Too Bright the Sun: Aliens and Rebels against Fleet Clones in the Jupiter War Thriller

Lazlo Ferran

Mar 2012 · The War for Iron: Element of Civilization Book 2 · Lazlo Ferran

About this ebook

A man hell-bent on revenge for the death of his friend, in battle!

Seeking revenge for the death of a friend ten long years ago, Major Jake Nanden has pursued his own personal demons with an almost religious fervour through life and through battle. 

He is a soldier so highly decorated that his fame reaches far beyond the desolate moon Io where he is stationed. His victories in the Jupiter Wars are hollow though, for he is a man scared of his own soul. 

His life seems to be a trap from which he cannot escape. His is the Replicant Company, and replicants are despised by all. 

Likened to a cross between Blade Runner and Paths of Glory, you simply must read this beautifully constructed, intensely dark and powerful Science Fiction tale-with-a-twist if you love Phillip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov.

Paperback on Amazon

If you love character-driven science fiction, you will love the twist at the end.

Character interview with Jake Nanden, star of the Iron Series.

Name (s): Jake Nanden

Age: 34

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I am 5'11', dark hair, short - Army cut, slightly curly. Green eyes.

Describe your appearance in 10 words or less.

Getting middle aged, slightly paunchy with drying skin - like paper in places - except my mech arm. That's synthetic skin on there and as smooth and supple as the day it was sprayed on. I even had mine tattooed but don't tell anyone.

Would you kill for those you love?I kill every day - most days - to keep my culture intact. I would say that is killing for those I love. Of course there is a moral code... And as a soldier the moral code is almost everything. After a while... killing... it sometimes seems to be the only thing you have left. Family are too far away.

Do you like animals?

I love animals. Their love is unconditional. You can never quite be sure with humans, can you?

Do you have a family?

Ha! Ha! Yes. A test-tube. No seriously my mother - Mary, my sister Justine and a dog - a collie called Frisky. My adoptive dad was the famous robotics designer Robert R. Nanden but he's dead. My mother was his assistant and pretty accomplished at that!

Can you remember something from your childhood which influences your behaviour?

I am not sure about any of my childhood memories. They are probably all implanted. I am a replicant. The first memory I am sure about is playing on the grass with my adoptive mother watching me playing cricket.

She shouted out, "Jake! You are such a talented cyborg!"

Even at my tender age, I knew a replicant was not the same thing as a cyborg and I knew that she should know, as her first husband had been a famous robot designer. Her words had always stuck in my head.

But anyway, adoptive parents of replicant children are always told to create some vivid experience for their kid in the first few days so that the imprinting takes properly. So it's probably not significant.

Do you have any phobias?

Mirrors. Can't stand them. They make me sweat and... well, I'm very nervous around them. I avoid them.

Please give us an interesting and unusual fact about yourself.

I write books - well, I am writing my first; a detective thriller. It's kind of Raymond Chandler-ish. I call it Chandleresque, but I guess that's bad English. My adoptive parents are first generation J5 - that's a space station - so they kinda inherited a USAC - United States of America and Canada - accent. Anyway, I am rambling.

Does your world have different races of people?

We are more concerned with Ischians - aliens. Races? I don't think anybody notices any more. Still a stigma to being a replicant though.

Keywords: scifi, dystopia, thriller, war, Io, Jupiter, iron, cross, android, robot, cyborg, valour, gallant, Greg Bear, lost starship, pods, tanks, armour, military, assault, starship troopers, blade runner, Clarke, Asimov, medal, mechanical arm, first contact, violent ,dog-like, replicants, genes, manipulation, aliens, Anubis, jackal, paths of glory, gears of war, dystopia, clones, ancient egypt novels, ancient history fiction, black holes and time warps, wormhole books, Anubis book

Ratings and reviews

It's a long time since I read any science fiction so I can't judge whether this is cutting edge new stuff or just a good story told well. The n-gen seemed like something straight out of Star Trek, but I'm not complaining. I would love something like that in my kitchen! Jake Nanden is the hero telling the story, a military man fighting on one of the moons of Jupiter. His past, what he is and what he is fighting for are drip fed into the story keeping the reader wanting to know more. For those who like action there is plenty of conflict and battles. For those who like a bit more depth there are hints of social conscience which give you reader something to think about.

This is the first book I read from this author that made me a loyal follower. It is filled with solid edge-of-your-seat SciFi battles with non Hollywood romanticized results. We see an imbalance in weapons technology that nearly wipes out our humanoid protagonists. The goal now is not so much to win the war, but to obtain this technology. Turns out there is a nefarious third party supplying this advanced technology, introducing us to a much larger conflict that is yet to come. Another refreshing difference from standard SciFi fare is that character development is very rich and makes for realistic complex interpersonal relationships and an individual’s anxieties and self-doubt. Overall, a nice balance of all the traits that make for a solid work and an engaging read.

Smooth, solid character development against a good gritty science background. Explores aspects of humanity in a different setting, allowing for naked exploration of our existence. We need more Sci Fi like this

About the author

Lazlo Ferran: Exploring the Landscapes of Truth.

Educated near Oxford, during English author Lazlo Ferran’s extraordinary life, he has been an aeronautical engineering student, dispatch rider, graphic designer, full-time busker, guitarist and singer, recording two albums. Having grown up in rural Buckinghamshire Lazlo says:

“The beautiful Chiltern Hills offered the ideal playground for a child’s mind, in contrast to the ultra-strict education system of Bucks.”

Brought up as a Buddhist, he has travelled widely, surviving a student uprising in Athens and living for a while in Cairo, just after Sadat’s assassination. Later, he spent some time in Central Asia and was only a few blocks away from gunfire during an attempt to storm the government buildings of Bishkek in 2006. He has a keen interest in theologies and philosophies of the Far East, Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe.

After a long and successful career within the science industry, Lazlo Ferran left to concentrate on writing, to continue exploring the landscapes of truth.