An unprecedented cosmic event lit up the skies of Halon V, and the inhabitants have abandoned their homes and now travel across the great plains and hills of the interior of the continent. With no one running the space port you have been sent to restore facilities.

War has broken out amongst the cultures that float in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant planet Akenhotep. A weapons embargo has been declared and you and your ship have been sent to enforce it, but shuttles keep trying to slip past.

A religious revival on Sandrakhan has led to the formerly closed planet to open up to trade. However newly arrived merchants have been behaving poorly and when your ship arrives the Sandrakhan leaders ask you to pass on their displeasure.

For Sunday a brief look back at a short story nestling at the end of this review round up; L Chan's The Ocean Remembers The Wave in @strangehorizons.bsky.social in which a poet-warrior seeks lost space fleets - and lost space love. nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2023/12/shor...

Short Story Catch Up 1

It's December and I have a backlog of stories (and poems) I've read and wanted to review. So here's ten to get us started: 1. Conspiracy Of ...

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For Saturday our space opera serial continues as Tommy Gunn calls a robot oracle to defend him in his trial. A Robot Told Us To Do It is the second part of a two part story. www.patreon.com/posts/robot-...

A Robot Told Us To Do It | Neil Willcox

September's instalment of the Deep Patrol space opera serial picks up where the last one left off. Yes it's part 2; in part 1 Lieutenant Com

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The Tyrant Of Colossus has gathered his chief supporters at Venom Orbital Fortress to declare his successor. However something has gone wrong and the fort is now sealed off. Colossal forces claim it's impregnable, yet you have identified a weakness to enter and investigate.

Unusual transportation patterns have been detected, with otherwise innocuous components and supplies that might combine into high energy weaponry moving inexplicably from warehouse to ship around the sector. You are sent to inspect a consignment, only to find it missing.

A commando unit infiltrated Misograd Space, and have detected an illegal weapons bazaar. In order to attack and destroy the weapons they need a distraction so you and your ship are ordered to fake an emergency and head into Misograd space.

A ship has limped in with two people aboard. However one sleeps while the other wakes and they claim to share a consciousness. They leave the clinic and vanish. When you spot one on Farragut Station you approach them but are turned away and have no legal reason to detain them.

Strange breaches of security on Geneva Station suggest intelligence actions by unknown agents. Unable to find them, the local authorities have requested you and your crew perform an external security audit.

For Sunday some notes on Science Fiction Crime Thriller The Indestructible Man nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2023/12/film...

FIlms Catch Up 1

It's December and I haven't posted reviews for most of the films I've seen this year! Time for some catch up posts to clear the backlog. Her...

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For Saturday our space opera serial makes a turn into legal thriller territory with In Mitigation For The Crime Of Mutiny www.patreon.com/posts/in-mit...

In Mitigation For The Crime Of Mutiny | Neil Willcox

Inevitably, Lieutenant Commander Tommy "Ray" Gunn’s crimes catch up with him. While he and his crew are interrogated, much that was previous

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Escaped prisoners from the Gilean Mutiny have been discovered on Janus Station. You have been sent to return them but the station does not recognise your authority to detain them, and orders you outside their spacial limits.

Several ships have been seized by the Hrothian Government, the repatriated crews claiming for no reason. You and your ship are sent to discover what is happening, but the government refuses to discuss the matter without taking control of your vessel.

Strange tectonic events on the planet Hadlin have revealed an entire sub-planet beneath the surface. An expedition was drilling through the crust to investigate the sub-surface structures, but all communications have stopped and you and your crew have been sent to make contact.

A colony was built in the extensive caves of Xylum VII, but now a coterie of rockboring worms have hatched and are causing chaos. Their complex lifecycle is vital to the biosphere so the colonists are reluctant to kill them, and have requested your help.

A freighter has been robbed in mid-voyage, a cargo pod filled with valuables discovered empty. Only one ship has left the station since the arrival of the freighter so you and your ship head off in pursuit, only for it to vanish somewhere amongst the St George Crossroads asteroid archipelago

For Sunday a few notes on the film adaption of Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2023/11/i-wa...

I Watch Films: Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets Alpha, once a space station around earth, now the “city of a thousand planets” where diffe...

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For Saturday our space opera serial continues as the team have to rescue another crew who have got into trouble. Monolithic Society. www.patreon.com/posts/monoli...

Monolithic Society | Neil Willcox

Episode 8 of the Chronicles of the Deep Patrol.

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An archaeological foundation have been auditioning candidates at a simulated dig in a remote region of Gallic Prime. One day they vanish; when you pick up the candidates left behind they complain that their equipment has been stolen; one has identified likely real sites from the simulation.

Passing the Harris System you receive a covert automated alarm; an abandoned station has been reactivated. Approaching you are hailed, the people aboard claim to have escaped a wreck and ended up here - yet strangely there are no shuttles or pods for them to have arrived in.

One of your officers broke a pirate gang by going undercover; now some have escaped and are active again. Hunting them down you and your ship find yourself in a minefield; the pirates demand you turn over your officer to face their justice.

Low quality fuel has been causing ship breakdowns out in unorganised space. Attempts to locate the source of it have failed; different batches from different suppliers are sometimes adulterated, sometimes not. You go out to rescue a stranded ship only to discover it's a tanker.

There is an uncharted void between two historical exploration expeditions. You and your ship have been sent to scan it, but the further you go the more complex it gets with rogue planets, hermit asteroids, and remote ruins.

For Sunday notes on Elysium Fire, a future crime novel spun out of Reynold's Revelation Space series nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2023/11/i-re...

I Read Books: Elysium Fire

Elysium Fire A sequel to The Prefect (which in later editions was re/additionally titled Aurora Rising ). In the wake of the fallout ...

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For Saturday, another crew seems to be making a mess of first contacts - and they sound very familiar... our space opera serial continues with Second Chances www.patreon.com/posts/second...

Second Chance | Neil Willcox

This, the seventh instalment, brings Chronicles of the Deep Patrol to the halfway point. If you have any comments or questions, maybe now is

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An accident on Highdown Station has left debris scattered across the orbital track. While clearing up some of this you recover several bodies, including one that appears to have been shot before being blown out into space.

You take over a ship returning from a long cruise, only to be immediately ordered out to deal with an emergency. The crew are unhappy at so long without leave, some supplies are short and several departments need maintenance. Attackers are detected and the weapons systems fail to come online

The formerly closed world of Misea has opened, inviting offworlders come to trade, work or settle. When rumours of disappearances start to spread you and your ship arrive, to be told that the authorities don't track people, they're free to stay or go as they please.

A space transport line with the monopoly to several colonies and outposts has gone bankrupt. You and your ship have been sent to inform them and make arrangements. However at the first stop the inhabitants demand they be immediately evacuated due to breach of contract.