on the Earth is far more abrupt than the damage caused by Tsaeb wars. In hundreds, not millions, of years, our pollution and habitat destruction will transform Earth into a barren planet with few species, little soil, and horrible storms. We’ve known this for only a few decades. Now we have only decades to change our ways and save our forests, seas, and ourselves.

What’s Next for Earth?

Some believe that we already have the wisdom needed to take the long view of things and change our way of life. If you agree and you want to help, you may wish to begin by acquiring a general picture of what’s happening. Some of the best sources are those that fuel the Rebel Mouse newsletters on my website. Go to https://garryrogers.com/climate-news, and https://garryrogers.com/natcon-news. Many of the sources I use for the newsletters have excellent libraries of reviews and information. For more combined climate and nature-conservation news and information try http://www.scoop.it/t/ecoscifi. One of the sources is the blog by Robert Scribbler.

There are many good books on human impacts. Here are two on climate change that I like.

• This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein
• Storms Of My Grandchildren: Truth About The Climate Catastrophe And Our Last Chance To Save Humanity by James Hansen

Header Image

From near my home in central Arizona, left to right: 1) Long strands of algae in stream water polluted by fertilizer runoff from farms. 2) Total algae cover of pond polluted by fertilizer runoff from farms. 3) Land with its surface scraped in preparation for destruction by houses and streets. 4) Jet condensation trails. 5) Recreation destruction of a stream bank.

Corr Syl the Terrible – Chapter 2 Reading by actor Geoff Mays

Posted on July 6, 2015 by GarryRogers

EcoSciFi for Teens

Chapter 2 read by actor Geoff Mays.

From the author interview: “This book will interest anyone who reads for entertainment and who is facing, or who remembers facing the challenges of growing up and finding one’s purpose in life. Sometimes, the big decisions we make don’t work out. Things aren’t what we thought they were. The principal character in this book, Corr Syl, thought he knew what he wanted to be, and he trained thirteen years to become a warrior. Then in the first year on the job, he learned that killing, which is, of course, a normal part of a warrior’s job, was something he didn’t like, something he really didn’t like. So, what do you do? In this story, Corr finds a solution that turns his problem into a purpose, a grand challenge to which he can happily dedicate himself.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: wildsoundfestivalreview.com

See on Scoop.it – Garry Rogers Books, Writing, and Science Fiction

YA SciFi Novella – Corr Syl the Terrible – Coming May 2, 2015

Posted on April 8, 2015 by GarryRogers

Corr Syl the Terrible by Garry Rogers

This young-adult science-fiction story follows the warrior Corr Syl as he searches for kidnapped Rhya Bright. It adds a chapter to the young warrior’s life, and creates a new challenge for Earth’s Tsaeb (silent T, long a) Warriors.

When a mysterious enemy takes Rhya away in a helicopter, Corr borrows an old Tsaeb aircraft and follows. The ship looks like an aerodynamically unsound blue egg, but it has advanced capabilities that Corr discovers as he defends against bombs, missiles, and a fiery trap in a waste incinerator. The search for Rhya takes Corr half way around the world to a dark volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean.

Co Zhous Island 3x4 and one half rr Syl and Rhya Bright are Tsaeb warriors. They are rabbit descendants with gray fur, auburn eyes, and long whiskers. Like all Tsaeb, they love humor. Corr is a becoming a master of the corny one-liner–If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try skydiving—that’s Corr.

Humans are a recent addition to the Tsaeb civilization. They resemble Tsaeb mammals, but they tend to have more bare skin. Human intelligence is not well-developed. Most members of the species are unable to foresee the consequences of their actions and so they are a continuing source of environmental problems.

Corr Syl the Terrible has a linear plot focused on rescuing Rhya Bright. But the book is also about Corr’s problem with taking life. Corr’s training taught him the mortal weaknesses of hundreds of species, but he can’t reconcile killing with his natural urge to protect life. How far should one go in defense of self and friends? Corr returns to this question throughout the book, and in the end, finds an answer that changes Earth’s future.

Corr Syl the Terrible ($9.95, 120 pages, 6 x 9, paperback, ISBN: ) will be available at neighborhood and online bookstores in early May, 2015. Excerpts and an advance reader copy are available here.

P.S. No one likes the cover–working on a new one.

International Book Award for Corr Syl

Posted on August 20, 2014 by GarryRogers

Corr Syl the Warrior just won the 2014 BIB, an international award for Independent publishers.

Wycliff District

BIB Reviews:

“An intriguing story for all ages that both delights and informs.”
-The Jelly Bomb Review-
“Take an adventure with a warrior rabbit who works hard to bring
harmony to his habitat. A fun read that presents a meaningful
message.” -Best Indie Books-

Other Awards for Corr Syl:

Arizona State Library 2014 OneBookAZ Teen Literature.

Kirkus Star. “A beautifully written novel that will captivate sci-fi fans of all ages.” Kirkus reviews (starred review). –June, 2013. Kirkus Reviews: Best Indie Books of 2013.

New Mexico–Arizona Book Awards.–2013

Arizona Authors’ 2013 Published Fiction Literary Awards.

.
Five Stars from Readers’ Favorite, 2013

Amazon: 14 reviews, average 4.14 stars.

Barnes & Noble: 5 reviews, average 5 stars.

Encourage Conservation of Small Wild Cats

Posted on May 21, 2014 by GarryRogers

Target: Mark Watts, President of the World Society for the Protection of Animals’ International Board Goal: Devote more resources to the protection of underfunded, smaller wild cats Much has been done to conserve populations of big wild cats:…

See on forcechange.com

Equal Opportunity Genocide

Posted on May 20, 2014 by GarryRogers

Our rhinos are dying. In Kenya and Sumatra, in Zimbabwe and Assam…killed by poachers, by trophy hunters…from Thailand, South Africa, America, Kenya, Russia, and yes…China. It is a fact that C…

See on fightforrhinos.com

Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 113 – The Asiatic Lion

Posted on May 19, 2014 by GarryRogers

“Living wild species are like a library of books still unread. Our heedless destruction of them is akin to burning the library without ever having read its books” John Dingell Possibly one of the m…

See on mungaiandthegoaconstrictor.me

EwasoLions.org

Posted on May 19, 2014 by GarryRogers

It was a top honour to win the Whitley Award last week, but now we have our very own video narrated by none other than the legendary Sir David Attenborough. Sir David’s wildlife films have inspired us for years!

The video was assembled by the fantastic team at the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) and played at the awards ceremony, when I received the award along with the 7 other amazing conservationists who also got an award. I even got to say hello to Sir David, such a treat.

We are deeply humbled by this, and thank WFN and all the great people I met last week in London!

“The Whitley Fund for Nature is unique. It doesn’t put its own people on the ground but seeks out local leaders who are already succeeding. It puts its mon…

See on ewasolions.org