Exit, Pursued by a Bee is my first science fiction novel and was published by Double Dragon Publishing way back in 2008 and came second in a Readers’ Poll competition for best SF novel of 2008 with over 1,000 votes. The publisher is closing down so titles return to the authors.
The idea for many of the original ideas in the book came while I was walking up Glastonbury Hill. Most science fiction books have to make their space vehicles leave a planet at escape velocity (ironically, the name of the magazine I co-edited at the time), use radio for communications, and in those days the pilots were men. So, in Exit the alien (although they were on and inside Earth long before homo sapiens existed) leave our planet very slowly indeed. It’s still possible. They ignore radio and the feisty woman pilot figures out a way to communicate never used in books before. The story ends on Glastonbury Hill too, but along the way visits iconic landmarks around the world and takes a leap back in history 30,000 years. Imagine a teenager from today finding himself back then?
One of the reviewers liked the sex in space scene while others thought it gratuitous. Such is the life of a writer.
Exit, Pursued by a Bee smashes the accepted wisdom that time passes smoothly. Perhaps Earth time is kept continuous by something that absorbs time decoherences – not for much longer. The Earth orbits the sun at 18 miles per second. If the mountain in front of you is thrown back a second, it slips 18 miles. Imagine such time-quakes happening all over the world.
As time-quakes cause chaos, a Mars mission is diverted to chase the departing time absorbing spheres. Arguing against hawkish military generals on Earth, the man and woman crew discover a means to communicate with the spheres, but will they listen and return to Earth?
* the title is a nod to the Shakespearean stage direction in Winter’s Tale
Rather than allow this magnificent novel to disappear into atoms of whatever happens to ebooks when plugs are pulled, I was persuaded by fellow scifi writer extraordinaire, Mark Iles (tweets at @welcometoearth isn’t that a great handle?) to self-publish. Hence the rebirth, like a phoenix from the ashes, Alien Exit. I shouldn’t use the original name because of the millions (ha ha) of second hand copies out there. So ALIEN EXIT released on the 12 July 2020 is a reworked, improved and cheaper version of Exit. If you didn’t grab a copy of it before now’s your chance with its simple, elegant book cover.
Other Nelder novels
Escaping Reality – humorous thriller • http://hyperurl.co/nyjaiv
Hot Air – thriller set in Mallorca • http://hyperurl.co/di4y0h
ARIA: Left Luggage – infectious amnesia scifi • smarturl.it/1fexhs
ARIA: Returning Left Luggage • http://hyperurl.co/tgtid6
ARIA: Abandon Luggage • http://hyperurl.co/26trxv
Chaos of Mokii – scifi short – a city exists in minds only • http://mybook.to/ChaosOM
Xaghra’s Revenge – Malta historical fantasy with pirates / slaves • http://myBook.to/Xaghra
Incremental – 25 surreal short stories • http://mybook.to/Incremental
Suppose We -science fiction space exploration • https://mybook.to/SupposeWe
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