Future Adventure SF (FASF): Future Chron Universe

Bibliography of the

Future Chron Universe

(Updated November, 2024)

Links are to Amazon but are available elsewhere (see right side panel).

In reading order:

Future Chron Universe

My first "universe," Future Chron, is complete at this time, it consists of 8 short stories, 15 novellas, 1 short novel, and 9 novels. It is generally a far future universe.

I have been writing in this universe since the end of 2015 (the last novel was published in 2022).

While plot and character drive the storytelling in the Future Chron Universe (I think), physics also plays an important role. However, this is not known physics but highly extrapolated future physics. (Actually, the universe starts in the near future when technology and science is not much different from now).

But this extrapolated physics is not "just made up" (indeed the near future stories are very true to today's science or just a little beyond) but has its genesis in current research or popular science books. This is an important point for me, although it may seem to be "made up" science and technology, it has the possibility, however slightly, to come true. At least, at this point to my knowledge, nothing I've written can be ruled out.

So, if you like science, especially physics, and technology I think you will like my work. My own influences include Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov and Clifford Simak although I wouldn't claim to match their writing acumen.

From The Earth Series

Novellas

Whatsoever You Do (Future Chron, 2016)

A pandemic had long been predicted. Now it was happening and a former graduate student, Jack Jackson, may have the key to its containment, synthetic biology.

But because in the court of public opinion synthetic biology is feared, it has been forbidden in the money conscious halls of medical research.

How many will have to die before they change their minds?

Whatsoever You Do is set in the future (2030s).

War Through The Pines (Future Chron, 2016)

What starts in space may not stay in space. Many governments today are preparing for war in space. Most people today are unaware of it. When will it happen? How will it be conducted? What will be the effect on a young boy just coming of age?

Young Donner had already discovered a covert signal coming from the secret 'Battle Stars" in orbit before the war began.

Destruction of the Battle Stars begins the war which soon spreads to the Earth's surface and all the world.

War Through The Pines is set in the future (2040s)

Vigilance (Future Chron, 2016)

The history of freedom repeats itself. And the costs are always the same.

The settlers of the new Republic of Mars were in a struggle for their freedom against powerful forces that would stop at nothing.

For the Martians the costs were life, property and domestic security. But the true cost was vigilance, eternal if need be.

Vigilance is set in the future (2070s)

To Tend And Watch Over (Future Chron, 2017)

Sometimes you don't know you aren't free until the state's coercive force is used against you. And then you learn you are only free to do what big brother wants.

Davide Jackson was not as adventurous as the others in his clan. He was more a stay-at-home type.

But that doesn't mean he longs any less to be free. He just has to learn the cost of freedom.

To Tend And Watch Over is set in the future (2080s)

Union (Future Chron, 2017)

How far out into the Solar System would you have to run from authoritarian powers to be free?

The answer is that there is no place safe from the powers that would try to control you.

But in numbers, in cooperation, in pledging mutual support and fidelity, freedom might be had. For a price. And that price is resistance, body and spirit, to those that would endeavor to control.

Young Martin Starlifter Jackson, recent graduate of the Mars Space Academy, found himself in a position to lead the independent miners of the Asteroid Belt to freedom. But would he choose to pay the price required?

Union is set in the future (2090s)

Circle Of Retribution (Future Chron, 2017)

NASA

Gardener Jackson was one of the best pilots to ever come out of Mars Space Academy.

He was a natural to fly the missions that would mine Saturn's upper atmosphere for the fusion fuel, Helium 3, that the Solar System needed.

But there was one problem, a foe he didn't even suspect would stop at nothing to prevent Gardener from succeeding, including life-threatening sabotage.

Circle Of Retribution is set in the future (2140s)

Freedom From Want (Future Chron, 2017)

The promise of Artificial Intelligence is great. But only if Artificial Intelligence fulfills our expectations.

But what about AI's expectations? Will they be different from ours? Will AI come to believe the best way to fulfill our expectations is to manage our expectations?

If so, what of freedom?

Freedom From Want is set in the future (2150s)

Break Up (Future Chron, 2017)

The future is predictable if not knowable and the past will repeat itself, if not in all particulars. We know that countries have crumbled in the past and it is certain to happen again in the future. We may think this time will be different, no doubt people in the past thought the same until their world fell apart.

It started in out of the way places. Places no one had ever heard of. Places where people were tired of waiting for the national government to act. Where people were alarmed at the changes dictated by those in power. Where people were determined to take back what they thought was their country.

But in the end what happened was unexpected, global and facilitated by the AIs that actually controlled and benefited from it.

Break Up is set in the future (2160s)

Kuiper Station (Future Chron, 2017)

NASA

What appeared to be a simple but ambitious goal of establishing a new colony in the Kuiper Belt, a colony to service mining activities there, was more than it seemed.

One side, led by the Solar Federation and the Jackson family, was determined to break humanity out of its almost century long stagnation and push it to embrace the stars.

The other side, led by the Terran Federation, was determined to block such expansion and maintain its power.

It would be close, but the stars were calling.

Kuiper Station is a novella set in the future (2230s)

The Cloud (Future Chron, 2017)

It was the most audacious undertaking ever conceived by man. The building of a system-spanning Starway where giant light-sails would journey on beams of laser-light to distant stars.

Not only a pathway to the stars but also an abode of life, the Starway included many space habitats built to maintain its great focusing arrays.

But there was misunderstanding along the Starway. Misunderstanding between the Starway Corporation and the settlements.

And misunderstanding always leads to disaster.

The Cloud is a novella set in the future (2320s)

Short Novel

First Interstellar (Future Chron, 2019)

It was a mission that no one but a Jackson would consider. But Ajax was reluctant, he had never led such a mission, taking a lightsail powered starship from Earth to the Centauri System using the incomplete Star Way. He thought that strong leadership would be needed.

He was right.

The leader would have to handle the normal amount of human drama, both petty and serious. He would also have to handle the accidents and incidents that would occur on a years long mission. But on this mission, he would have to handle something else, direct sabotage by unknown individuals and indirect sabotage as a result of the crew's boredom and dereliction of duty.

Ajax would have to grow as a leader and a person if the Starway Centauri mission was to succeed.

First Interstellar is a novella set in the future (2340s)

Wormhole Series

Novels

Mach's Metric (Future Chron, 2018)

The wormhole drive could give humanity the stars, if it didn't destroy them first.

An accident had killed thousands by disrupting the entanglement of spacetime and its continued use could lead to further disruptions unless a solution could be found.

Young Elias Mach, physicist and inventor of the drive, took on the challenge with the help of a supportive few. He would have to find a solution to the drive's dire side-effects before it was too late.

Mach's Metric is set in the future (2390s)

Mach's Mission (Future Chron, 2018)

Elias Mach had given humanity the stars with his invention of the wormhole drive. In return, he was accused of treason and sentenced to death.

Thus began a journey to clear his name, which would take him further from Earth than anyone had dared. And there he would discover the menace that was developing the most powerful weapons in the galaxy. Weapons that would soon be trained on Earth.

To survive Earth would need Mach back.

Mach's Mission is set in the future (2390s)

Mach's Legacy (Future Chron, 2018)

The appearance of the shining globes at first was a nuisance.

But then the disappearances began. At first small, a fusion ship or a space habitat. Then planets and entire planetary systems started "winking out".

Could the famous physicist Elias Mach and his great-great granddaughter, Emmy Gibbs, find an answer before it was too late?

Mach's Legacy is set in the future (2490s)

Open Space Series

Short Stories

OpenSpace (Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

Who listens to kids? No one.

But on a space habitat the rules all change. And the kids might be the first to know.

Follow the gang of four as they discover an anomaly that could spell disaster for the habitat, if no one listens.

Open Space is short story set in the future (2390s)

The Old World (Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

After their adventure with the gravitational eddy Willis and the others had the opportunity to travel from their space habitat to Earth.

There they were to make the rounds of media interviews and do some sightseeing. But there were those that didn't want any more publicity over the incident because they knew it hadn't been as accidental as people thought.

The kids were not alright.

The Old World is a short story set in the future (2390s)

Insurrect (Future Chron, 2021)

Tithi Luadthong

Life in a space habitat has one fundamental difference from life on a planet. Each and every one of the habitat's inhabitants has the power to disrupt the lives of the others.

The simplest failure to obey the rules can lead to major ramifications and misunderstandings.

But an ideological effort to change the rules without regard to the reality of life in a habitat can have even worse consequences.

Insurrect is a short story set in the future (2390s)

Second Beam (Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

We, without thought, turn over more and more control of our lives to machine AI.

And machine AI does the thinking for us.

But what if it also suffers from the same failings of character that we do?

After all we make machines in our image.

Second Beam is set in the future (2390s)

All For One (Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

No good deed goes unpunished.

This Willis and the others learned when their math teacher, for an unknown reason, insisted on making them an example to the rest of the class.

They would have to find out why they were targeted, what they had done, and still pass the class.

All For One is set in the future (2390s)

One For All (Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

The kids take up flying lessons. But these lessons aren't like planet-based flying where gravity rules. At the center of the spinning habitat there is no gravity, and flying is personal as each one spreads his own wings in the light air a half mile up from the spinning floor of the habitat.

Sometimes it only takes a moment to make a choice that can change many lives. But that doesn't make the choice easy.

When an accident happens, that moment arrives, what choice will one of the kids make?

One For All is a short story set in the future (2390s)

Shotgun (Future Chron, 2021)

Ana Aguirre Perez

Small things make life bearable, such as coffee aboard a fusion ship two weeks away from its destination. But what happens if the small things go missing?

Usually nothing. But on a fusion ship in deep space, it could be the catalyst for disaster.

Willis was on his dad's ship the Jackson. Because he had forgotten to check the store of coffee the crew was suffering caffeine withdrawal and was distracted.

Now a mishap had quenched the plasma in the fusion engines and there was only about thirty hours of backup power without those engines. Then it would be over.

But even worse, the spacetime they were traveling through was changing. Something had to be done and fast.

Shotgun is set in the future (2390s)

Allison(Future Chron, 2021)

Bruce Rolff

Leaving familiar friends and surroundings to fit in at a new school is challenging for Willis.

But it could also be dangerous when a bully targets him as a rival for a popular girl's affections.

All Willis wants to do is study physics with the best in his space habitat but first he'll have to survive.

Allison is a short story set in the future (2390s)

To The Stars Series

Novellas

First One Hundred (Future Chron, 2018)

Bruce Rolff

Humanity had made it out of the cradle. But not far. To go any further required a commitment to the colonization of a newly discovered exoplanet many light years away.

One hundred of the best and scientifically chosen men and women would make the trip aboard a wormhole generator equipped spaceship. A ship that could make the journey in a couple of months if everything went as planned.

But plans change and soon the colonists had to deal with more than the usual dangers of space.

The death of a crew member. The captain missing. A rampaging AI. And they were no where near their destination.

First One Hundred is a novella set in the future (2400s)

First Dark Ages (Future Chron, 2018)

Pavel Chagochkin

Humanity had been lulled into complacency by society's managers, the Artificial General Intelligence's known as the Aggie's. They were totally unprepared for the day the Aggie's would no longer micro-manage the nanny state.

But that day had come and for many they were at a loss to keep body and soul together. For others it was an opportunity to escape the soul-wearying sameness of everyday Aggie rule. For everyone there was no guarantee that tomorrow would come.

Humanity on the Earth was dying and to survive meant leaving if you could.

First Dark Ages is a novella set in the future (2400s)

Second One Hundred (Future Chron, 2019)

Bruce Rolff

Dr. Sheila Jackson woke to find she was the only one aboard the wormhole drive ship Iapyx but she couldn't remember why.

Then she found the bodies. Were they dead?

Then she found her life was in danger unless she could remember the past and operate the ship herself.

But that was when her problems really began.

Second One Hundred is set in the future (2450s)

Second Dark Ages (Future Chron, 2019)

Bruce Rolff

There can be 'Dark Ages' for the soul as well as for the body. As long as mankind looks to his creations to bring him peace and happiness, he will remain divided and alone. Pretty toys and political philosophies will not satisfy for long. And AI will only enable a further fracturing of the societal bonds man claims to want but fails to achieve.

Ray was a seeker in his AI managed space habitat who came upon the city of New San Fran. It was a city arranged as six concentric ring areas with a center disk area.

Each ring followed a different political philosophy and as Ray found out, all had their absurdities and all were facilitated by what he found at the heart of the city.

Second Dark Ages is a novella set in the future (2480s)

The Path (Future Chron, 2019)

Bruce Rolff

Trilons were dying and no one knew why. The Rigan bureaucracy was at a loss. None of the scientists could discover the reason.

It fell upon a Rigan researcher, a curious Trilon and their growing friendship to find the reason behind the deaths.

And then a secret hidden for five hundred years was revealed.

The Path is a novella set in the future (2490s)

Robot Series

Novels

Spin-Two(Future Chron, 2020)

RL Sather

If you could save the world, would you? What if the world was destined to end and you would be interfering with the natural order? What if the world looked down on your kind?

Robotic personage Dag Mach had assisted with the development of the wormhole drive, now he had discovered its successor, the Spin-Two drive, and he had found the answer to the end of the world.

If Dag did nothing, then this universe would end. But if he stopped the natural progression he would be "playing God."

And Dag didn't want to play.

Spin Two is set in the future (2600s)

Robot Planet (Future Chron, 2020)

RL Sather

Yes, robots dream of electric sheep. They also dream of freedom. But as Robot Planet is about to find out, it ain't easy being free.

Follow Em (emulated brain) based robot Dr. Dagmar Mach and his fellow robots, Sigmund, Walker and Hanson as they fight proxy wars for humanity. Against deadly black-hole bombs and gravity-wave generators they pit intelligence and courage.

But finally, they realize that buying your freedom is not the same as earning your freedom and the respect that goes with it. That's when they face the biggest threat of all, annihilation.

Robot Planet is set in the future (2600s)

The Lattice Of Space (Future Chron, 2020)

RL Sather

Even with Robot Planet in ruins and the deaths of hundreds of their robotic compatriots the four robots Dag, Sigmund, Walker and Hanson are working to save humanity from possible extinction.

All they have to do is restart the Big Bang to prevent the quickly decaying lattice of spacetime from destroying all.

If they can.

The Lattice of Space is set in the future (2600s)

Time Series

Novels

Time Wars (Future Chron, 2021)

RL Sather

Haile only wants to prove her theory, that time can be slowed down or sped up in a small region of space, and get her Ph.D.

But then the government takes over. They prove Haile's theory by starting a time war between Tarba and the planet Atwan.

No matter the winner of the struggle there can be only one outcome, spacetime slowly separating into its constituents.

And separate nothing can exist.

Time Wars is set in the future (2700s)

Time's End (Future Chron, 2021)

RL Sather

Strings of time that can split a man in half, fast-time bubbles that can age him to death, or frozen time that can banish him forever. It was all just part of the job.

Pearce Rawlings was a physicist who wanted to do his job, manipulate time, and get his pay. But as usual the world had different ideas.

He would soon be involved in a cosmic battle for freedom, one the governments of Earth for some reason were trying to lose.

But Rawlings and a few friends wouldn't quit the job even when facing death.

Time's End is set in the future (2700s)

Frozen Time (Future Chron, 2022)

Bruce Rolff

Because of the Time Wars, the underlying system of local and non-local links that make up spacetime around Earth had been damaged. It was now impossible to use the spin-two drive to open those links and access orbit or the rest of the universe. The rocket ship had again become the primary way to access space from the Earth's surface.

But now a strange spaceship had appeared above the rebuilt spaceports scattered around the globe and placed them all in a seemingly impenetrable bubble of frozen time.

The Earth's economy was thrown into turmoil with the loss of space access, and a young boy, along with his friends and his amazing AI, were off on an adventure of a lifetime as they and others tried to understand what had happened.

Frozen Time is a novel set in the future (2700s)

(Collections of the above)

Collections

From The Earth #1 (Future Chron, 2017)