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Are you prepared for a treasure hunt across the Universe? That is what is asked of the crew of the Sunfire. Learn about those involved through insightful quotes and their journey with entertaining related images. Learn about the behind the scenes insight that led into the creation of not only this novel, but the beginning of an ongoing series that was not planned for when the first book was written. Lastly, learn about a myriad of Easter Eggs, hidden truths, and fun references to sci-fi, science fiction, and real world space exploration.
“What if I told you I stumbled upon something that will not only destroy the Universe in the here and now but rip the space-time continuum to shreds. Past, present, all of it will be eradicated. Existence itself is in danger.” - Tinker
Say Hello - The Cast of Tinker's Treasure
“I’m getting tired of being manipulated by immortals. I might be this short little blip on the timeline that you and those like you see stretching out endlessly before you, but there is a lot I’ve learned in that time.”
Captain Lexia
Starship Captain
“How dare you imply that I have anything in common with a human. You take that back.”
Parallax
A.I. and Pilot
“Does this count as the Sunfire being haunted by a ghost?”
Glen
Swordsman
“The machines will be destroyed. The plant will live, for she is a child of Niv, goddess of the natural order. I will allow the male of your kind to live, for he is your mate. As for the mouse, I will eat him.”
Rua'So'Nid
Lizard Warrior
“Ya’iv me’ka hu’an. Ah’ix ya’. Ya’ na’eep.”
Tedorn
Large Talking Gerbil
“Friends do not keep secrets from one another.”
Dryad
Humanoid Plant
“I’ve seen just about every insane thing to pop into someone’s imagination and then some. So, the computerized ghost of a man who is no longer a part of my crew doesn’t even reach the top ten of my bizarre experiences list.” – Lexia
Relevant Memes/Artwork
“When the Sunfire is about to be obliterated, and all the life forms on board will perish, remind me to tell the captain of this particular phrase. I told you so.” - Parallax
Origin Story:
A sequel?
When Lexia's Legacy was first created, there was not an intent for it to be an ongoing series. In its first publication, there was not a title to the series added to the first novel. It was not until the creation of Tinker's Treasure that the Sunfire Chronicles was added. The concept for the next novel was inspired by the cybernetic parts of Tinker left behind at the end of the previous book. That's when an idea struck, what if there is a message left behind that is a warning of something. That would lead to a series of coded messages that the crew must explore the Universe to discover the truth of what Tinker had discovered.
This is the first sequel to any book that the author completed. There was an attempt to write a direct sequel to Mystical Alliance, but it was not developed beyond a few chapters. There was the original Human Born series back before they received a major re-write and a formal series title. However, they were thought of more so as stand-alone novels at the time, nothing connecting them beyond being set in the same world. This was the first direct sequel with the same cast involved leading to many new experiments explored by the writer.
The original title was "Treasure Hunt" or "Treasure of Tinker". However, the author liked the idea of connecting the series together with similar titles, something he didn't do again until the Primordial Quaternity series. He wanted a person's name with something owned by them. That's how each of the titles of the series was established, typically chosen to represent members of the crew.
The author had no clue what the treasure was going to be at the end. He was just as surprised by the series of events as much as the audience would be.
Origin Story:
Treasure Hunt
The author began with a collection of scenes in mind that had nothing to do with one another that led to a patchwork of concepts that was one clue leading to the next, allowing him to run wild with ideas. The first was an idea that what Lexia was doing during the events of the holographic town was the "B" story or background narrative during an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The main crew was fixing the larger problem while she was doing something else in the background with her own storyline similar to how cast members from Deep Space Nine had a storyline that occurred parallel to the the "Trouble With Tribbles" episode of the original Star Trek series when they went back in time.
The creation of Edward as a collection of micro-organisms was brought about because of the desire to push the limits of life forms beyond just a humanoid being. Too often in sci-fi, far too many species of alien life forms were actors with prosthetics on heads and hands. The holographic town was inspired by an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where a community of all but one holographic individuals are unaware that they are computer generated beings.
The scene of the giants was inspired by a piece of artwork of a human seeing a massive skeleton with a sword in its chest. Sometimes that's all it takes to lead to a story arc within a novel. The prison break was created because off Renegade by Styx that randomly came on a music program the author was listening to.
The author knew that he wanted Gold to come back to the series and join the crew. After the departure of three main protagonists from the previous book, this began an ongoing theme of individuals entering and exiting the series.
Origin Story:
Epic Finale
There were several ideas for what Lexia would encounter in the temporal nexus at the end of the book. The author made a list of concepts and was struggling as to which one to include. Originally it was going to be only one thing, not a series of events. However, he realized he wanted all of them. So, he did just that. At the time, he didn't realize just how much those scenes would influence the rest of the series. It was also the first time that a Tagonist Knight appeared in a novel.
It would not be until the fifth book in the series that an explanation in how a human learned Tedorn's language. The woman named "Gaia" would become a massive tie in with the Human Born series in the fourth novel of that collection. Dryad meeting a woman named Gaia, being inspired by that name... So, no, two different people, but one being named after the other. The last revelation isn't shown to the audience until the end of Dryad's Dream, the fourth book in this series. It is then that the identity of Paradox, Knight of the Cosmos, is revealed.
The final ending of the story was tied in with the hope to include real world space exploration events. In the first novel, the first moon landing was featured. In the second, the idea that much of human history concerning space travel still exists in this reality was further explored. The author is said to have cried at the ending during the final speech given due to its historical significance.
This is also the last stand alone novel in the series that can be read separately as its own adventure for several years of publication. Afterwards, a four novel long story arc would begin. By allowing flexibility in what is possible concerning storytelling and what can occur in the books, the options became limitless.
“I am certain that the perfect combination of naivety and curiosity between the three of them won’t doom us all.” – Parallax
Easter Eggs and Inspiration
Within each novel there is the desire by the author to make real world connections to this series. The moon landing occurring in the first novel. For this book, he was excited to incorporate the Voyager 1 probe and more importantly, the golden disk filled with information for life on other planets that it was the hope of humans that another species may one day discover it. Which, in the universe of the Sunfire Chronicles, they did.
“I got me myself one last moment to shine like the stars in the sky before I ride off into the sunset once and for all.” - Tinker
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