Lanterna Rally

Author: Paul H. Rosenfeld

Publisher: Gravity Drive Books

Published: 2023-10-05

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13:

Praise for Gravity Drive: “I started reading Gravity Drive - Key to the Cosmos after dinner, figuring I'd get a couple chapters into it just to see how it started...and couldn't put it down. I read the whole thing straight through. Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters. I loved the aliens.” Jerry Oltion - Nebula Award winning author of over 15 novels and 150 published stories, including numerous Authorized Star Trek novels. Since the invention of rockets, their propulsion systems have gone essentially unchanged. We still depend on blasting some type of propellant out the rear to shoot the rocket forward (Newton’s Third Law - check it out). There’s two main problems with this method: propellant is always in limited supply, and therefore you can’t really go very fast. This is why we use gravitational assist from planets and the Sun, to get us places. It still takes years, and that’s just inside our solar system. What if we could go to our Moon in hours or Mars in a couple days, and even turn around mid-flight if we forgot our toothbrush? This is the story behind the development of the Gravity Drive propulsion system. WAIT Spoiler Alert (Author’s note: I’ve always hated spoilers. Can’t believe I have to write one). Howard, the hero of our story (well, he’s not really a hero so much as an engineer) has a close encounter of the,.... well,..... close kind. He realizes he’s far more interested in how the ship moves than who might be inside. Through a series of unusual life experiences, he dedicates himself to duplicating the alien craft’s drive system, which he believes centers around the ability to create a gravity well for propulsion, which is really consistent with the bulk of UFO (UAP) sightings. Our story takes us back to 1947 Roswell (yeah that place), where we learn what really happened that night, and the surprising reason the government wants to keep it quiet. We go forward in time and meet a pair of trouble making engineers with unfortunate last names, who are in charge of protecting and uncovering the secrets from the crashed alien craft. And then they meet our hero, Howard, who brings the knowledge that finally helps our engineers discover how the alien craft works. Actually, how it worked, cause not so much now. Together, our now three heroes convince NASA to build the first Gravity Drive space ship, and off they fly on an adventure that takes them to meet friendly aliens and a bio-engineered, snarky AI computer. We explore our solar system and discover short cuts through space and time that give us the key to exploring the Cosmos (hence the title of the book, in case you missed that). Our three heroes come back after a long journey through space and time to bring hope to the life on Earth. In other words, as it turns out, advanced civilizations in our galaxy really hate having violent species invading their peaceful space. So we’re given an ultimatum, along with some really nice gifts, that humans need to get their shit together, stop making war, and clean up their planet or else! That pretty much says it. But hey, there’s lots of fun along with way, and one really smart dog that you’re going to love. Whenever possible the book emphasizes science over fiction. So, you can read this to your kids and they might actually learn something. The book was written for everyone from rocket scientists and engineers, to young people who dream of someday being one of those two. It’s also written for Vegans (the vegetarian type, not the ones from Vega), peaceful environmental activists, and dog lovers. If you’re looking for a book that doesn’t rely on violence to keep you turning pages, and proves that science and exploration can be fun while also being educational, then you’ve found your next great book. Did I mention there’s also lots of beer and pizza (basic nutrients for your everyday engineer)? If you enjoy this book, please keep in mind it’s the first in the Gravity Drive trilogy. Don’t miss the sequels: Gravity Drive 2 - Jason’s Ark, and of course the third book, which is why they call these trilogies: Gravity Drive 3 - The Scattering. Thank you. And if you buy this book it just proves you have really great taste in authors.