Black Market Memories

By David Schramm

Science fiction authors that nourish our dreams of exploring new worlds across the galaxy try to overcome the impossibility of human life traveling light-year distances through the fantasy of wormholes, cryogenic sleep, teleportation, faster-than-light drives and just plain magic. However, we have discovered all physics relevant to interstellar travel and no such magic exists. This book was written for science and technology geeks who have a fascination for space travel based upon achievable science. This is the history of a community established 250 LY from earth in the fourth millennium. Jamestown's government and citizens struggle to understand their new life, manage the complexity of establishing a new society in extremely foreign conditions and navigate through difficult times as the community adapts and matures. The record illuminates the society's economy, technology, politics, and personal challenges. A serial killer is on the loose, terrorizing Jamestown's exoplanet explorers. Organized crime is establishing a foothold in the economy and the society is devolving into something unexpected.Reviews:"This is David Schramm's first fiction book, self-published through CreateSpace.com. It's solidly bound and set in a thoroughly readable typeface, with a rather decorative galactic navigation map on the front cover. As the website says, "Frustrated by other intergalactic adventures that rely upon fantasy science such as Faster Than Light and Warp drives, Worm Holes and Star Gates, Schramm shows us a future based on real physics and achievable engineering", and he certainly has the credentials to do that. It's largely a police procedural, using the tropes of thwarted kidnap, witness protection, and murder charges to examine his future world and peoples' emotional relations within it.There's a lot to like about Schramm's worldbuilding imagination, with Stellars (uploaded humans in zippy little space computers), virus-laden grenades, and digital drugs injected by laser gun. Simgames, virtual worlds addictive enough that they were outlawed decades ago, are a major plot point."The Future Fire"Frustrated by science fiction that uses devices such as warp drives, faster than light travel, worm holes and star gates, David Schramm's novel describes a future where space travel is based on our current understanding of physics and engineering. The best example of this is the time it takes to travel to another star system, which in Black Market Memories can be hundreds of years. As this would be far too long for a human, space travel is largely performed by "Stellars", humans that have been digitally uploaded to a "Stellar unit" and no longer feel the constraints of mortality (they can still die but can live for thousands of years as a digital construct and even back themselves up).The world building is built around this basic premise, with digital drugs, virus grenades and the highly illegal Simgame (a virtual world created for Stellars that's hopelessly addictive and has been outlawed decades ago).Black Market Memories has some great ideas, good use of technology in a well described post-human-esque future and should be applauded for the realistic use of technology..."SciFi & Fantasy Books

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1452863091
• ISBN13: 9781452863092
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.0"