EMD

One of the things I did intentionally in First was to focus on the characters and not the science. As I mentioned in the afterword to the book, I’m not a scientist. The electromagnetic drive, or EMD, used by SpaceFirst was purposefully crafted by me to get a person from one point to another almost instantaneously. This negated the need to rocket out of Earth’s gravity well, endure a journey of unknown duration, and supply the spaceship with the necessary fuel and supplies for said journey.

I realize that approach might rub some people the wrong way. One of the reviews I received knocked the story for using such a concept, likening it to the transporter from Star Trek. The EMD and how it functions in the book does seem a tad too easy. But I didn’t completely make it up…

I read an article before I wrote First that triggered my imagination. It’s titled, “Electromagentism is a property of spacetime itself, study finds.” To be fair, I don’t understand more than half of what the authors say. But I did catch enough to give me some ideas on how an EMD could fit its way into my story. Did I overly simplify things? You bet I did. Would the bits and pieces I took from that study cause a scientist to sneer at me in derision? More than likely.

That said, it’s called science fiction for a reason. I know there are purists who want everything to fit within the laws of physics and reality as we understand them. That’s fine. Those people probably won’t like my concept of the EMD and how I cherry-picked things out of that study. But if you’re okay with my approach then please enjoy.