"The Shadow of Olympus" by E.M. Smith

    Publication of Book Two ("The Pact of Olympus") Has been delayed indefinitely.    Book One can no longer be ordered from either Author House or Outskirts Press, so try a used book store..  

     I want to thank my faithful readers for supporting me for many years (one of them even suggested finding a Hollywood producer who would make Book One into a  movie!).  Book One took four years to write (and rewrite).  Book Two has taken a similar length of time, (plus time spent seeking a publisher who would be easier to work with).  It is finally ready- and I hope my readers will decide it was worth the wait when I do find a  publisher (probably in 2023).  Meanwhile, I am removing Book One from the market (until there is more demand for  it).

   In Book Two, "The Pact of Olympus,"  the colonists of Lowellsville will finally meet their mysterious neighbors-and strange neighbors they are!

Brain blowing graphics? 

   "The Shadow of Olympus" re- entered production in late February, 2015, by Outskirts Press of Colorado.  It had a a new cover, resembling the earlier, Author House one, on the front, but purplish in color.  The huge Martian Volcano, Olympus Mons, still appeared prominently on it and the author's picture was on the back.  However,Outskirts Press and I parted company in April of 2021, in a dispute about unpaid royalties.  The book is  out of print until I can find a decent publisher (and a better market).  E.M. Smith

Some readers comments about "The Shadow of Olympus:  ""It holds your interest1" Gene Beitel, computer technician, Mobile, AL.  "I felt like I was there!" Patti Fields, retired secretary, Chapel Hill, NC. But after looking at the ads,please buy the book from: Bodacious Book Store in Pensacola, Fla.

Part of Prologue to Book One:  

     The President of the United States of North America, Theodore Reynolds Kerrigan, stood looking through a window of the oval office at a deceptively calm looking,early summer day.  His thoughts were only partly on the White House's lawn and the new electrified fence at the far edge of it.  The rest of his mind was thinking about events in far away eastern asia and on the news that his expected visitor would be bringing from there soon.  

     The intercom unit on his desk beeped briefly behind him and as he turned around, the voice of his appointment secretary came from the device: "Mr. President, Mr. Warner is here."

     "All right, Marjory.  Send him in, please" Mr. Kerrigan replied.  A few seconds later, a door at the far side of the office opened and Vernon Darnell Warner, the Vice President of the USNA, entered the room.  There was a worried expression on his usually jovial looking face.  As he closed the door, the president greeted him.  "Hello, Vern.  How was your trip?" 

     "Not at all encouraging, I'm afraid, Ted" the vice president replied as the two men approached each other and shook hands in front of the big desk.  Ted thought his friend and political ally looked tired and discouraged.

     "Have a seat" Ted invited, as he motioned toward an expensive, antique arm chair in front of the president's mahogany work place. His visitor complied and Ted went to his comfortable, executive' office chair. It reminded Vernon more of a Company's CEO's chair than the seat of a nation's leader.  

     "Okay, Vern, give me the bad news" said the President, grimly.

     "I talked with the mainland Chinese leader for about an hour and a half" Vernon began.  "He was polite enough, but I ws unable to convince him that neither we nor the Tai Wanese spy agency had anything to do with the outbreak of a fatal illness aboard their now abandoned Red Comet space station.  He is also still convinced that we have been under reporting our robotic, lunar mining activities to the United Nations' Lunar Mining Commission in ordser to reduce the ammunt of money that we pay into the Third World Development Fund."

     The President muttered an obscenity and then he spoke more clearly.  "So, I suppose he wasn't cooperative about restraining North Korea's provocative actions toward the South, either."

     "I'm afraid not, Ted, his guest replied, "-and he still insisted that the Tai Wanese people's decision in a recent referendum that their government should declare a state of permanent, separate nationhood had no  validity.  He compared rthat to the formation of the Confederate States of America in 1861."

     "Did he say what he intended to do about it?" asked the President.

     "No, he just said that, like Lincoln, he would not tolerate having 'a house divided against itself.'  I warned him that our recent  mutual def3ence treaty with the government of Tai Wan remained in effect.  After that, he said that we had nothing else of any importance to discuss.  So, after a short consultation with our ambassador  aboard Air Force Two, I told the pilot to head for home."

     "What did our ambassador say about his situation?" asked the President.

     ""He said he wanted to be 'called home for consultations,' -with his family, the Vice President replied.

     "Then I had better grant his request, Vern" Ted concluded, "-and I'll warn our military people in the Far East to prepare for trouble." 

     Concludes excerpt..