The HYDRA Chronicles
"Stargate meets the Big Bang Theory"
(but with better science)
Matt Barnes was born with an eidetic memory, a natural mathematical ability, and an insatiable hunger to understand the physical world around him; everything unknown was a puzzle to be solved. His astronomical IQ and talent at spatial reasoning made him a true ‘visualizer’: geometry, trigonometry, and calculus were intuitive, and he perceived the world around him in a way few others could.
Matt rocketed through university, earning several advanced degrees in the time it took others to earn just one. Combining outside-the-box engineering with multi-dimensional mathematics that would have impressed Einstein, he built HYDRA, a machine that opened up the solar system for exploration without the necessity of conventional space travel.
But Matt soon discovered that merging his hyperspatial mathematics with the complex engineering required to create such a sophisticated machine was a trivial challenge compared to the resistance he and his friends would face as they challenged the status quo for access to space.
Available in e-book (Kindle) and softcover formats from Amazon:
Frequently asked questions
Where did your idea for the HYDRA Chronicles come from?
About 20 years ago I started kicking around an idea about a "hometown genius" type who goes on to great things in the world of physics. Then about 10 years ago, I came across a book titled “The Final Theory: Rethinking our Scientific Legacy” by Mark McCutcheon. The author’s “expansion theory” seemed like a good fit for my protagonist Matt Barnes’ “Theory of Almost Everything.” So I took it from there and let the story unfold...
Matt's three friends are really interesting characters - how did you come up with them?
A while back I read a book about writing fiction that suggested, “base your characters on people from your life,” so that’s what I did. It made writing the book easier as I could more easily visualize the characters, their mannerisms, etc.
Renny Harris (AdAstra’s foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails planetary geologist) is based on two of my high-school friends: one is a geotechnical engineer and the other has a PhD in meteorology. The name “Renny” is an homage to a character from the 1930s Doc Savage pulp crime fiction novels (Kenneth Robeson) that my best friend and I spent years collecting.
Gary Stocks (AdAstra’s adventurous robotics expert) is based on another of my high-school friends who, in real life, was heavily into photography and adventure. Gary’s last name is an homage to the Stocks family of Penticton, BC, who ran a successful camera store that I frequented as a teen to buy supplies for my film-developing hobby.
Josh Allen (AdAstra’s computer wiz) is inspired by another high-school friend whom I went through Computer Science & Physics with at UBC.
And there are other minor characters in the book that are loosely based on people I knew. Fellow students, teachers, coaches, etc. Basically, if you crossed paths with me in life and made an impression (good or bad), you may find there's a character inspired by you…
The HYDRA Chronicles take place in Canada, the US, and the UK. Why did you choose those places?
Again, I followed the “write what you know” axiom. I grew up in Penticton and did an undergraduate degree at UBC. While I didn’t go to Caltech, I learned lots about it when reading books about Richard Feynman. I visited Cambridge a few years ago and found it steeped in history, so I figured that was a good place for my protagonist to end up.
What's next for Matt and his friends?
Vol. 2 of the HYDRA Chronicles is almost ready for publication! I don’t want to throw down any spoilers, but just imagine the possibilities! They could use the HYDRA to explore Mars, Venus, Mercury, or the asteroid belt. Maybe even further out in the solar system. Matt and his friends want to use the HYDRA to explore and have fun, so who knows what hijinks they might get up to. And they’ve got that antagonist, Charles William Winston the Third to worry about. I’ve also got another idea involving using the HYDRA for a completely different application—that alone could fill an entire book.
What's your all-time favourite sci-fi novel?
That’s a tough question!
I’ve read so many that I can’t pick just one, so I’d have to say it’s a tie between the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy (Kim Stanley Robinson) and the Expanse series (James S.A. Corey).
I also think Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard) is one of the best I've read, and it holds the dubious honour of being probably the worst sci-fi movie ever made (a Rotten Tomatoes score of 3%).
