Athena Grayson

The Star Empire: Vacation Destinations

One of the most enjoyable things I get to do when writing sci-fi and fantasy settings is to create the kind of spaces I’d love to visit. Even the places with, ahem, challenging environments, are still fascinating to me if only to understand how they got there. Varuna is not one of those “challenging” environments, however. […]

Strange Magics: High Fantasy with a Gothic Twist

One of the most beloved elements of high fantasy is the feeling that you are in another world. Without the history or the limitations of our own world, the rules can (in theory) be anything you want them to be. Yet there’s a tendency to stick with a “medieval Europe” analogue that’s hard for a […]

Introducing Strange Magics

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.17.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.17.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.17.2″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.2″]No one likes an ivory tower quite like a mage likes an ivory tower and no matter the school of magic, the world’s practitioners tend to keep apart. So much so that even though the farmfolk who follow the Corn goddess and the priest-caste who serve Lady […]

The Star Empire: Jumpgate Travel

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.15″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.15″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.15″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.15″] Jumpgates are a necessity for interplanetary travel in the worlds of the Jewel, but travelers must use them according to rules both man-made and established by the nature of the Jump system itself. Unscheduled jumps are fraught with peril and only fools make them in the most […]

The Star Empire: Jumpgates

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.14″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.14″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.14″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.15″] Getting Around Every space writer has to make a critical choice in their writing life whether or not to allow FTL travel. We currently have no way to beat the speed of light, and books would get reeeeeallly booooring if they were NOT “road trip” books and […]

The Star Empire: A Short Spin Around the Stars

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.13.1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.13.1″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.13.1″] A Family Affair Even though the star cluster is called “The Nine Sisters,” there are only two main star systems in the old Star Empire – the worlds of the Torch, and the worlds of the Jewel. Even though both systems have plenty of planets, moons, and other celestial […]