STORM-DRAGON by Dave Freer

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

STORM-DRAGON by Dave Freer

Writers… do shape future, as well as reflect the present. Often those reflecting the present will tell you they’re affecting the future. That’s usually because they LIKE the present or certain trends in it. It’s why the Left were so determined to capture the institutions and publishing and the media. They saw them not education or entertainment, but as tools, first to start things down their course, and then to keep it going that way.

I’m afraid, certainly as far as publishing goes, and reading and the effect thereof goes, we’re heading toward an Eloi/Morlock path. Remember, not the endpoint H. G. Wells referred to – but the part where the ‘beautiful ones’ lived lives of happy indolence, sex and ‘art’ while the Morlocks worked underground to feed them. Remember too, the Eloi got idle and stupider and stupider – as the selection pressure to be intelligent and hardworking was stripped away.

The US Left seem to see themselves as the beautiful ones, and the rest as Morlocks, to be kept underground (or at least out of their sight. Ignorant, separate, lesser…) It doesn’t make a lot of sense mathematically or any other way, as Eloi are effectively unskilled, defenceless, and, as heterosexual men – particularly of their own culture or even genetic heritage, are definitely Morlocks, the Eloi are doomed long before the Morlocks eat them.  It’s a kind of short nasty future, unless you have the weird assumption that the Morlocks will defend you, feed you, and maybe breed you parthenogenically.

My problem is that I have no interest in being a Morlock. Or having my kids, grandies, family, friends be Morlocks to provide for and defend the wanna-be Eloi.  They are welcome to be Eloi in their own minds and on their own dime.  This is not the future I am prepared to surrender to them. Humans may be a PITA, but I’m not having my descendant – or those of my friends, descend into being a servant class to a bunch of ‘beautiful ones’ – not even if the beautiful ones end up as roast dinners. The only thing I’d like less is having my people forced to become ‘beautiful ones’ (beauty is, we note, a matter of opinion. Some people find nose rings attractive.).

But… if they control the levers of culture, education, and publishing, and are pushing the world by it toward a suicidal and nasty end for Western Civilization if not humanity (because it will be. Messy and totally unlike their dream) what’s to do?  Well you can either say ‘they control nearly everything’ and just give up. Or you can fight back.  I guess I don’t have the genes to be a ‘hensopper’, so  -as the song says  ‘when they poured across the border, we were cautioned to surrender. This I could not do. I took my gun and vanished.’ (Leonard Cohen. The Partisan).  Gradually, despite the left’s determined efforts to make it feel like we were fighting alone (and I know a few good writers who just gave up, in the face of character assassination, silencing, exclusion and de-platforming) we have come back from the shadows – at least in publishing. For years it was just Baen. But now there is Indy, and a number of small publishers. The ‘beautiful ones’ still seem to be stuck on supporting the Trad houses they infiltrated and took over.

Late last year, I got a message from a friend who does some production work for one of these small, fighting-their-way-up new publishers – Raconteur Press. They had mostly done anthologies, but they were putting out an open call for books for boys. Books down the line of the Heinlein Juvies – to fill up a niche the beautiful people of publishing had declared dead, now geared to generate the Morlocks to serve them. Boys could read either nothing at all or books that would teach them their place in ‘beautiful ones’ future utopia. 

Only, there are a lot of parents who don’t accept that for their sons. They don’t want it for their daughters, the ones that don’t want to be Eloi or marry someone destined to either not read (and be unable to venture into the infinite worlds of the unknown) or be part of the underclass.  Still, the wanna-be Eloi ensure that reach into libraries, schools, bookshops and certainly any mass media mention is a no-no.

To even try is crazy.

So: of course, I did it.

STORM-DRAGON is sf. I set out to write Heinlein Juvie. The kind of book, that despite having a younger lead protagonist would be fun for anyone. I was inspired by two stories – one in the US and one in Australia – where bureaucrats wanted to kill ‘rescue’ wild animals – common baby wild animals that would have died had a human not stepped in. Having grown up, and had my kids grow up with a succession rescued of small animals – some of which died, some of which went back to nature, some of which lived a good life among humans, antelope, various rodents, snakes, and birds and a bat… my sympathies were NOT with the bureaucrats. There is a surprise for you all!

My hero – a boy having a rough time — finds and rescues a small alien creature. It’s a strange, dangerous world this human colony is on, and the little creature is both electrosensitive (it can detect electric fields of living things as many fish can) and can also generate powerful electrical shocks – a storm-dragon. He’s not allowed to have native life-forms inside the human habitat, say the bureaucrats. But if he leaves it, it will die.  He’s not going to leave it to die.

 In strong contrast to most of the Trad offerings, this is set among normal families.  Mums and Dads who love their kids, and are loved by them. And actually, I don’t give a rat’s butt-end if you think some of the gender-roles are typical and that none of the heroes are top of the victim hierarchy. They’re supposed to be real people you might meet, not Eloi. They’re boys, and they like boy practical jokes and doing boy things.  They don’t waste pages on angst or feelings – these exist, but they aren’t the story.  They are boys becoming men, with the honor and dignity and the price of that.

So: Storm Dragon is up for pre-order. We need critical mass, or the Eloi win. Stand against them.  ‘We need to come from the shadows and then Freedom soon will come.’

Buy Storm Dragon.

61 thoughts on “STORM-DRAGON by Dave Freer”

  2.  And actually, I don’t give a rat’s butt-end if you think some of the gender-roles are typical and that none of the heroes are top of the victim hierarchy. 

    Can you imagine the reaction of the right-thinking people if the villain of a piece was a other-gendered, transhued, sex-fluid, Democrat staffer who traffics in foreign children for the pleasure of government bureaucrats!

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Kurt Schlichter’s People’s Republic series features a fair amount of Zir/Zhem villains, but one gets the impression that Kurt thinks they are. And I agree.

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      1. He also makes it pretty clear that, at least among the “upper crust” (Think, “top layer of septic tank contents”), Zir/Zhem and all its variations are a matter of convenience, not something they actually believe. Control is all.

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  3. I think I’ve seen you mention this on Facebook, and was already interested. Went to Amazon to check there, and liked THAT synopsis, too. But will have to wait till I’m home to order.

    Will be on a business trip next week, and thought I might finish Sarah’s books that I have been working on, so this should come up just in time to be ‘next in line’ !

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  4. I have my calendar set to remind me to download on the 11th. Preordered done via SAH’s ‘zon links, so a twofer.

    Obligatory nitpicking catch: It was H. G. Wells, not Jules Verne writing about Eloi and Morlocks.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yeah, I just changed that. I don’t know why I didn’t catch it when I read over it last night, but I’m not working on all cylinders, due to the cold/flu/whatevs.

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  5. OK, but I only have a grand daughter. And she doesn’t have any e-devices except a Garmin Jr. watch. So I will have to see if this will replace The Hardy Boys for me.

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  6. Does KU count?

    Why no paper copy? I always give books to the children of friends. Hopefully they will, eventually, remember that as a good thing. Can’t give them Kindle copies.

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    1. Amazon does not currently offer pre-orders for physical books as an option for indie presses.
      They’ve likely got the print set to go live on the date the pre-order does.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. Aha… I hope and trust there’ll be an announcement hereabouts when the book is published. I don’t do e-books but would be happy to buy a paper copy.

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        1. I don’t do Amazon E-books. Because they are 100% into controlling what you do with YOUR copy after you buy it. They want to prevent you from saving backup copies, reading it on anything other than a ‘Kindle’ (Seriously? Naming a book reader ‘Kindle’ is like naming an airplane ‘Metal Fatigue’, a bridge ‘Corrosion’ or a dam ‘Erosion’) or generally doing anything that’s convenient for you, the customer.

          Baen at least does not hate their customers. I can download Baen E-books in multiple formats with no DRM. I get the Baen Bundle every month.

          Encryption is intended to prevent unauthorized parties from using the data. DRM attempts to both deliver data to the customer AND prevent the customer from using that data. It is just as contradictory as it sounds.

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          2. Amazon is not my preferred format for the same reason. I use Epubor to make sure drm is removed from either Nook or Amazon (also auto converts from Amazon format to ePub). Must have Kindle v2.4 or 2.3 with auto updates turned off to work. Eventually Epubor will get caught up to the current Amazon’s drm scheme. I haven’t used Baen lately (need to check again) because don’t have a good ebook reader (I have one I use, but could be persuaded to change) for my Android phone. Got recommendations? I use Calibre for Windows on my Surface tablet, if not in Amazon or Nook.

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            1. Must have Kindle…

              See, that’s the sticking point. Must buy their hardware to read books you paid for. And they have a history of retroactively, unilaterally ‘altering the agreement’.

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              1. Kindle (and Nook) for Windows is free. Just need to keep the version to 2.4.x (currently) to be able to use Epubor to jail-break books. I do not have a Kindle reader.

                I use Kindle Android and Nook apps (also free) to read on my phone. Have a 3rd party reading app to read epub files not from Nook.

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                1. Have to look into that. I do have one computer that dual-boots Fedora Linux and MS-WIN-BLOWS 10. Amazing what you can get for $130 nowadays.

                  Speaking of which, there is now a Raspberry Pi 5 with 16 GB of RAM, for $120. Wow.

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                2. I have an Onyx Boox. It is an Android e-ink reader. I have Kindle App, Nook App, and a native library reader for side loaded books. It is wonderful although tbf it isn’t quite as good as a Kindle or a Nook, but the ability to read anything from any platform is wonderful.

                  What I like about Amazon/Kindle is Kindle Unlimited where I can read tons of books without buying them, but the author still gets paid. What I like about B&N/Nook is, well, nothing except that it isn’t Amazon but they stopped supporting the Nook years ago and they are annoying to deal with, including their payment processor on their website to buy books, which frequently doesn’t work.

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                  1. I use the Nook Windows app to buy, and download onto PC. Can’t buy from the Android phone Nook app, which is a PIA, but can put into wish list. Now that Amazon put back the ability to buy from their phone app, maybe Nook will follow. Don’t use Kindle Unlimited. Biggest problem with both is pre-ordered do not always download on day of release. But if I buy 12 AM EST, even though I am PST, the books download immediately. Why?

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                    1. I buy 12 AM EST, even though I am PST, the books download immediately. Why?

                      Because some code monkey hardwired the date/time check instead of looking at the time on the client’s machine and using that to determine “is it time to release yet?”.

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                    2. Wags hands.

                      Mostly the reason is because book releases occur 12 AM EST and releases to everyone regardless of their time zone. Since I’m PST that means if I’m paying attention, I can get the book at 9 PM PST. But pre-purchased books won’t download. Have one preordered, release date April 8, 2025 that will not download on PC. Downloaded on phone app which means I can read it, but I can’t jail break it. Sigh.

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                    3. Least anyone think this is a Nook app problem. No, Kindle can have the same problem.

                      Rebooting Windows probably will help.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    4. Oh, no, this is an issue with the server doing the electronic store. Probably running some flavor of Linux.

                      However, this is one reason sites want to know your location. Because lots and lots of stuff, from release dates to copyright to etc. vary with where you’re buying from.

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                    5. Regarding the preorder that was suppose to drop yesterday (be it 12 AM EST, or 12 AM physical location time) and wouldn’t. Rebooting PC didn’t work (in fact that opened problems with the PC, growl … fixed, but growl). What did work was Archiving book still marked preorder and then Download from Archive (removes from archived books). Least anyone else has similar problems. Phone app worked fine so not backend server problems. Laptop and Phone are in the same time zone.

                      Note, I know some books, example Harry Potter books, are suppose to drop exactly at the same time regardless of location. Rowling wanted it that way. Do not think that is standard practice. But two or 3 books into the series, especially Book 7, she had the clout to demand this.

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                  1. “Cloud Readers” are problematic for me.

                    1. How does one “jail break” the ebooks bought? Some I may never read again. But … I bought them!!!!
                    2. How can use Cloud Reader when no internet is available? By either tower or wifi. Which happens for us. FYI even satellite internet would be unavailable or intermittent (backside of mountains, down in canyons).

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                4. Nook For Windows is “Dead”.

                  If you currently have it on your PC, you can still use it.

                  But if you change PC, you can’t down-load it from B&N.

                  Which means that I can’t purchase Nook books or download Nook books that I hadn’t already downloaded.

                  B&N Must Die! [Wink]

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                  1. people are still saving them. Look, I’m not fighting very hard. I think it’s monopolistic in practice. BUT as writers it’s still our main source of money.
                    And the others…. the others!
                    I need to create a shopify shop so I can sell you guys directly.
                    If anyone out there can make virus-shaped voodoo dolls and put pins in THOSE I’d appreciate it. I’m so tired of being sick.
                    Yes, yes, I know Anno Domino. But I’m too young to be this old

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                  2. Yes.

                    Amazon nuked the ability to download, then side load to non-Wifi devices. This was to be able to stop the “jail break” software from working.

                    Technically a Calibre add-on to “jail break” Amazon downloaded books through Windows Kindle app is suppose to work. I’ve gotten it to work years before but not recently. Which is why I got Epubor. Epubor will quit working when Amazon quits supporting the older Windows Kindle app (forcing upgrade to newer version). The programmer will eventually figure out the correct way to “jail break” books again, has so far.

                    Meanwhile I avoid Kindle books as much as possible, getting Nook versions, but can’t always. I have a Kindle Collection labeled “Jail Break” for when I’ve got books that can’t be jail break. Right now that collection is empty.

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                  3. My Mark I Fire used to allow loads of material (pictures, music, and eBooks), but they did an update that killed such. (A nasty OS from the Goog–it hides everything, unlike the first version. The Mark I is still working; it’s more robust than the latest version, so it’s used when I go to town (to read while eating) and when I travel. When I buy books, I download to that and the new Kindle. (One of these days, I expect the battery on the Mark I to die. It’s 11 years old, so who knows how long it’ll last.)

                    The new Kindle Fire says if I want my pictures on the tablet, I have to send copies to Amazon and download. Er, no. BFYTW.

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          3. There was a story, years ago (Slashdot?) about a book on Nook that had all the instances of “kindle” changed to “nook” by simpleton search & replace. The result was stuff like “He nooked a fire.”

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  7. Good luck, Dave. I’ve also noticed a desperate need for non-woke fiction for younger readers. YA readers are getting propagandized hard right now.

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  9. I have recommended this to the librarian of my home-town public library. She has a five-year-old son. I suspect I sold two copies, one to the library and one to her.

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  10. They don’t want it for their daughters

    Damn straight. I purchased copies of Heinlein’s Juveniles for my daughter as soon as she was up to reading them.

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  12. I’ve read a couple of Dave Freer books and enjoyed them. Pre-ordered this one. Getting lots of pre-orders for a new book is good for the marketing statistics and algorithms.

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  13. The eloi and the morlocks are both f-ed, Dave. Fed with stolen taxes by US-AID and a few more alphabet-soup outfits, they are now going to slowly starve to death. We’ve been wondering about what kept them going when we -know- that they don’t get traffic on the Interwebz and they don’t get sales in dead-tree (dead-tree is a joke these days, 5K copies is a Best Seller!!! in Kanada). Well, now we know. US-AID. They did it.

    So now, publishers are either going to start addressing what it takes to actually SELL books, or they are going to go out of business. I expect the latter, they don’t seem very bright to me.

    So now your book: “He’s not allowed to have native life-forms inside the human habitat, say the bureaucrats. But if he leaves it, it will die. He’s not going to leave it to die.”

    Yeah. That’s a blurb I can get behind. Takes me back to the Witches of Karres and things like that.

    Kindly stand still a moment while I throw money at you. ~:D

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I pre-ordered a copy, using the link provided in your post.

    More books for boys and young men are definitely needed, as are independent publishers. So, bravo!

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  16. The Left has hit on a new way to bash boys.

    “NPR’s advice to parents concerned their children may become incel murderers? Keep them away from jokes”

    I have 5 sons, and none of them grew up to be incels murderers, or anything like unto it.

    Matt Taibbi:

    https://www.racket.news/p/take-the-npr-thats-not-funny-challenge

    PS As with many here, I am a “Heinlein Juvies” fan since I was a pre-teen girl in the sixties, raiding every library I could get a card for. Bought all of them when I could, and passed them on to the youngest of our clan at his request. I think his kids are reading them now.

    Yeah, the tech is dated (astrogation by slide rule comes to mind), but the stories never get old and the characters (male and female) are not people who LOOK like me, but people who THINK like me.

    I strongly doubt that any serious Heinlein reader grew up to be a murderer.

    Self-defense against insane radical leftists may be a different situation.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “I am a “Heinlein Juvies” fan since I was a pre-teen girl in the sixties“

      –

      Me too.

      I do not physically have the collection. Tried to get one and only interested, no go. No grandchildren to work on. Although have great-grands I can corrupt. Luckily their grandparents are also prolific readers (not sure where we went wrong with our kids because it isn’t like they weren’t read to, and didn’t have access to fiction).

      “characters (male and female) are not people who LOOK like me, but people who THINK like me.“

      –

      Exactly 100%.

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  17. Pingback: Instapundit » Blog Archive » MY FELLOW PROMETHEUS AWARD WINNER (AND FRIEND) DAVE FREER TALKS ABOUT HIS UPCOMING BOOK:  STORM-DR

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