Christian Cantrell

Like tablets, VR promised to become a revolutionary new computing platform, arrived after a series of false starts, and is now struggling to find its place in a technologically capricious world.

A delicate balance exists between humankind on Earth and the Coronians, the descendants of terrestrial scientists who were marooned aboard the space station Equinox. In exchange for raw materials crucial to expanding their off-world home, the Coronians provide precious space-based solar power to an Earth obscured by greenhouse gasses. But distrust runs deep between the two races, with each yearning for freedom from their mutual dependence yet both terrified of perishing without the other’s… Show more

A delicate balance exists between humankind on Earth and the Coronians, the descendants of terrestrial scientists who were marooned aboard the space station Equinox. In exchange for raw materials crucial to expanding their off-world home, the Coronians provide precious space-based solar power to an Earth obscured by greenhouse gasses. But distrust runs deep between the two races, with each yearning for freedom from their mutual dependence yet both terrified of perishing without the other’s help.

Now, their future rests in the hands of Ayla Novik, an itinerant smuggler desperate to survive the menacing world in which she plies her trade, and Luka Mance, a drug-addicted technician determined to save his planet and his people from deadly betrayal by their extraterrestrial cousins. When Ayla makes a devil’s deal to take human hostages in a Coronian power play, her mission sparks a revolt that will force an ultimate confrontation between earthbound and space-born…deciding once and for all whether two races will rise to coexistence or collapse in devastation. Show less

When humanity is forced to the edges of the last remaining habitable regions along Earth’s equator, three nations turn against one another, competing for resources in a desperate bid for survival. In an effort to end a decades-long stalemate with China and Russia, the American military turns to Miguel dos Santos, a brilliant roboticist living in self-imposed exile. They’re after his creation—the Autonomous Self Replicating Asset (ASRA)—a ruthless robot that makes the perfect soldier. Key to… Show more

When humanity is forced to the edges of the last remaining habitable regions along Earth’s equator, three nations turn against one another, competing for resources in a desperate bid for survival. In an effort to end a decades-long stalemate with China and Russia, the American military turns to Miguel dos Santos, a brilliant roboticist living in self-imposed exile. They’re after his creation—the Autonomous Self Replicating Asset (ASRA)—a ruthless robot that makes the perfect soldier. Key to ASRA’s utility is its brainbox, a neurological processor that combines the logic and reasoning of a computer with the creativity and free will of a human. ASRA is the Americans’ best hope at finally winning the seventy-five-year Equatorial Wars, but as Miguel reluctantly carries out his orders, it becomes clear he has his own plans for the fate of humanity.

Brainbox is a stark, chilling vision of the future of warfare in a devastated, dystopian world. Show less

In an economically depressed and politically dysfunctional US of the near future, the long-defunct NASA is reestablished. Wanting to revive American hope and patriotism, the president engages in a “space race” redux, though this time around the competition is the Chinese rather than the Soviets, the target is Mars instead of the moon, and the US is hopelessly behind.

In a desperate attempt to catch up, a ragtag team of NASA’s elite comes up with a far-fetched plan to beat the Chinese to… Show more

In an economically depressed and politically dysfunctional US of the near future, the long-defunct NASA is reestablished. Wanting to revive American hope and patriotism, the president engages in a “space race” redux, though this time around the competition is the Chinese rather than the Soviets, the target is Mars instead of the moon, and the US is hopelessly behind.

In a desperate attempt to catch up, a ragtag team of NASA’s elite comes up with a far-fetched plan to beat the Chinese to the punch. But when the shuttle’s pilot—lead engineer Austin Lockwood—vanishes into thin air after landing on Mars, NASA starts to wonder if they are actually in control of the mission or unwittingly playing a part in history’s most elaborate hoax. Show less

Alexei Drovosek represents the next evolution of human: no heart, immunity to cancer, and the uncanny ability to survive in conditions that would kill normal men. As an orphan growing up in post-Soviet Russia, Alexei was taken in by the state and trained as its most vicious and effective killer. But eventually the Russian Federal Security Service’s best-trained assassin did the most dangerous thing of all: he turned on his handlers, went rogue, and disappeared.

In the bleak, high-tech… Show more

Alexei Drovosek represents the next evolution of human: no heart, immunity to cancer, and the uncanny ability to survive in conditions that would kill normal men. As an orphan growing up in post-Soviet Russia, Alexei was taken in by the state and trained as its most vicious and effective killer. But eventually the Russian Federal Security Service’s best-trained assassin did the most dangerous thing of all: he turned on his handlers, went rogue, and disappeared.

In the bleak, high-tech near future, Alexei has resurfaced in a secret compound on the outskirts of Los Angeles, a city where autonomous-drive vehicles race along the highways and independent city-states operate with materialistic impunity. In the center of it all is the soaring headquarters of Pearl Knight Holdings, an international mega-corporation that keeps war machines and cultural capitalism running in every country and on every continent on the planet. As a principle proponent of the 31st Amendment to the United States constitution, which legalized the transfer of suffrage from citizens to corporations, Pearl Knight’s power is truly above the law.

Alexei lives a clandestine existence where his closest companions are his personal AI, Emma, and a group of orphans he has spent years amassing and training. But Alexei isn’t fostering these children as a favor to the state; he’s raising them with the hope that they will destroy it. As he moves each child into play in the world’s highest-stakes game of chess that spans decades and continents, Alexei fights to destroy the plutocratic control of those in power and restore what matters to him most: democracy and freedom. Show less

The colony on Venus was not built because the destruction of Earth was possible, but because it was inevitable…

A brilliant young scientist and one of the first humans born on Venus, Arik works tirelessly to perfect the science of artificial photosynthesis, a project crucial to the future of his home, V1. The colony was built on the harsh Venusian surface by the Founders, the first humans to establish a permanent extraterrestrial settlement. Arik’s research becomes critical when he… Show more

The colony on Venus was not built because the destruction of Earth was possible, but because it was inevitable…

A brilliant young scientist and one of the first humans born on Venus, Arik works tirelessly to perfect the science of artificial photosynthesis, a project crucial to the future of his home, V1. The colony was built on the harsh Venusian surface by the Founders, the first humans to establish a permanent extraterrestrial settlement. Arik’s research becomes critical when he awakens from an unexplained, near-fatal accident and learns that his wife is three months pregnant. Unless Arik’s research uncovers a groundbreaking discovery, V1’s oxygen supply will not be able to support the increase in population that his baby represents.

As Arik works against time, he begins to untangle the threads of his accident, which seem inextricably linked to what lies outside the protective walls of V1—a world where the caustic atmosphere and extreme heat make all forms of known life impossible. For its entire existence, Arik's generation has been expected to help solve the problems of colonization. But as Arik digs deeper and deeper, he discovers alarming truths about the planet that the Founders have kept hidden. With growing urgency and increasing peril, Arik finds himself on a journey that will push him to the limits of his intelligence and take him beyond the unimaginable. Show less

I contributed an appendix covering tips, tricks and caveats for working with Flash and touch-screens. Also included information about touch-screen technology in general and a list of touch-screen manufacturers available at the time of publication.

darkmatter.fm is a podcast by science fiction author Christian Cantrell. Each episode uses storytelling to explore a different aspect of technology, and reveal how it influences not only our individual lives, but our entire culture.