Wil McCarthy
Malhela
Background:
Malhela is an imaginary
star system 40 light-years from Earth, which consists of two black holes,
a brown dwarf, a white dwarf, various gas and debris fields, and two planets.It
is the site of an ancient war between two alien species, whose technological
mastery has produced "centrokrist," a substance capable of blocking inertia.
Using spaceship hulls made of this material, the aliens are able to approach
very close to the black holes' event horizons, taking advantage of the
extreme relativistic effects there. Thus, their war has stretched out over
billions of years.
Unfortunately, Malhela's
human colonists, who mine centrokrist deposits (actually the fragments
of destroyed spaceships) as ornamental stones, are unable to approach the
black holes, and thus unaware of what lurks there.Until the war
itself emerges around them...
This "series" is represented
by a single novel, 
FLIES FROM THE AMBER 
,
and no sequels are planned. However, considering the ongoing popularity
of this novel (my all-time bestseller), it warrants at least a small section
unto itself. (Cover art by Chris Moore and Tom Weighill,
respectively)
Goodies:
Maps and Star Charts
Black Hole Equations
Author Comments:
One unique quirk about
this book is that it was intended to be funny. In this, it rather spectacularly
failed; no reader or reviewer has ever cited humor as one of its virtues,
and many are surprised when I bring the subject up. Still, the experience
was educational. I did n't attempt overt humor again until the Queendom
of Sol stories, some five years (and several novels) later, but had a clearer
idea how to approach it when I did.
From here, you may return to Wil McCarthy's fiction
page or home page.