Waken

Chronicles of the Alliance Book I

Novel 1: Waken

History

Star Spawn is the name given to a series of novels I started writing the summer of the year preceding the first gulf war and Operation Desert Storm (January 17, 1991). Roger Woodbury was one of our editors and asked if I (as a tech writer) had anything he could edit. I mentioned I had written a story - would he like to see that? He agreed and was the only person ever to see the first draft of the original story, which I titled Star Spawn.

He was subsequently called to active duty for Operation Desert Storm, which places the writing of that first story in the May to July time frame of 1990.

After completing the first story and subsequently rewriting it (I was a technical writer and editor for Heath Company), I passed the story to a number of associates, who read the revised story with enthusiasm.

I received a lot of positive feedback and some very constructive help from a number of reviewers. During this time, a number of questions were raised, which prompted me to think about doing more than just the one story. Within a few weeks, I realized I had more than one story to tell and thus, the Star Spawn Saga was born.

Titles

Star Spawn
Star Spawn - Waken (184,000 words)
Chronicles of the Alliance: Book I - Star Spawn - The Waken Incident
Chronicles of the Alliance: Book I: First Encounter (118,000 words)
Chronicles of the Alliance Book 1: Star Spawn: The Waken Incident
Chronicles of the Alliance Book 1: Star Spawn: Waken

Originally titled Star Spawn a.k.a. Waken, and running 184,000 words, I renamed it to give me a better choice of a name for the second encounter with the Intruders. Now, instead of focusing on the general crew, the story centers around Jules Ann Stollack, the young captain the warship Waken and the crew's encounter with a Star Spawn and fight with the Intruders. James Matthews is a man of mystery and is sentenced to his death on Ragnoruk. Rewrite completed in April, 2005. A second rewrite is underway to take care of some problems found during yet another read by new readers, including a new "front end."

After considerable thought and a couple of reads by new readers, who also saw the original work, I've decided to pull all the elements of the original story and its permutations back together, even expanding on some areas that were no more than a couple of sentences before. This work is currently underway with an expected completion date sometime in 2008 (maybe).

After going back to the original title for this story (Star Spawn: The Waken Incident), I started doing a very serious rewrite. My daughter Jennie is playing heavy-handed critiquer (a good thing) and suggested that the best title is a short one: Waken.

I'm going to let it sit that way for a while to see how I like it. If it doesn't feel right a year down the road or by the time I committ for publication, it will change back to the original. Regardless, too many elements extend beyond the Intruder encounter, so First Encounter was out.

Update (February 26, 2008): This story has been rewritten completely at least four times and probably more (I've lost count). It is receiving another rewrite to push everything back into the story and still keep the work count down to under 120,000 words.

The reason for the rewrite is simple: Too many later incidents in the saga have the genesis of their plot lines in this first story. When I condensed the story for First Encounter, I changed the point of view (POV) to that of Captain Jules Ann Stollack. Those readers who had not read the novel previously read the condensed version and then the longer version. They were universal in their appraisal: the longer story is the better story.

In order to keep the length of the story down and tighten it up at the same time, I've decided to go back and include some of the new elements that I was putting in the full version. At this point, and if I can successfully include all the story elements, then there will not be two versions - only the full, but condensed version.

Notes

A couple of charts are helpful when reading this story. The first covers Rank in the ADF and the second covers the command chart for this story (see Organization Charts).

Notes from the Rewrite

Pulling the full story together gave me the opportunity to write some new material. In addition to Stollack's introduction to the crew and her heritage as "a Stollack," we are introduced to the political mess Matthews brings with him. Neither of these appeared in any of the earlier manuscripts or the first condensed rewrite of the story.

The Story

The story takes place on the ADF Waken, a warship in the Allied Defense Force or ADF.

Ships and Related Subjects in the story

ADF Waken
ADF Hoard, Planetary Lander assigned to the ADF Waken
Razors Edge
INTEDEC
EWAC
ADF Blazer

Planets and Systems

Al-zed

Places, Cities, Towns, and Places of Business

Al-zed
[FerrisPort]

Characters and Races

Races and Related Subjects

Drac
[Zurth]
[Coceedn]
[Coceedn dress]
[Coceedn Rite of Spring]
[Star Spawn]
[Intruders]

Alliance Characters

Waken Command and Medical
[Jack Witsome], Captain/Captain ADF Waken
Jules Ann Stollack, Captain/Captain ADF Waken
James Matthews, Civilian Astrophysicist Razors Edge, ADF Waken
Kathleen Howard, Doctor/Chief Medical Officer, ADF Waken
[Lawrence Lukens], Doctor/Chief of Psychiatry, ADF Waken
[Maria Hess], Lieutenant/First Contact, ADF Waken
[Barbara Sanchez], Lieutenant/First Contact, ADF Waken
Anton Durbov, Security Captain/Captain of the Guard, ADF Waken
[Barton Clemson], Security, Security Specialist, ADF Waken

Waken Day Shift
Thom Daniels, Doctor/Duty Doctor and backup Chief Medical Officer, Day Shift ADF Waken
Bernice Williams, Commander/Shift Commander, Day Shift ADF Waken
Lynn Braaksma, Tactician III/Shift Tactician, Day Shift ADF Waken
[Elle Noslen], Crewman 1st Class/Stardrive Engineer's Aide, Day Shift, ADF Waken
[Zill Pomoi], Technician I/Stardrive Lab Technician, Day Shift, ADF Waken
[Sam Rahib], Crewman 1st Class/Security Guard, Day Shift, ADF Waken
[Peg Yokomoto], Crewman 1st Class/Security Guard, Day Shift, ADF Waken
Felice Bradley, Ensign/Life Services, Day Shift, ADF Waken

Waken Evening Shift
Stanley Theodore Walker, Commander/Shift Commander, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
William Stancer, Tactician Senior/Shift Tactician, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
Shauna Campbell, Lieutenant/Lead Gunner, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
Nikki Olsen, Lieutenant/Navigator, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
Marc Wilson, Chief/Gunnery Mate, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
George Helmsley, Section Chief, Communications, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
Judith Thompson, Chief/Chief of Engineering, Evening Shift, ADF Waken
[Allen Cummins], Engineering Lab Technician, Evening Shift
Unnamed male lab tech, Evening Shift,

Waken Night Shift
Mary MClenahan, Commander/Shift Commander, Night Shift, ADF Waken
Kristi Yates, Tactician II/Shift Tactician, Night Shift, ADF Waken
David, alien, Star Spawn.

Elsewhere
Abrackas CoChinko, Zurth, President/[Allied Palnets] Council
Geoff Haiku Scott, Drac, Admiral, Al-zed, Drac Contingency, Allied Defense Force
Chato Demtris
Jeremiah Johaicom
William Norris

Page created April 15, 2007
Page updated July 01, 2008