Prometheus-nominated SF author Robert Kroese has launched an ambitious five-novel series about corporate law in an interstellar and entrepreneurial future.
Acceleration Clause, published April 29 in 255 pages by St. Culain Press, is the first book in Kroese’s Ransom’s Law series about a corporate lawyer struggling to find new footing after a career misstep as part of a spaceship repossession crew.
Kroese is of interest to Libertarian Futurist Society members because he was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel in 2022 for Titan: Mammon Book 1.
From the publisher’s description, his new Ransom’s Law series looks like it might fit the focus of our awards:
“He used to weaponize contracts from a desk. Now he enforces them at gunpoint in deep space.
“Cal Ransom is a corporate lawyer with a career in freefall—and TrustUs! has found the perfect use for him: indenture on a spaceship repossession crew. His first assignment is straightforward on paper: recover the Celestial Aura, a missing research vessel last seen heading for the dead Koschei system. Except three other repo ships are already racing toward the same prize. Which means someone leaked the mission. And since Cal is the new guy, he’s the obvious suspect.
“As the Hard Bargain closes on Koschei, the job turns into a three-way scramble for possession, with rival crews, corporate secrets, and a target ship that doesn’t behave like any ship should—because something aboard the Celestial Aura is talking back.
“To survive, Cal will have to out-argue killers, outmaneuver a hidden power with its own enforcement muscle, and decide how much of the law he’s willing to break to keep breathing.
Acceleration Clause and its four planned sequels are recommended for fans of “hard-edged space opera with tactical action, corporate intrigue and legal chess moves.”
According to Kroese, each of the five novels in the Ransom’s Law series will be published in print and ebook formats over the next five months.
Acceleration Clause will be followed in May by Book 2, Adverse Possession.
Book 3, Discovery Motion, is set for publication in June.
Book 4, Force Majeure, is planned for publication in July.
And August will see the conclusion of the series with Book 5, Alien Title.
From the description, the apparent focus on law and contracts as a way of resolving disputes and as an alternative to the use of force seems intriguing and relevant to fans of freedom-loving science fiction.
But of course, we’ll have to wait and see – and LFS members will have to read and report on the novels in the Ransom’s Law as they appear to confirm whether they do in fact fit the distinctive focus of the Prometheus Awards.
Meanwhile, the praise Kroese’s early Prometheus-nominated Mammon series received may be suggestive:
“Mammon will scratch your itch for cranky libertarian sci-fi. Looking forward to the next part!” – John Carmack, creator of Doom and founder of Armadillo Aerospace
“★★★★★ This is a compelling page turner and, once again, Kroese… not only gets the economics of hyperinflation absolutely correct, but, in the best tradition of science fiction, “shows, not tells” the psychology which grips those experiencing it and how rapidly the thin veneer of civilisation can erode when money dies.” – John Walker, Founder of Autodesk, Inc., co-author AutoCAD, author The Hacker’s Diet, operator of Fourmilab ”
“★★★★★ Kroese did his homework on financial bubbles, panics, mass psychosis, social collapse, cryptocurrency, and hyper-inflation…. [B]etter than Lucifer’s Hammer, and spookily realistic.” – Hans Schantz, physicist and author of The Hidden Truth
For more information, visit Kroese’s website at BadNovelist.com
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