Book 2 of The Unborn Galaxy Coming Later this Year

By Michael E. Gonzales

First, let me acknowledge this seventy-second anniversary of the 6th Of June, 1944 — “D-Day”.

I have had the good fortune to meet and talk with Infantrymen, Artillerymen, Paratroopers, and Naval Gunners. I met Coast Guardsmen who drove the Higgin’s boats ashore that morning, and countless other heroes of that nightmarish day.

I have also met and talked with German veterans, and gotten a feel for the horrors they experienced. And I learned of their mindset from before, during, and after they survived the hellish bombardments and the fierce battle.

War truly is all hell, as Sherman said, and thus should be avoided.

That having been said let us all recall the terrible sacrifice suffered by the Americans, Canadians, and British on those blood soaked beaches, on this date those long years ago.

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People who know me are quite frankly shocked to learn that my first published book is a work of Science Fiction. Given my own back story and my current position as the curator of a military history museum they were, naturally, perplexed.

“Mike,” I’m frequently asked. “A love story on the Moon, really?”

I try to explain that its actually an adventure. A story of the human condition, an examination of prejudice, and bias. A story of our desire to survive in the face of certain death. It is a story of treachery, and deceit, of irrational belief, and an irrepressible desire for power.

It is the story of the human need for something that will complete us, and bring meaning to our lives.

It is the ancient story of the struggle between good and evil. It is a mirror on our past, a vista of the present, and a window to our future. 

Humanity has always been its own yin and yang; struggling against itself. Good gives rise to evil, and evil feeds off of good. One cannot exist without the other.

In fact, each thrives on the contest. Good would never be rewarded without a victory over evil. With no measure for it — what good is good?

And what would evil be without its eternal foe? Indeed, were there no good in the universe who would recognize evil for what it is?

Of course this eternal combat is at the root of all stories. It is conflict we crave! Who among us would read a story of eternal peace and harmony? Page after endless page of beautiful spring days, birds chirping, and neighbors helping one another hand in hand. Perhaps as they prepare of the long awaited wedding between two beautiful young people in an ideal utopian community?

But — should that spring day be shattered by the grinding cacophony of the treads of a Division of Panzers blitzing toward that pastoral hamlet destroying the wedding and separating the perfect young lovers — well, now we have a story that promises adventure! A young man’s quest to rescue his beloved from the clutches of the jack booted monsters who took her, and to ink out revenge for his village and his people!

Of course, in most cases, the boy gets the girl, or vice versa, the bad guys are defeated — this time, and our heroes ride off into the setting sun. In most cases.

I hope book two of The Unborn Galaxy will keep you riveted, I hope the twists will surprise, and the ending will please.

Book two does not pick up where Dark Moon Rising ended. In fact, it begins two years before the events of Dark Moon. We will follow the unfortunate experience of Sergeant Mathew Strum, who, after escaping from being cut off and surrounded on a tiny island in the Battle of Oceania, becomes one of his unit’s few survivors.

To escape the pain of being one of ‘the few’ he volunteers for duty in the most remote of locations, on the Moon as a member of the LCDD, the Lunar Civil Defense Detachment.

His troubles begin while training for this new mission here on Earth, and finish with a tragedy of Homeric proportions before the culmination of that training.

He returns to the land of the living an entirely new man, only to find himself on the Moon, arriving shortly before the great Moon quake that all but destroys the lunar facility.

Fighting to stabilize the collapsing Moon base, rescuing the survivors, recovering the dead, and organizing the evacuation would seem to be conflict enough, but his troubles are only just starting.

Don’t miss The Battle of Broken Moon, soon to be released by Fire Star Press