Higher ranks are integrated into the Engineering Department.
Afterword
To most of you, this will be our first meeting, so I believe I should introduce myself. My name is Hiroyuki Morioka. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
The short stories I’ve written are almost all modest, low-key SF stories set in the near future. Well, that makes it seem like I’ve written a lot of them, but in fact it’s only a handful of works. In any case, it made me inclined to make my longform debut a flashy affair set in space.
When all is said and done, my roots lie in space opera SF. (That is, with a dash of heroic fantasy for good measure, I suppose.)
I was already an SF writer; why not indulge in my desire to build up a grand galactic empire, even if only through the page?
As for why I felt that that, specifically, had to be my debut longform work, it was, of course, to defy the expectations of the people who knew me through my sprinkling of short stories (to whom I remain grateful).
Because it was my all-important debut longform, I planned (if at all possible) to only start penning the story once I’d already pieced together a flawlessly considered world and plot.
And yet, three years ago, when I started writing this book, I’d only managed to set down an extremely minimal amount of worldbuilding beforehand.
To tell you the unvarnished truth, I just couldn’t hold in the urge any longer, so I inserted a brand-new floppy into a word processor and started pounding the keys.
As such, the setting had to be edited and added to afterwards. I placed a notepad next to the keyboard and wrote up the setting at the same time I was working on the main manuscript.
As for the story, I had no idea what was going to happen, let alone when, how or why.
Despite that, Crest of the Stars is now complete. Even including works from my “mature” period, this is authentically my first complete longform.
One often hears about “character-driven” stories, and I was able to experience firsthand the phenomenon of my characters acting all on their own, without me puppeteering them.
Since I didn’t go through a predetermined project or proposal, the manuscript was unsolicited. It therefore took a fair amount of time after the book was finished to get it published.
It was also due to some awkward timing; Hayawaka Publishing House was putting resources into a brand-new magazine, so it was tamping down on the number of new releases, and I was an unsigned, virtually nameless author coming to their door with a series whose story would continue past the first book. Timing is a very important thing.
When I look back at those times now, I can see it made for an excellent “ripening” period. I think I was able to offer readers a higher-quality finished product thanks to writing and rewriting the story countless times.
And now, all three volumes of Crest of the Stars are done. Volume II will be out in March, and Volume III in July, so you won’t need to wait too long for the continuation.
If you enjoy this series as light-hearted and fun other-world fantasy set in space, that would make me very happy. Wowing all the incorrigible SF fans out there is another goal of this work.
Now then, let us meet again in the afterword to Crest of the Stars II: A War Most Modest.
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Copyright
Crest of the Stars: Volume 1
by Hiroyuki Morioka
Translated by Giuseppe di Martino
Edited by Brandon Koepp
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 1996 Hiroyuki Morioka
Cover illustration by Toshihiro Ono
First published in Japan in 1996 by Hayakawa Publishing Corporation
The book is published by arrangement with Hayakawa Publishing Corporation
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: June 2019
Princess of the Empire (JNC Edition) Page 22