The Diesel-Powered Starship

Ray Tabler

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English

Miscellaneous
30 September 2025

Space opera; Science Fiction

Fans of The Expanse and Firefly will love this diesel-fueled rebellion across the stars!

In a groundbreaking discovery, Mexican physicist Dr. Ernesto Lopez invents a mysterious antigravity device. The catch? Closing an electrical circuit within the antigravity field instantly sends the device--and its passengers--somewhere unknown. Is it subatomic disassembly? Another dimension? No one knows, but the world is eager to exploit the technology. However, electricity must be kept far away from Professor Lopez's peculiar flying machine.

The only practical way to keep a Lopez drive functioning is with a diesel engine. Since diesels rely on heat from compression, rather than an electrical spark, they work safely within the antigravity field. Soon enough, people are traveling to other planets aboard Lopez ships. Then, a breakthrough: someone tweaks the drive, allowing it to surpass the speed of light. Suddenly, the stars are only months away.

A galactic gold rush ensues as explorers and settlers flood into the cosmos. But with electrical devices unusable in a Lopez field--and wiring ineffective when exposed to an active drive--each new colony must start from a pre-electrical (19th-century) technology base. Earth's powers exploit this limitation, tightening control over the colonies' expansion and keeping them financially shackled.

In defiance, tramp freighter captain Maggie Crenshaw and former Marine Corps officer Eduardo Watanabe assemble a covert alliance to liberate the colonies from Earth's suffocating rule. Together, they lead a rebellion of pirates, anarchists, religious zealots, and rogue explorers. If they fail, it will be every man for himself in a battle for freedom among the stars.

By: Ray Tabler
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United States
ISBN: 9781592115778
ISBN 10: 1592115772
Pages: 300
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ray Tabler is a retired engineer and occasional author, originally from Louisville, Kentucky. He chased the north-bound dollar to Michigan because of a tragic addiction to a steady paycheck, where he married a lovely Yankee girl. Several decades later, despite the siren call of warmer climes, Ray might be permanently lodged in the frozen north. Ray's short fiction can be found in the pages of The Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Baen's Universe, and Cosmic Crime Stories.

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The Diesel-Powered Starship

Ray Tabler

$44.95

Paperback

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