Justin vs the Alien librarians
My latest novel, tentatively titled "Justin vs the Alien Librarians" is about to begin the editing process! After a year of writing, and leaving The Brin Archives behind for now, I have made an attempt at my first Young Adult scifi novel.
In this new adventure, a teenager, an outcast at his school due to his inability to play video games, learns he has strange abilities which make him the only person in the universe who can stop an alien invasion of the earth. The invading aliens have taken over a local library in Aurora, Colorado and plan to transfer the brain wave engrams of their co-conspirators into the minds of earthlings, then return with this new army of enslaved humans to start an uprising on their home world.
More details to come as the release date approaches.
In this new adventure, a teenager, an outcast at his school due to his inability to play video games, learns he has strange abilities which make him the only person in the universe who can stop an alien invasion of the earth. The invading aliens have taken over a local library in Aurora, Colorado and plan to transfer the brain wave engrams of their co-conspirators into the minds of earthlings, then return with this new army of enslaved humans to start an uprising on their home world.
More details to come as the release date approaches.
The Brin Archives scifi trilogy is now complete!
"Cronin writes in a way that brings to mind some of the classics of the science fiction genre, but also with a slight flair all his own. His prose bespeaks of Bradbury and Heinlein, though there is enough of a bend that his prose can speak for itself. He has it all in this book and series, new worlds, space travel, and interesting futuristic technology!" 5-star review on Amazon
Two new 5-star reviews for empyrean
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Grant Leishman - 5 stars
In Empyrean, Jim Cronin brings down the curtain on the wonderful and fascinating Brin Chronicles. Having been privileged enough to have read all three books, I can honestly say the author has done a tremendous job of tying everything up nicely and leaving this reader, anyway, extremely satisfied. I couldn't help but give myself a wry smile as I realised Cronin had indeed left a tiny hole for the possibility of a fourth book, but that having been said, if the Brin Chronicles ended with Empyrean, that would be just fine. In this latest iteration, suspicion has been raised about the Skae's true motives toward the Brin. They had always been seen as the saviours of the Brin race and as such had been revered, with some factions of the population even embracing the Skae as Gods. When Maliche Rocker, head of the Brin Council, suspects there may be more to the story of their salvation than the Skae have told them, he embarks on a risky adventure to try to uncover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. Along with his son, Jontar Rocker and some other exceptionally gifted Kolbri (the result of mating between the Brin and the Kolandri), they risk everything in a search for the truth. The Kolibri have unique talents that allow them to interact with technology in ways never seen before and to utilise the space strings to travel through both time and space, returning thousands of years to the rebirth of the Brin race and to try to pinpoint the true causes of the long-lasting and violent war against the Gorvin, which seems to have been going on forever. What I particularly enjoyed about Empyrean is the totally new cast of characters, as time has moved on. Yes, they are still Rocker's, but they have their own unique perspectives on life and especially on the Skae. Maliche is married to a Kolandri, in Ryma and this alone gives rise to thought and discussion about things such as inter-marriage between races and/or species. Their goal is to live in peace, as one people, but there are many who see that as not only undesirable, but positively evil. Cronin brings us plenty of political corruption and lobbying, but all set in a fantastic world that he has created from his own imagination. This is a very easy book to read, despite the technological innovations and theories straight from the author's imagination. Science Fiction can so easy descend into mind-boggling technological descriptions that can distract the reader. Equally able to distract some readers is the concept of time travel and the paradoxes associated with it. We all love a good piece of time travel and Jim Cronin definitely has an understanding on writing in this genre, with some clever and at times witty comments and asides. I have compared Cronin, in the past, to my favourite Science Fiction author, Robert A Heinlein and nothing in Empyrean would change my opinion from that comparison. It is an incredibly readable, fast-paced and enjoyable adventure, that just happens to be set in space and in a world very different from our own. The entire Brin Archives series is a triumph for this author, in my opinion and I would recommend all three books; Hegira, Recusant and Empyrean not only to all Science Fiction aficianados, but also to just readers who love a rollicking adventure story. |
Readers Favorite - 5 stars
Empyrean is book three in The Brin Archives series by Jim Cronin, and is an action packed, delightful read. For fans of sci-fi, this will be a great treat. The reader is transported to an interstellar world with two powerful empires set against each other in the struggle to capture and control the power of a black hole in the galaxy. The Skae Empire believes that this could ensure a constant supply of energy to the planets, but the Gorvin Empire thinks the scheme could cause greater damage, destroying half of the planet. It is in this context that powerful heroes must dig for the truth to find a permanent solution to the interstellar wars that have gone on for centuries. Follow Maliche and Jontar Rocker and their companions as they embark on an epic journey in search of the truth. The outcome is far from anything the reader could imagine. This is an interesting story that is well-plotted and well-written, a story with an exciting setting. Jim Cronin has the gift of uprooting readers from their immediate reality and plunging them into worlds that are strange and yet make them feel as though they were a part of that world. The writing flows beautifully and it is enriched by vivid descriptions and exciting dialogues. Beginning a story in the midst of a crisis is an intelligent way to grab the attention of the reader and I couldn’t resist reading on. In fact, the conflict is one of the strongest elements of Empyrean and it is developed with great skill. I loved the strong characters, the quick pace, and the compelling plot points. It’s a great read. |
Hegira and Recusant are earning more awards!
Hegira = Readers Favorite Award, NABE Pinnacle Award, and Hungry Monster Silver Award
Recusant = Readers Favorite Award, and Hungry Monster Gold Award
Recusant = Readers Favorite Award, and Hungry Monster Gold Award
Recusant is now available on Amazon!
Available on Amazon!
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Here is a brief excerpt from the novel:
“Skae High Command, this is Kolandi Raj Ansus, please respond, Skae High Command.” Static echoed in the Raj’s ears as she gripped the com link in a white-knuckled desperation. Her royal robes and long brown hair showed the neglect of long hours in the war room. Ansus rose only recently to the position of High Raj. She fervently hoped it was not her destiny to be the last Raj. Her nose became insensitive to the stench of bodies during her confinement in the dim bunker long ago. The deep space images on the screen before her revealed the devastation of their fleet in their encounter with the Gorvin. Two hundred top-of-the-line war cruisers had been completely destroyed, another three hundred fighters were out of commission. She watched as the overwhelming forces of the Gorvin plowed through their defenses like an energy blade through a cloud, and were now aimed straight at Kodut, their home world. On the displays, a second line of vessels, the laser launch ships, took up their attack formation. A cloud began to grow ahead of the ships as they deployed their weapons. |
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Reviews for Recusant: |
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I knew I would love Recusant, book two of the Brin Archives series by Jim Cronin, as soon as I had finished the prologue. I had read a similar end of technological advancement scenario in a David Weber series and the aliens and themes are different in Recusant. In my very personal opinion, Jim Cronin writes as well as David Weber, which is just about the greatest compliment I can give Jim Cronin because David Weber is great! The set-up and execution of what is obviously going to be a satisfying long and well written series is perfect. This is the second book and I'm dying to read the first one and can't wait for the next one.
Recusant is very well written and very well thought out. The Brin are evolved from birds and I can't help but wonder if the name Brin is a tribute to David Brin who happens to have written the best description of an intelligent avian culture I have ever read...up until now. If you love good science-fiction, Jim Cronin is a name you want to remember.
- 5 Star Review KJ Simmill, Reader's Favorite:
- 5 Star Review Ray Simmons, Reader's Favorite:
I knew I would love Recusant, book two of the Brin Archives series by Jim Cronin, as soon as I had finished the prologue. I had read a similar end of technological advancement scenario in a David Weber series and the aliens and themes are different in Recusant. In my very personal opinion, Jim Cronin writes as well as David Weber, which is just about the greatest compliment I can give Jim Cronin because David Weber is great! The set-up and execution of what is obviously going to be a satisfying long and well written series is perfect. This is the second book and I'm dying to read the first one and can't wait for the next one.
Recusant is very well written and very well thought out. The Brin are evolved from birds and I can't help but wonder if the name Brin is a tribute to David Brin who happens to have written the best description of an intelligent avian culture I have ever read...up until now. If you love good science-fiction, Jim Cronin is a name you want to remember.
Hegira recieves NABE Pinnacle Award!
Click on Hegira's Cover to read a preview!
Another New Trailer Video for Hegira
New Reviews for Hegira:
"...Cronin uses plenty of intrigue and the ending has a interesting twist that fits well within the story." - Janelle Fila for Readers’ Favorite
"...Hegira is an incredible scientific world that Jim Cronin wrote eloquently. It is full of danger and adventure, as well as suspense and scientific discoveries that will blow your mind." - JJ Phillips for Readers’ Favorite
"...Hegira is a very well-written story that combines so many complex layers that I was thinking about it for days after I finished reading it." - Renee Taylor for Readers’ Favorite
"...Hegira is an incredible scientific world that Jim Cronin wrote eloquently. It is full of danger and adventure, as well as suspense and scientific discoveries that will blow your mind." - JJ Phillips for Readers’ Favorite
"...Hegira is a very well-written story that combines so many complex layers that I was thinking about it for days after I finished reading it." - Renee Taylor for Readers’ Favorite
My New Hegira Trailer:
Read Hegira's Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon!
Click on the link to purchase your copy today
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His species became extinct decades before the aliens rescued and cloned him, but he still must do everything he can to save them all. Karm must travel back in time, create the most powerful financial empire ever seen on the planet Dyan’ta and assemble a team of experts who must be kept in the dark about his plans for fear of upsetting the timeline.
Dr. Jontar Rocker is an up and coming geneticist whose untested and controversial theories on cloning become the lynch pin in Karm’s schemes. Maripa, Karm’s petite and beautiful surrogate niece, personal secretary, and deadly bodyguard must learn to trust Karm despite his deceptions and secrets. Can the emerging love between Dr. Rocker and Maripa survive the demons and surprises of their own past, as well as Karm’s impenetrable air of mystery? Karm and his companions must save the Brin. To do so, they must band together to overcome Brach, the ambitious and obsessed monarch. Determined to take control of Karm's vast industrial empire, Brach joins forces with his conniving brother Pareth, leader of The Faith an ultra-conservative religious order committed to stopping Dr. Rocker and his heretical efforts to develop cloning techniques. Nothing less than survival of their species is at stake. |
Sample Chapter: Hegira
“Come in, Latonia Base…come in Latonia Base. This is Starship Hegira, repeat, this is Hegira. Come in, Latonia.”
Static crackled from the speaker. The lieutenant, bleeding and dying from the injuries he received during the mutiny trembled feebly as he gripped the microphone. Blood soaked his crest feathers; his talons broken and jagged from the hand-to-hand combat in the spaceship’s passageways. He knew his wounds were fatal, but his duty was clear: to report back to base about the failure of the mission. His body tensed as the next wave of pain shot through him.
“Latonia Base, this is Hegira. Come in. Priority clearance Falcon, Delta. Come in Base. Damn you to hell!” the soldier shouted in desperation. “Somebody answer! Come in, Latonia!” The microphone dropped from his talons, clattering on the control panel before falling to the metal plated floor. The lieutenant slumped back into the chair, pressing a blood soaked rag to his shoulder. Staring out the view port he watched the star-filled blackness and wondered at the cruel turn fate had taken over the past few days.
A pounding on the hatch caused the lieutenant to reach for his sidearm. “Lieutenant Yardef! It’s Vedak. Let me in, sir!”
The lieutenant pulled himself up in the chair and reached out with a fractured, bloodstained talon to press the door release circuit. With a sharp hiss, the door slid open and in hobbled Sergeant Vedak, one of his few remaining platoon members.
“It worked, sir,” the soldier said, crashing into the second chair in the room.
Yardef surveyed his subordinate’s injuries, noting several which would prove to be fatal. “You okay, Sarge? You don’t look so good.”
“Look who’s talking,” said the young soldier. He tugged at his uniform, checking his wounds.
“We got most of them sealed in the lower decks and opened the cargo hatches to space. They didn’t stand a chance once we decompressed decks one through ten. They’re all dead now. Just a few survivors are holed up one deck above us.” Ripping a piece from his ruined shirt he wrapped the makeshift bandage around the laser shot in his arm.
“Good. Were you able to get the hatches closed again?”
The sergeant looked his superior in the eyes and shook his head. “Negative. All the controls are fried.”
“I need you to go find the engineer. See if he can do anything.”
“He’s dead, sir. He bought it down in cargo bay C during the first assault.”
The two sat in silence for several long minutes before either could speak. “That looks pretty bad, sir. Want me to look at it?” Vedak pointed at the lieutenant’s shoulder, still bleeding heavily despite the thick bandage he pressed against it.
“Don’t waste your time.” The officer coughed and winced as the pain gripped him again. “At least I won’t have to wait around to starve to death. Are those vials secured?”
“Yes, sir. We were able to pull them from cryogenics before those clerics overran us. I locked them up in the high security bay. No one can get to them now. What’s so important about those two samples, sir? Out of the thousands of samples, why just those two?”
Lieutenant Yardef shrugged his shoulders, his face contorting at the new stab of pain. “Don’t ask me, Sarge.
All I know is the orders specified keeping those two samples out of fundamentalist hands at all cost. When the mutiny began, the Captain ordered me to make them our top priority. Way above my pay grade to ask why.”
“I hope they’re worth the lives they cost us,” said the sergeant. “Any luck with communications?”
The older man shook his head in silence. “Nothing but static so far. I’ll …” He coughed again and dropped to the floor.
“Lieutenant!” Vedak jumped out of his chair and fell to his knees, lifting the lifeless body of the officer.
The sound of sporadic energy blasts tore his attention away from the dead lieutenant. He checked the monitor and stumbled to the intercom controls. “What’s going on out there, soldier?” he demanded of the man he saw on the camera. The bright orange flash of a laser blast missed the soldier’s head by inches.
“The fundie rebels, Sarge,” called out the soldier as he fired several rounds down the corridor behind him. “They broke out of their makeshift fortress on deck twelve and forced us to regroup here. We got most of them, but it cost us. Only a few of us left now.”
The sergeant quickly appraised the situation and made his decision. “Stand your ground, soldier. Nobody gets through you into this room. I’ve got to try to reach Latonia Base. Kill anything in a robe that’s still breathing.”
“Those fucking fundies are as good as dead, Sarge.”
Another flash lit up the monitor and blood splattered the camera lens before he could acknowledge. As the sergeant stepped back into the ether wave room he heard the speakers come to life. “Hegira, this is Latonia Base. Do you read us, Hegira? Come in.”
The sergeant lunged to the floor, grabbing the microphone in his shaking hand; the last remnants of his self-control dissolving rapidly. “Latonia Base, this is Hegira. I read you,” he responded. “Praise The Eternal!
You can hear me. Please help. They’re killing each other. Only a few of us are left and badly wounded. Help us!”
Static crackled from the speaker. The lieutenant, bleeding and dying from the injuries he received during the mutiny trembled feebly as he gripped the microphone. Blood soaked his crest feathers; his talons broken and jagged from the hand-to-hand combat in the spaceship’s passageways. He knew his wounds were fatal, but his duty was clear: to report back to base about the failure of the mission. His body tensed as the next wave of pain shot through him.
“Latonia Base, this is Hegira. Come in. Priority clearance Falcon, Delta. Come in Base. Damn you to hell!” the soldier shouted in desperation. “Somebody answer! Come in, Latonia!” The microphone dropped from his talons, clattering on the control panel before falling to the metal plated floor. The lieutenant slumped back into the chair, pressing a blood soaked rag to his shoulder. Staring out the view port he watched the star-filled blackness and wondered at the cruel turn fate had taken over the past few days.
A pounding on the hatch caused the lieutenant to reach for his sidearm. “Lieutenant Yardef! It’s Vedak. Let me in, sir!”
The lieutenant pulled himself up in the chair and reached out with a fractured, bloodstained talon to press the door release circuit. With a sharp hiss, the door slid open and in hobbled Sergeant Vedak, one of his few remaining platoon members.
“It worked, sir,” the soldier said, crashing into the second chair in the room.
Yardef surveyed his subordinate’s injuries, noting several which would prove to be fatal. “You okay, Sarge? You don’t look so good.”
“Look who’s talking,” said the young soldier. He tugged at his uniform, checking his wounds.
“We got most of them sealed in the lower decks and opened the cargo hatches to space. They didn’t stand a chance once we decompressed decks one through ten. They’re all dead now. Just a few survivors are holed up one deck above us.” Ripping a piece from his ruined shirt he wrapped the makeshift bandage around the laser shot in his arm.
“Good. Were you able to get the hatches closed again?”
The sergeant looked his superior in the eyes and shook his head. “Negative. All the controls are fried.”
“I need you to go find the engineer. See if he can do anything.”
“He’s dead, sir. He bought it down in cargo bay C during the first assault.”
The two sat in silence for several long minutes before either could speak. “That looks pretty bad, sir. Want me to look at it?” Vedak pointed at the lieutenant’s shoulder, still bleeding heavily despite the thick bandage he pressed against it.
“Don’t waste your time.” The officer coughed and winced as the pain gripped him again. “At least I won’t have to wait around to starve to death. Are those vials secured?”
“Yes, sir. We were able to pull them from cryogenics before those clerics overran us. I locked them up in the high security bay. No one can get to them now. What’s so important about those two samples, sir? Out of the thousands of samples, why just those two?”
Lieutenant Yardef shrugged his shoulders, his face contorting at the new stab of pain. “Don’t ask me, Sarge.
All I know is the orders specified keeping those two samples out of fundamentalist hands at all cost. When the mutiny began, the Captain ordered me to make them our top priority. Way above my pay grade to ask why.”
“I hope they’re worth the lives they cost us,” said the sergeant. “Any luck with communications?”
The older man shook his head in silence. “Nothing but static so far. I’ll …” He coughed again and dropped to the floor.
“Lieutenant!” Vedak jumped out of his chair and fell to his knees, lifting the lifeless body of the officer.
The sound of sporadic energy blasts tore his attention away from the dead lieutenant. He checked the monitor and stumbled to the intercom controls. “What’s going on out there, soldier?” he demanded of the man he saw on the camera. The bright orange flash of a laser blast missed the soldier’s head by inches.
“The fundie rebels, Sarge,” called out the soldier as he fired several rounds down the corridor behind him. “They broke out of their makeshift fortress on deck twelve and forced us to regroup here. We got most of them, but it cost us. Only a few of us left now.”
The sergeant quickly appraised the situation and made his decision. “Stand your ground, soldier. Nobody gets through you into this room. I’ve got to try to reach Latonia Base. Kill anything in a robe that’s still breathing.”
“Those fucking fundies are as good as dead, Sarge.”
Another flash lit up the monitor and blood splattered the camera lens before he could acknowledge. As the sergeant stepped back into the ether wave room he heard the speakers come to life. “Hegira, this is Latonia Base. Do you read us, Hegira? Come in.”
The sergeant lunged to the floor, grabbing the microphone in his shaking hand; the last remnants of his self-control dissolving rapidly. “Latonia Base, this is Hegira. I read you,” he responded. “Praise The Eternal!
You can hear me. Please help. They’re killing each other. Only a few of us are left and badly wounded. Help us!”