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[MaxTheFox]

I am writing a series of novels set in my constructed world, Stardust, on which I and my friends worked for around 2 years now.

It offers a future with a genuinely good quality of life for humanity; a breath of fresh air in an age of pessimism and media-wide doomerist thought. In my writing, I also reconstruct and modernize the space-opera premise, throwing out many of its overly cliched or conservative tropes. But humans are not special or the sole focus, there are genuinely over a dozen species that each have their own history and complex culture not reduced to a few "hats". All set against a backdrop of hard science with a few concessions to theme and convenience like fast genemodding and FTL. However there is no "space magic", obsession with powerscaling, or similar, making the world much more grounded than most sci-fi.

Even though I am a beginner writer, I have got a good reception from those I showed to, but I lack the budget to make a proper advertisement. I'm looking for more potential readers.

Book list

• Stardust: Origins - Where it all began. A fairly normal human and a bunch of aliens, alongside a cyborg, go on a trip to see Earth. Along the way they run into a conspiracy. The style here is strange, if you don't like it then try one of the later books.
• Stardust: Marathon - A workplace dramedy about a scout ship refitted into an extremely fast courier with a specialized ultra-fast FTL drive is sent to deliver a message that is critical to the Alliance's conflict with the Hegemony.
• Stardust: Labyrinth - A team of archeologists discovers a precursor installation on a glass planet, what follows is essentially a dungeon-crawl in space. Ongoing.

There is also a small but lively and comfy Discord community! I share lore and sometimes microfics and such there.

(Note: I edited out an old and outdated setting summary to replace it with this concise blurb.)

[EuchreJack]

What are the Corporations doing?

[MaxTheFox]

What are the Corporations doing?

They still exist. Didn't really develop that part of the lore much.

[EuchreJack]

What are the Corporations doing?

They still exist. Didn't really develop that part of the lore much.

Boring. I thought you were going to depict a future where they were all killed off. That would have been an interesting read.

Plot point: Nobody's going to Space in the next decade without Elon Musk's permission. Even worse: Elon won't live forever, so his Star Eyed optimism will be replaced by pure corporate greed.
How do the Governments respond?

Arguably, it actually means nothing. Gates had a monopoly on Software, the Government stepped in, it didn't change much, the World moved on. Space-X will just be another monopoly leading into the future.  You could do a write up on the company with the monopoly on the Ugolnikov Drive if you like.

Although I like the idea of the inventor of the Ugolnikov Drive being like Tesla and making it available to everyone, with an "inventor" like Benjamin Franklin rising to prominence selling the Ugolnikov Drive to colonies without the tech.

Before bothering you with stuff that might bore/annoy you, anything in particular you are looking for in response?

[MaxTheFox]

What are the Corporations doing?

They still exist. Didn't really develop that part of the lore much.

Boring. I thought you were going to depict a future where they were all killed off. That would have been an interesting read.
They're on a somewhat tighter leash than they are now, at least.

Plot point: Nobody's going to Space in the next decade without Elon Musk's permission. Even worse: Elon won't live forever, so his Star Eyed optimism will be replaced by pure corporate greed.
How do the Governments respond?

Arguably, it actually means nothing. Gates had a monopoly on Software, the Government stepped in, it didn't change much, the World moved on. Space-X will just be another monopoly leading into the future.  You could do a write up on the company with the monopoly on the Ugolnikov Drive if you like.
Fair, that's one topic I will explore.

Although I like the idea of the inventor of the Ugolnikov Drive being like Tesla and making it available to everyone, with an "inventor" like Benjamin Franklin rising to prominence selling the Ugolnikov Drive to colonies without the tech.
That's what happened early on.

Before bothering you with stuff that might bore/annoy you, anything in particular you are looking for in response?
Cultural stuff. Both human and alien.

[EuchreJack]

I am quite intrigued by QDNE-32.  I can see a lot of plot points there.  You could set a whole series in that realm.

Why do these Five races merit Security Counsel status over the 15 other races?

Why are the alien communities referred to as "races", rather than "civilizations"? Are no extraterrestrial civilizations multiracial?

I can't help but picture The Kseldani Collective as cute.  You say lizardlike muzzles, but I keep thinking doglike muzzles.

Do lasers exist? Do people on frontier planets have them? Or is that considered "kinda stupid" on most civilized worlds?

[MaxTheFox]

I am quite intrigued by QDNE-32.  I can see a lot of plot points there.  You could set a whole series in that realm.
Yep it's kind of a spin on the "robot empire" trope.

Why do these Five races merit Security Counsel status over the 15 other races?
By the virtue of having tens of colonized systems as opposed to being minor powers with one to five systems.

Why are the alien communities referred to as "races", rather than "civilizations"? Are no extraterrestrial civilizations multiracial?
Generally, due to consequences of how the evolution of sapience works making multiple species from one planet, as well as biochemistry and cultural issues preventing large-scale cohabitation of multiple extraterrestrial species, civilizations have a single dominant species. Exceptions exist but I haven't developed them much.

I can't help but picture The Kseldani Collective as cute.  You say lizardlike muzzles, but I keep thinking doglike muzzles.
Due to not having scales honestly the resemblance is there.

Do lasers exist? Do people on frontier planets have them? Or is that considered "kinda stupid" on most civilized worlds?
Yes, considering advancements in power storage density they are pretty common. Yes. Why would it be?

[EuchreJack]

Do lasers exist? Do people on frontier planets have them? Or is that considered "kinda stupid" on most civilized worlds?
Yes, considering advancements in power storage density they are pretty common. Yes. Why would it be?

I consider that last part a moral victory. I can die happy now.

[MaxTheFox]

The book in this setting is RELEASED!!!! Check it out! https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/73240/stardust

The year is 2230. Humanity has spread out into space thanks to the invention of FTL and torchdrives. The overall technological vibe of the setting resembles a mix of post-cyberpunk, biopunk, vaguely retro classic-sci-fi, and contemporary stuff.

Kayden is a human who has a few alien friends and lives on a boring and unremarkable frontier planet. One day, he scrounges up enough money for a trip to Earth-- the shining capital of human civilization, and takes his friends (2 aliens) along. Early on, they stumble into a conspiracy and generally hijinks ensue. After that they pick up more travelers. A lot of this book is interpersonal interaction and it's fairly chill as far as modern sci-fi goes.

[MaxTheFox]

My second book's prologue and first chapter have released. You do not need to have read the first book to understand it. It has a rather different theme and vibe from the first, but is set in the same universe. Updates will be weekly! https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/74149/stardust-marathon

[Quarque]

The restrictions I set on myself: everything must be scientifically-accurate or at least have verisimilitude, except for the necessary evil of FTL (which is still, at least, consistent).

Hmm I think the consequences of no-FTL are interesting as well, especially if paired with very long lifespans (so a person may still survive a trip to another star).

Either way, will have to read this!

[MaxTheFox]

The restrictions I set on myself: everything must be scientifically-accurate or at least have verisimilitude, except for the necessary evil of FTL (which is still, at least, consistent).

Hmm I think the consequences of no-FTL are interesting as well, especially if paired with very long lifespans (so a person may still survive a trip to another star).

Either way, will have to read this!

It's interesting but not the kind of story I want to tell.

[MaxTheFox]

My second book's prologue and first chapter have released. You do not need to have read the first book to understand it. It has a rather different theme and vibe from the first, but is set in the same universe. Updates will be weekly! https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/74149/stardust-marathon

The second chapter is now out!

[MaxTheFox]

Third chapter is out. Surprised I can keep on schedule heh.

[MaxTheFox]

Third chapter is out. Surprised I can keep on schedule heh.

Fourth chapter is out, after a slight delay!