Novels
The hostile world of Harambee was settled by refugees seeking a better life, with a little nudge from the Transsolar Corporation. Now General Michael Sheridan commands an interstellar peacekeeping operation tasked with bringing order to a world torn apart by poverty, ethnic conflict, and foreign exploitation. His estranged daughter Claire is an idealistic human rights lawyer who adamantly opposes the mission. Njeri Omondi and Amazai Nebtomo are Harambean politicians of rival ethnicities, and secret lovers, who are trying to save their homeworld from implosion. Their worst fears are realized when a coup topples the government and unleashes a horrific campaign of genocide. These individuals must risk everything, and violate their most cherished principles, to stop the killing–especially when Sheridan’s peacekeepers are ordered not to intervene. As they strive to rouse an apathetic interstellar community, they have no idea how many great powers are manipulating the war to their advantage. Among them is a utopian moon obsessed with achieving the Singularity: a technological leap forward into a posthuman future.
Short Stories
The Repair (2022)
This was my first sale to Asimov’s SF. It began as an experiment to try writing a cyberpunk story, but became an exploration of “cancellation” and its grim possible future. Read the accompanying interview at Asimov’s author/editor blog, From the Earth to the Stars.
Destroyer of Worlds (2021)
I wrote this story for an Instick Media contest soliciting stories designed to shake readers out of nuclear apathy. “Destroyer of Worlds” took third. Rather than take the obvious route of writing a scary story about a nuclear explosion, I wrote a story about the battle to overcome nuclear apathy within America itself. I’m grateful to @Nadaskii for the gorgeous cover art!
Celestial Object 143205 (2021)
When a Chinese venture capitalist sets out into solar orbit to recover Elon Musk’s Tesla, the United States Space Force scrambles to get this there first. This story was a heck of a lot of fun to write, but I also intended it to raise serious thought about how countries will pursue their national interest in a domain that is so hostile to human life. This story appears in the Derelict anthology.
Fitness Function (2016)
A team of data scientists is dispatched to the Pacific to help troubleshoot the disastrous performance of a U.S. drone swarm in a battle with a rival Chinese swarm. I specifically wrote this story to help military officers think through counterintuitive issues involved in employing machine learning on the battlefield. The story is available for free at the Center for International Maritime Security.
The Wasp Keepers (2014)
What if the United States could develop perfect sensing and perfect strike capabilities but still lose?
Also available online at the Center for International Maritime Security.
Conquering Europa (2001)
Winner of the 2001 Dell/Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing.
Farther Out and Farther Down (2000)
First runner-up for the 2000 Dell/Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing.