Showing results by author "John Thornton" in All Categories

Dome 17 is the only safe place left on a dead Earth. Life in Dome 17 takes a dramatic turn after some adventurers return from evaluating other domes. The struggling remnant of humanity cannot remain safe in the dome much longer. The question is where to go and how to get there? Seven vast colony ships were launched 100 years ago, but can one of them be located? Will it offer a chance to survive?

Janae and Ken are part of the remnant of humanity which lives in Dome 17, surrounded by the radioactive, toxic wasteland of a dead Earth. The leadership of the dome has sent out adventurers to explore the other domes, but all they have found are failed domes, and deadly ruins. Some of those adventurers have self-terminated upon return from those grueling missions. Only Dome 17 survives, but now, Dome 17 is facing its own failure. Looking to history, they come up with a plan to try to find the seven lost generational colony ships which left Earth a century before.

Michael and Jamie live in Dome 17. The last place safe for humans, or any life, on a dying Earth. They are adventurers who have explored other domes, but everywhere else is dead. Will Dome 17 meet the same fate? The committee has a risky plan to try out unproven technologies: a faster than light scout ship, and teleportation. Both technologies have severe limits. Only two people can be carried aboard those FTL scout ships for a one way journey.

Janae and Kenneth struggle to understand what is happening on the derelict colony ship. Along with the newly reanimated artificial intelligence Kimberly, they decide that making a journey to the command bridge of the old ship is worth the risks. They know there are many dangers between them and their proposed destination. Meanwhile, their ruthless enemies are also making plans and implementing them.

The Eschaton had been designed to hold numerous and diverse immense biological habitats: flora, fauna, and everything needed to terraform a new world. It also carried thousands of people in suspended animation. The ship was designed to be tended by crews who would live out their lives in the journey between worlds. That journey would only be completed after several generations had lived and died while in transit. That was the plan. But something happened. The people from Dome 17 have reached The Eschaton, but what will they find in those habitats? What systems are still functioning?

In book four of the Colony Ship Trailblazer series, Janae is struggling with all her traumas. The artificial intelligence system, Kimberly, is malfunctioning. After an unexpected encounter with some adventurers Janae remembers from the past, she decides to make a risky attempt to repair Kimberly. Will that restore to Janae a functional friend and helper? Or will more loss and grief haunt her life? And how do the strange people who live in the radioactive parts of the old colony ship fit into all the mysteries?

Cammarry and Jerome have only explored a small part of the wrecked Colony Ship Conestoga. The section called the needle ship is in orbit around a strange world, but where are the remaining sections? Using the help of Khin, a man born on the needle ship, and the artificial intelligence system Sandie, Jerome and Cammarry try to get parts of the old ship fixed and functional. But things do not go smoothly. What will they discover? What new things await? How will they locate the lost habitats which made planet-fall somewhere on the unknown planet? What dangers will they encounter as are repairing the Conestoga?

The Colony ship Marathon left a dying Earth on a generation's long voyage to another planet. Inside its giant biomes were people who would spend their entire lives during that flight. They knew that their descendants would be the people who would arrive at the destination world. During the long journey, something went wrong. Something else was on the Marathon. This adventure chronicles the life of one habitat dweller named Kalju, as he becomes aware of his role in what is taking place.

On the vast Colony Ship Trailblazer, the adventurers Ken and Janae are seeking to find out what is happening. People, animals, and circumstances seem to be turning against them in frightening ways. Strange events are unfolding, and the various groups and habitats are still a mystery. Knowing they need to gain some understanding of the situation and try to restore their broken artificial intelligence system, Kimberly, they set off to get back to their equipment and find some measure of security.

In book five of the Colony Ship Conestoga series, Jerome and Cammarry are trying to investigate the various parts of the wrecked ship. Along the way they encounter new people, some dangerous and some who might be potential allies. However, danger and threats lurk in every corner. The crash-landed habitats are on the planet's surface while the remains of the needle ship are in orbit. Few facts are well understood, and strange things are happening. What will the adventurers uncover as they do a reconnoiter of the Conestoga?

In book two of the Colony Ship Trailblazer series, the adventurers from Dome 17 on the dying Earth are on the old colony ship, but things have not gone as planned. They receive an urgent summons from some unknown entity, proclaiming, “There is a major crisis! People in danger. I need your help to avert a tragedy! There is a major crisis! People in danger. I need your help to avert a tragedy!” Janae and Ken reluctantly answer that call, but what awaits as they venture into some of the unknown reaches of the Trailblazer? What is the nature of the crisis? What people are in danger? And who sent them the message and why? Just exactly what will be revealed as the Tragedy on the Trailblazer?

In this eighth book of the Colony Ship Eschaton series, Jamie and Michael face the revenge of some old enemies. Not everyone will come out of these encounters alive.

What happens when a United States military dog unit lands on a small island controlled by the Japanese military during World War II? This story was inspired by true events. In about 1987, the events were described to the author by a man who was there. The names are fictitious and do not reflect real people, living or dead.

A man and a dog walk through a ruined world, fighting monsters. Is everything as it seems?

In this third book in the Colony Ship Eschaton series, Jamie and Michael continue to discover how vast and unknown the old ship is. Why do some of the artificial intelligence systems seem to work, but others do not? Who is the unknown that sent a dismembered body through the transport system? How will the refugees from Dome 17 interact with the people who were born inside the habitats of the Eschaton? What threats to the very survival of the people exist in the unknown reaches of the Colony Ship Eschaton? And personally, can Jamie and Michael survive these unknown threats?

In book 10, the final book of the Colony Ship Eschaton series, the adventurers and crew and AIs look to incorporate a modified version of faster-than-light travel. Will it work? Will an old enemy try to stop them? Will they make it to the destination of the colony ship?

Paul and Gretchen have suffered enormous hardships on the colony ship Vanguard. They decide to try to make an escape. Forging ahead with the assistance of the artificial intelligence system Tiffany, they devise a plan that might help them to get away from the death and destruction they have seen. Will they be successful as they make an attempt at escaping the Vanguard?

In this final book of the Colony Ship Conestoga series, the crippled ship flees away from the dying planet Zalia. However, the greatest threat the survivors have ever faced is pursuing them. Will the Apex Predators catch them? The survivors are hoping to escape, but the ship is not working well, machinery is failing, and something strange has kidnapped some of the children. They plan to reach an anomaly in space, but are unsure what will happen if and when they reach it.

Something mysterious is happening. The giant colony Ship Eschaton is in the midst of its generations-long journey to another solar system. But in Habitat One: Coastal Plains, two strange bodies have been found. There are rumors of a lurking visitor. Is anyone safe? The artificial intelligence systems still are not functioning as expected. Now more then ever, the AIs are needed. The people born on the ship as well as the refugees from Dome 17 are struggling to survive, and to learn more about the huge colony ship and its various habitats. But what do these mysteries mean?

Most of the wrecked Colony Ship Conestoga is scattered across the alien planet Zalia. Its needle ship is still in orbit, but many of its systems are only partially functional. The planet is not hospitable, and the human biological habitats are in severe danger. The survivors of the Conestoga, along with the two adventurers from Earth, struggle to find a way to launch the crashed biological habitats off the alien world. The habitats must ascend to escape the toxic elements of the planet before they all fail.