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Jack Commer, Supreme Commander
Nonprofit Chronowar
Ranna Kikken creates The Committee to End Suffering on Planet Earth, but its first conference in 2028 is ruined when ex-astronaut Joe Commer time travels from 2036 to lecture Ranna’s nonprofit ladies on the coming breakdown of the solar system. Tormented by his role in dropping the superbomb that ended the Final War but rendered Earth uninhabitable, Joe has quit the Space Force, much to the disgust of his older brother Jack, Supreme Commander of the USSF. In the audience, feckless young Urside Charmouth is horrified by the revelations from the future, fearing that he’s ruined the timeline with his own drug-like time travel experimentation.
2028 Urside drags his unsuspecting girlfriend Mandy on an irresponsible time travel romp to 2033 to find sobering proof of the coming destruction of Earth and the resulting evacuation of the remnants of humanity to Mars. Mandy then pulls herself and Urside to humanity’s new life on 2036 Mars, where she not only realizes that Mars is her true home, but also that she’s a reincarnation of an ancient Martian empress. Urside foolishly tries to escape with a final Time Transition which takes him far into the future. There he meets Polot, a refugee Alpha Centaurian, who outlines the damage Centaurian weaponized time travel has inflicted on Sol.
2028 Urside drags his unsuspecting girlfriend Mandy on an irresponsible time travel romp to 2033 to find sobering proof of the coming destruction of Earth and the resulting evacuation of the remnants of humanity to Mars. Mandy then pulls herself and Urside to humanity’s new life on 2036 Mars, where she not only realizes that Mars is her true home, but also that she’s a reincarnation of an ancient Martian empress. Urside foolishly tries to escape with a final Time Transition which takes him far into the future. There he meets Polot, a refugee Alpha Centaurian, who outlines the damage Centaurian weaponized time travel has inflicted on Sol.
244 pages, Paperback
First published May 23, 2013
4 people want to read
About the author
Michael D. Smith
26 books25 followersMichael D. Smith was raised in the Northeast and the Chicago area, then moved to Texas to attend Rice University, where he began developing as a writer and visual artist. His Jack Commer, Supreme Commander science fiction series is available from Sortmind Press.
Sortmind Press also publishes his literary novels Asylum and Mirage, Sortmind, CommWealth, The Soul Institute, Akard Drearstone, The University of Mars, and Zarreich, as well as his picture book, Trip to Mars. At blog.sortmind.com, Smith explores art and writing processes, and his web site, sortmind.com, contains further examples of his writing and art.
Supreme Commander Laurie, 2024
Before he suicidally blasts his spaceship into a star to confront a dangerous cosmic irregularity, Jack Commer elevates genius physician/engineer Laurie Lachrer to lead the United System Space Force. Supreme Commander Laurie, Book One in a series of the same title, follows her new challenges, beginning with the overthrow of the United System by fascists who hunt her down as a traitor.
The Jack Commer Series:
1. The Martian Marauders, 2020
After the Final War and the evacuation of the Earth’s population to Mars, Typhoon I Captain Jack Commer fights native Martians led by their traitorous new human Emperor.
2. Jack Commer, Supreme Commander, 2020
Newly-promoted Jack Commer brings poor negotiating skills to the war with the fascist Alpha Centaurian Empire.
3. Nonprofit Chronowar, 2020
Jack’s younger brother Joe time travels from 2036 to lecture complacent nonprofit ladies about the coming destruction of the planet.
4. Collapse and Delusion, 2020
Supreme Commander Jack Commer and his wife Amav journey to the paradise planet Andertwin for a painful visit with their reclusive son Jonathan James, author of a bestselling novel about the collapse of the Centaurian empire.
5. The Wounded Frontier, 2020
Jack Commer pushes for exploration far beyond Sol in the untested Typhoon V when a star thirty-four light years away abruptly vanishes, leaving the infrared signature of a Dyson sphere apparently built within one week.
6. The SolGrid Rebellion, 2020
When the solar system adopts the buggy SolGrid telepathic network designed by former Space Force officer Patrick James, Jack Commer’s charismatic but impudent son Jonathan James instigates a rebellion against fascist brainwashing.
7. Balloon Ship Armageddon, 2021
Eight hundred years after his death as a human, Jack Commer’s rebellious son Jonathan James rises as a Wounded bio-robot to captain Balloon Ship Armageddon on a toxic waterworld in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 163,000 light-years from Sol.
Literary novels:
Zarreich, 2025
An adolescent sent to live with his grandmother finds his memory wiped out. He panics and commits a murder, then becomes a member of a mystical commune beneath the ruined city of Zarreich.
The University of Mars, 2024
In a dysfunctional 2065 where religious zealots restrict the world to obsolete technology, eighteen-year-old Zeke Venan seeks comrades dedicated to the further evolution of humanity.
Asylum and Mirage, 2023
A naïve and disconnected artist gives a party to celebrate his success, only to find himself drafted that same night into a mindless war against the Reunion, an unstoppable army of hallucinatory consciousness.
CommWealth, 2020
When the Forensic Squad theatrical troupe breaks CommWealth's Four Rules of property sharing, several actors lead a suicidal revolution against the government.
The Soul Institute, 2020
Himal Steina fulfills his dreams of sanctuary when he becomes Writer in Residence at The Soul Institute and falls in love with one of its numerous faculty goddesses.
Jump Grenade, 2019
Berserk at missing his five hundredth point in a row, psychopathic Junior Dropout Basketball League star Billy Bolamme kills a taunting radio announcer with hand grenades, then blows up an entire sports arena to erase all witnesses to his crime.
Sortmind, 2019
Sortmind Press also publishes his literary novels Asylum and Mirage, Sortmind, CommWealth, The Soul Institute, Akard Drearstone, The University of Mars, and Zarreich, as well as his picture book, Trip to Mars. At blog.sortmind.com, Smith explores art and writing processes, and his web site, sortmind.com, contains further examples of his writing and art.
Supreme Commander Laurie, 2024
Before he suicidally blasts his spaceship into a star to confront a dangerous cosmic irregularity, Jack Commer elevates genius physician/engineer Laurie Lachrer to lead the United System Space Force. Supreme Commander Laurie, Book One in a series of the same title, follows her new challenges, beginning with the overthrow of the United System by fascists who hunt her down as a traitor.
The Jack Commer Series:
1. The Martian Marauders, 2020
After the Final War and the evacuation of the Earth’s population to Mars, Typhoon I Captain Jack Commer fights native Martians led by their traitorous new human Emperor.
2. Jack Commer, Supreme Commander, 2020
Newly-promoted Jack Commer brings poor negotiating skills to the war with the fascist Alpha Centaurian Empire.
3. Nonprofit Chronowar, 2020
Jack’s younger brother Joe time travels from 2036 to lecture complacent nonprofit ladies about the coming destruction of the planet.
4. Collapse and Delusion, 2020
Supreme Commander Jack Commer and his wife Amav journey to the paradise planet Andertwin for a painful visit with their reclusive son Jonathan James, author of a bestselling novel about the collapse of the Centaurian empire.
5. The Wounded Frontier, 2020
Jack Commer pushes for exploration far beyond Sol in the untested Typhoon V when a star thirty-four light years away abruptly vanishes, leaving the infrared signature of a Dyson sphere apparently built within one week.
6. The SolGrid Rebellion, 2020
When the solar system adopts the buggy SolGrid telepathic network designed by former Space Force officer Patrick James, Jack Commer’s charismatic but impudent son Jonathan James instigates a rebellion against fascist brainwashing.
7. Balloon Ship Armageddon, 2021
Eight hundred years after his death as a human, Jack Commer’s rebellious son Jonathan James rises as a Wounded bio-robot to captain Balloon Ship Armageddon on a toxic waterworld in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 163,000 light-years from Sol.
Literary novels:
Zarreich, 2025
An adolescent sent to live with his grandmother finds his memory wiped out. He panics and commits a murder, then becomes a member of a mystical commune beneath the ruined city of Zarreich.
The University of Mars, 2024
In a dysfunctional 2065 where religious zealots restrict the world to obsolete technology, eighteen-year-old Zeke Venan seeks comrades dedicated to the further evolution of humanity.
Asylum and Mirage, 2023
A naïve and disconnected artist gives a party to celebrate his success, only to find himself drafted that same night into a mindless war against the Reunion, an unstoppable army of hallucinatory consciousness.
CommWealth, 2020
When the Forensic Squad theatrical troupe breaks CommWealth's Four Rules of property sharing, several actors lead a suicidal revolution against the government.
The Soul Institute, 2020
Himal Steina fulfills his dreams of sanctuary when he becomes Writer in Residence at The Soul Institute and falls in love with one of its numerous faculty goddesses.
Jump Grenade, 2019
Berserk at missing his five hundredth point in a row, psychopathic Junior Dropout Basketball League star Billy Bolamme kills a taunting radio announcer with hand grenades, then blows up an entire sports arena to erase all witnesses to his crime.
Sortmind, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 6, 2013
Book Three in the Jack Commer Series, Nonprofit Chronowar, opens with an intriguing mystery involving Joe Commer, the passionate younger brother of Jack, Supreme Commander of the United System Space Force. Tormented by women and unable to cope with having rendered Earth uninhabitable in order to end the Final War, Joe somehow spontaneously time travels to Earth from 2036 to 2020, a date preceding the War. In so doing, he crashes a convention for a committee designed to soothe the suffering on Earth escalated by the early stages of the solar system's destruction. Having quit the Space Force in misery and disillusionment, Joe commences to compromise the timeline by ranting about the terrors to come. Here several characters are unwittingly drawn into a bigger picture.
The characters in this story are full of realistic flaws, bearing all the insecurities, fears, addictions and neuroses the human race is prone to, especially under stress. The author uses a creative manifestation of time travel, the origins of which no one in the story understands, to weave together past and future events into a unified whole in which the main characters become aware of who they are and what they're capable of. They are expanded by contact with the future; and healed by contact with the past.
To keep things lively, in the background looms the threat of war from the Alpha Centaurians, a cruel, bloodthirsty race bent on destroying humankind with advanced technologies that affect time-space and infiltrate consciousness. Their influence is introduced in subtle ways. Religious cults, Martians, Martians reincarnated into humans, beautiful women, madmen, lovers and a mysterious telepathic cat—it is not obvious who is friend or foe, delusional, misplaced in time or put there to wreak havoc. As the story unfolds, a fascinating, unnerving explanation is revealed for the seeming instability of time-space, bringing the characters together amid the chaos of impending doom to fight for a new dawn on Earth.
The characters in this story are full of realistic flaws, bearing all the insecurities, fears, addictions and neuroses the human race is prone to, especially under stress. The author uses a creative manifestation of time travel, the origins of which no one in the story understands, to weave together past and future events into a unified whole in which the main characters become aware of who they are and what they're capable of. They are expanded by contact with the future; and healed by contact with the past.
To keep things lively, in the background looms the threat of war from the Alpha Centaurians, a cruel, bloodthirsty race bent on destroying humankind with advanced technologies that affect time-space and infiltrate consciousness. Their influence is introduced in subtle ways. Religious cults, Martians, Martians reincarnated into humans, beautiful women, madmen, lovers and a mysterious telepathic cat—it is not obvious who is friend or foe, delusional, misplaced in time or put there to wreak havoc. As the story unfolds, a fascinating, unnerving explanation is revealed for the seeming instability of time-space, bringing the characters together amid the chaos of impending doom to fight for a new dawn on Earth.
February 8, 2015
One minute it's the year 2036 and Joe Commer is about to consummate his lust for Huey Vespertine's wife Jackie...the next, he finds himself at the podium of the 2020 CTESOPE...The Committee to End Suffering on Earth. What follows is a comedy of errors as well as numerous tragedies as Joe realizes he isn't in love with Jackie but with her sister Ranna, who is head of CTESOPE and also will die in the mass evacuation of Earth shortly before Joe and Jack drop the Xon bomb on the planet.
In no time at all, thanks to Heuristic Time Transtion, which everyone knows exists but all deny, Joe, Ranna's lovestruck assistant Urside, his girlfriend Mandy, and various other participants are hopping all over the Space-Time Continuum, trying to find themselves, and each other, and make certain everyone who should survives the destruction awaiting the Earth in three years...
Meanwhile, back in 2036, what about this Celestion business?
...and what does Ranna's cat Churchill have to do with any of it?
Again, this is another Jack Commer novel which is difficult to synopsize. We learn Joe has resigned from the USSF. He's now partners with Huey Vespertine in a GaiaNet radio show. The Alpha Cemtuari-Earth peace is holding...or is it?
The rest of the gang, from Martian Emperor Dar to Jack himself and all characters in between, as well as some newcomers, are all in attendance, First and foremost, however, it's Joe's story and he runs with it...sometimes slightly amuck.
Don't take my ramblings at face value. Read this entry in the series for yourself. It's by far the best because it re-examines some of the things happening in the previous two and gives a little more explanation.
I'm not a fan of time travel stories because they're usually so futile, but this one definitely has a ray of something that could be sunlight at the end of its tunnel. It ends as abruptly as the previous novel but indications are it'll pick up immediately in the next, which I'm looking forward to reading.
I hope the title, Collapse and Delusion, is a misnomer.
This novel was supplied to the reviewer by the publisher and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.
In no time at all, thanks to Heuristic Time Transtion, which everyone knows exists but all deny, Joe, Ranna's lovestruck assistant Urside, his girlfriend Mandy, and various other participants are hopping all over the Space-Time Continuum, trying to find themselves, and each other, and make certain everyone who should survives the destruction awaiting the Earth in three years...
Meanwhile, back in 2036, what about this Celestion business?
...and what does Ranna's cat Churchill have to do with any of it?
Again, this is another Jack Commer novel which is difficult to synopsize. We learn Joe has resigned from the USSF. He's now partners with Huey Vespertine in a GaiaNet radio show. The Alpha Cemtuari-Earth peace is holding...or is it?
The rest of the gang, from Martian Emperor Dar to Jack himself and all characters in between, as well as some newcomers, are all in attendance, First and foremost, however, it's Joe's story and he runs with it...sometimes slightly amuck.
Don't take my ramblings at face value. Read this entry in the series for yourself. It's by far the best because it re-examines some of the things happening in the previous two and gives a little more explanation.
I'm not a fan of time travel stories because they're usually so futile, but this one definitely has a ray of something that could be sunlight at the end of its tunnel. It ends as abruptly as the previous novel but indications are it'll pick up immediately in the next, which I'm looking forward to reading.
I hope the title, Collapse and Delusion, is a misnomer.
This novel was supplied to the reviewer by the publisher and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews