Afterword

“Putting the ‘Beyond’ in Space: 1889”

“This was an historic moment—the day the British Empire finally broke the asteroid belt.” A truly apt phrase for the third season of Space: 1889 & Beyond. This third season is the one I’ve been aiming for from the moment I first told Jay Hartman, Editor-in-Chief of Untreed Reads, about the Space: 1889 property when he first mentioned he wanted his company to delve into the ever-growing universe of steampunk. Actually, no it goes further back than that, at least four years before, to 2006 when my audio play The Lunar Inheritance was released as the final chapter of Noise Monster Productions’ Space: 1889 series.

As most of the readers will no doubt know, Space: 1889 started in 1988, the brainchild of Frank Chadwick and his team. For little over twenty-five years it has continued, covering everything from role playing games to audio plays and, now, an ongoing series of Victorian Adventures. He and his team created a very diverse universe, inspired by all kinds of classic fiction, everything from HG Wells and Jules Verne to Edgar Rice Burroughs, a universe set largely on the inner worlds—Mercury, Venus, Luna and Mars. But never the worlds beyond the asteroid belt—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Erebos (our chosen name for Pluto, since it was not named in 1890—Erbos was chosen because it is the Greek personification of darkness, and Pluto is furthest from the sun, and it was one of the original names suggested when Pluto was discovered).

And so, when I first suggested the series to Frank at the tail end of 2010, one of the things I wanted to do was take the property beyond the asteroid belt. Frank was happy with this, as long as it was earned. This was going to take time—new technologies needed to be invented, new methods discovered. And so my end game was set in motion; two seasons to earn our right to explore the worlds beyond the asteroid belt.

Along the way we’ve done some great things; created a series of adventures with many ongoing plots and character arcs, weaved together many different threads and looked at a whole host of themes. Indeed, we’ve also done a few things that were not, and are still not, readily apparent on first reading. We’ve taken risks, pushed the boundaries of the property, and completed the arc of two key characters (as you’ll know if you’ve read this book before reading this section). Season three will bring you all of these things, and more besides, including all kinds of new characters, new aliens, new planets… There are secrets beyond the asteroid belt, mysteries beyond anything mankind has ever uncovered before. And, perhaps, the answer to that age-old question; why am I here?

We hope you enjoy the journey in season three. This is where it’s all been heading… And we’re still not quite there yet.

Thank you to everybody who has helped us get to this point. For creating the property and trusting me with it—thank you, Frank Chadwick. For having faith in me and letting me get away with so much—thank you, Jay Hartman and KD Sullivan. For developing the series with me; my authors—thank you, KG McAbee, Mark Michalowski, L Joseph Shosty, Joe Wilson, Sharon Bidwell, David Parish-Whittaker, Steven Savile, Christian Mansell, Tom Sanford and Jonathan Cooper. For the wonderful cover art—thank you, David Burson, Adam Burn, Lukas Thelin and Tom Webster. For the brilliant revised logo—thank you, Steve Upham. For renders—thank you, Andrew Orton (Sovereign) and Mateen Greenway (Imperator and new cutters). For proofreading—thank you, Sharon Cole and Joe Quintana. And, of course, the biggest thanks go out to all our loyal readers who have supported us on this journey. THANK YOU!

And the best thing is, we haven’t finished yet, so let everybody know—we’ve a long way to go!

Andy Frankham-Allen

Wales UK, July 15th 2014.