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Fireflies and Cosmos
The Institute seeded the 51 Worlds because they were devoid of life, or so they say. It's Captain Catalina Solaris Xao Mondragon's job to make sure the life they sent is feeding man, not eating him.
Mankind has always looked to the stars hoping to find intelligent life to save ourselves from pollution and war or even simpler lifeforms to inspire us to change. We found nothing. No insects, no plants, no bacteria. Nothing.
A century ago, with the Earth teetering on the brink of complete environmental degradation, the Institute for Organic Expansion used every resource available to launch 51 automated vessels equipped with FTL Bubbledrive engines and loaded with spores, seeds and eggs to the empty earth-like planets in hopes of giving mankind somewhere to go once Earth was used up. The Seedpods worked, mostly. After a century, most of the planets have life, though people have only managed to build enough Bubbledrives to colonize a dozen of the closest worlds. The Interstellar Ecologists work for the Institute to stabilize these new planetary ecosystems, and expand mankind’s reach into the stars.
Catalina Solaris Xao Mondragon is the greatest Captain the Institute has, but if she is to continue to uphold the Charter on the 51 Seeded Worlds and provide colonists with air, water, and farms or fish she'll need to replace her entomologist with someone who can identify and eradicate whatever the horrible insects from Epsilon-V that ate her last one. But the only bug-guy Catalina knows who is skilled enough to work on the Institute’s finest Organic Ship, The Artemis, is her ex-boyfriend, and he has the infuriating habit of falling in love and seducing a different woman every time he goes to another Seeded World.
If Catalina hopes to figure out what the hell the creatures were that devoured her last entomologist, Roman Jupiter is her best bet, and surely a few bruised feelings are worth a planet? Catalina thinks it is worth the risk, even if her crew of interstellar ecologists have other feelings about Jupiter and his lousy poetry.
Interstellar Spring is a humorous series about interstellar love, be it for the brave people who try to do what they believe in, or the wondrous flora and fauna who really run the world around us.
Mankind has always looked to the stars hoping to find intelligent life to save ourselves from pollution and war or even simpler lifeforms to inspire us to change. We found nothing. No insects, no plants, no bacteria. Nothing.
A century ago, with the Earth teetering on the brink of complete environmental degradation, the Institute for Organic Expansion used every resource available to launch 51 automated vessels equipped with FTL Bubbledrive engines and loaded with spores, seeds and eggs to the empty earth-like planets in hopes of giving mankind somewhere to go once Earth was used up. The Seedpods worked, mostly. After a century, most of the planets have life, though people have only managed to build enough Bubbledrives to colonize a dozen of the closest worlds. The Interstellar Ecologists work for the Institute to stabilize these new planetary ecosystems, and expand mankind’s reach into the stars.
Catalina Solaris Xao Mondragon is the greatest Captain the Institute has, but if she is to continue to uphold the Charter on the 51 Seeded Worlds and provide colonists with air, water, and farms or fish she'll need to replace her entomologist with someone who can identify and eradicate whatever the horrible insects from Epsilon-V that ate her last one. But the only bug-guy Catalina knows who is skilled enough to work on the Institute’s finest Organic Ship, The Artemis, is her ex-boyfriend, and he has the infuriating habit of falling in love and seducing a different woman every time he goes to another Seeded World.
If Catalina hopes to figure out what the hell the creatures were that devoured her last entomologist, Roman Jupiter is her best bet, and surely a few bruised feelings are worth a planet? Catalina thinks it is worth the risk, even if her crew of interstellar ecologists have other feelings about Jupiter and his lousy poetry.
Interstellar Spring is a humorous series about interstellar love, be it for the brave people who try to do what they believe in, or the wondrous flora and fauna who really run the world around us.
126 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 7, 2019
Wandering the Texas Book Festival is always interesting. This author, dressed in his space traveling attire, presented a captivating pitch for his series. The series is already well established and ready for the reader to enter into the adventure.
With characters that you can immediately make a connection with, this book had me reading almost continuously to find out what was happening. Considering the complex issues addressed in the book, the author uses language so that even us non-entomologists or non-horticulturists can understand what is happening.
The quirky humor and interactions between the characters can almost stand alone as a great read. Can't wait to get to the next one.
With characters that you can immediately make a connection with, this book had me reading almost continuously to find out what was happening. Considering the complex issues addressed in the book, the author uses language so that even us non-entomologists or non-horticulturists can understand what is happening.
The quirky humor and interactions between the characters can almost stand alone as a great read. Can't wait to get to the next one.
May 30, 2017
A stellar read if you're into space exploration, ecology, or overall fantastic story telling! Patiently awaiting more of the series.
June 30, 2017
Mitchell has combined peanuts, fireflies, thread-like parasitic fungus, cannibalistic ladybugs, beetle proboscis remnants, and pesticide conspiracies with colorful, well defined characters. The reader zooms through the cosmos in Bubbledrive. A delightful read. Perfecto!
April 3, 2019
The balance of dialogue and universe building kept me not needing more from either side. Who in their right mind picks an entomologist as a key to a larger puzzle, let alone makes it work so darn well? The descriptions take what many of us see, or better yet don't see, and puts it in a manner you wouldn't expect. A more biological approach is followed in this setting, while showing what the bleak alternative is, with it's diverse scientific advancements. We need to research these devices and turn them into reality, just like different items from Star Trek.
Can't wait to get the next book of this series.
Can't wait to get the next book of this series.
November 21, 2018
Sci fi and bugs, one of the great romances. This book has so much love cultured into the ecology and information, I swear to god I was learning. Its lovingly crafted and holds so much spark, never lingering too long in one place, and keeping you reading to completion. I have read my copy over and over at least 3 times now as I wait to get the second book, and I assure you, this is well worth the read. Im looking forward to where J. Darris Mitchell goes with the story and his crew, and further into the future!
December 9, 2023
Bought the series directly from the author at a farmers market. Very enjoyable and well thought out sci-fi story line
June 28, 2017
J. Darris Mitchell's Fireflies and Cosmos is an excellent introduction to his Sci-Fi comedy/adventure series. A crew of scientists on a Bio-ship introduce and maintain eco-environments on adaptive planets. Characters are fun and well-developed and keep the pages turning in this enjoyable read. On to Diamond Crabs and Mangoes; Book 2!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews