As a precursor to my new novel, Blue Varuna, I'd like to explain Rainhut. Rainhut is a fantastic story, but I've learned that not everyone reading the story understands the true setting. In Rainhut, the planet Varuna, located in the star system of Alpha Centauri, is discovered by the inhabitants of Earth.
This discovery is of such historic value that for 200,000 years the story is re-told again and again in various and increasingly complex ways. Finally the human race has reached such an advanced state that they are able to recreate the planet Earth along with nearby star systems, in order to provide modern explorers with the opportunity to fully relive this great adventure. These modern explorers experience the actual life and times of the original inhabitants of Earth.
Blue Varuna is set far into the future, but to some, the original explorers and those who have been living on the recreated Earth, they must brave the challenge of meeting both their distant descendants as well as those the Rainhut discovery story was all about...themselves and themselves as actors. This is possible because, incredibly, those original explorers have managed to survive for 200,000 years, sealed inside of a force shield they invented on Varuna. In Blue Varuna, those original explorers from Earth are released from their shield where they come face to face with their descendants and those descendants that have recently relived their lives.
So we travel once again to the blue planet, and this time we explore all the unimaginable secrets that she is hiding. Is Varuna Pandora? Do you know which came first, Rainhut or Avatar? Varuna has trees so tall they reach the edge of the atmosphere. And we learn how the entire galaxy owes its survival to my favorite planet, Varuna. But now back to Rainhut.
Make no mistake, the Rainhut Earth is a real planet with real people living their lives and believing in their history. But this Earth has only been populated for a few hundred years, terraformed and polished for a specific purpose. These people live and die, never knowing they are living on a recreation. Do you believe that you are living on the original Earth? The odds are vastly against that. Do you believe you were the first to ever read Romeo and Juliet?
When the modern explorers engage a planet like Earth, they have no foreknowledge of who they are. For reality, their memories are blocked for the duration of their adventure. Such was the case with those who lived the lives of Skyler and Anchor and James. Others like Strant are native to the Rainhut Earth. But a select few of the natives are sometimes allowed to join modern day humankind, and with that the gift of the possibility of eternal life.
A recreation planet is monitored by an advanced but artificial being known as the Keeper of the Gateless Gate. It is the responsibility of the Keeper to ensure that history follows in the footsteps of the original Earth. He is also tasked with protecting all of human kind from the dangers that time travel can cause, including the protection from other races in the galaxy that would use time travel for the destruction of all other races.
The story of Blue Varuna up where Rainhut left us. Strant is given the gift of youth by his friend Skyler (the actor) and is invited to join him by the Keeper as they travel to ancient Varuna in search of the original explorers from Earth.
Let the adventure continue...and choose your friends wisely.
ra
