On Tycho, Families and ‘Convenient Orphans’

Here’s a new review of Hunt for the Hydra that made me happy, from Fantasy Book Critic. An excerpt:

What is truly amazing about Hunt for the Hydra is the relationships between all the characters. First, there are adults who are actively involved with their children’s lives. The parents know what is going on, are sought for help with problems, and truly care about the well-being of their children. There is even a ‘kooky’ grandpa who is part robot, who seems a little out there, but can be counted on at times to tell it like it is and listen to the main character when he needs to talk about issues.

Parental figures tend to be downplayed in middle grade fiction in an effort to appeal to the target audience. It was nice to see active, involved parents who aren’t hovering over the main characters, but are there to support, guide, and nurture them.

I like that because I wanted The Jupiter Pirates to be a series about families, but one without “convenient orphans.” Convenient orphans are a trope of all heroic fiction, but one that’s particularly common in kids’ books – and that I felt we could use a break from.

The Hashoones have their problems as a family – Tycho discovers that in Curse of the Iris, and things get really bad in The Rise of Earth (that’s Book 3 of the series, coming soon) – but Tycho isn’t an orphan. He’s a member of a family with strong-willed personalities, deep-rooted traditions and very definite expectations. I wanted the pressures and complications Tycho and his siblings face to reflect that, and it’s gratifying to see a reviewer respond to it.

News (well sort of): I’m working on a Jupiter Pirates short story that I hope will appear this summer. Members of The Crew will get the first crack at reading it, so if you’re not a member, sign up today! I also hope to have news about a publication date for The Rise of Earth soon, so keep watching this space!

‘Hydra’ Gets Reviewed — as a Cybils Finalist!

I really enjoyed this thoughtful review of Hunt for the Hydra at the blog Charlotte’s Library.

Hunt for the Hydra is a finalist for a Cybils award, which is a pinch-me honor — the other books in this category are so good that when I read about them I kept thinking, “my son should read that!” Check them all out here — lots of great things to read!

And now back to revisions on The Rise of Earth — my goal is to send the manuscript off to HarperCollins before the end of the week.

School Library Journal Reviews Curse of the Iris

The full review won’t be available until next month, but I’m very happy to be able to pass along this bit from School Library Journal’s review of Curse of the Iris: “more thoughtful and introspective … New details about conflicts and issues from the clan’s sometimes checkered past help clarify character relationships. There is also plenty of intrigue and rousing battle action.”

I’m so excited to share this book with everybody — it does indeed delve into the past of the Hashoone family, with not all the revelations to Tycho’s liking. And the space battle at the end, well, I think it’s pretty exciting. Curse of the Iris comes out Dec. 16; I promise I’ll have some sneak peeks later this fall!

Kirkus Reviews Curse of the Iris

Arrr! Now here’s a nice way to start off the morning — Kirkus Reviews calls Curse of the Iris “good, old-fashioned, outer-space pirate fun” and writes that “Fry concocts a whirl of space battles, sleuthing, spycraft, domestic spats, and ventures into dangerous locales from seedy Port Town slums to Callisto’s deep, unexplored oceans.”

Curse comes out Dec. 16, and I can’t wait: In it, I explore new parts of the solar system of the late 29th century; dig into the tensions among Tycho, Yana and Carlo; and offer some surprising revelations about the history of the Hashoone family. As Tycho will discover, family secrets are like pirate treasures — they don’t stay buried.

The full review from Kirkus is here.

In the weeks to come I’ll discuss the characters, locations and events we see in Curse — and we’ll have a sneak preview of the book that you can download. So keep watching this page!

Alibrarymama Focuses on Family Matters

Here’s a review of Hunt for the Hydra that I really enjoyed, from the blog alibrarymama. Here’s the part of Katy’s review that made me cheer:

We are so protective of children right now that often in order for children to have any agency in their own stories, the parents have to be done away with somehow, either by dying or being taken captive or some such. While I can’t deny loving a good orphan story, it’s refreshing to have a family where the parents are very much present and competent, but with good reasons for giving their children a lot of independence – even if the two youngest are going even beyond that in their investigations.

Yep, absolutely. The Jupiter Pirates began with the idea of “a family of space pirates,” with the competition for the captain’s chair as the other piece of the puzzle. I love carbines, battles, treasures and all the other aspects of writing about space pirates, but at its heart The Jupiter Pirates is about families. It’s about how we’re shaped by them and how we define ourselves by discovering which family legacies and traditions we cherish and which we reject. It’s nice to see that I was able to make that connect.

The paperback edition of Hunt for the Hydra will be available in November, followed by The Jupiter Pirates: Curse of the Iris in December. (With previews coming to this space in the fall.) And now I have to get back to writing the third book….

First Review of Curse of the Iris!

Here’s the first review I’ve seen of Curse of the Iris. It’s by Stephanie Whelan at Views From the Tesseract, and I’m very happy to report that she liked it:

Jason Fry has confident stride in his storytelling that is pure pleasure — even for this reading pro. … It’s the kind of science fiction or space opera that so rarely is done right for kids — but succeeds here mightily.

Stephanie also zeroed in on how Tycho is changing, facing difficult choices, and making decisions he may regret. That’s a major part not only of Curse of the Iris, but the entire series. The Tycho we met at 12 won’t be the same Tycho at 18 or 20:

He’s growing into who he’ll be — facing tough choices about his own actions and desires versus how they’ll affect others. Jason Fry has done a marvelous job of putting Tycho into some difficult positions that cause him to question the pirate philosophy his family embraces, and beginning to reveal a darker and dangerous path of intrigue and deals that Tycho has to navigate. He’s no longer a boy just learning how to be a privateer, he’s a young man coming into his own, taking initiative . . . and maybe making some worrying decisions.

Curse of the Iris will hit bookstores in December, and as always with publishing that seems an agonizingly long time from now. But you can pre-order it now from Amazon, B&N (Nook only so far) or Books-A-Million, and I’ll start previewing elements of the book right here in a few weeks. Can’t wait to share Curse with everybody!

Review From Charlotte’s Library

Here’s another nice review for Hunt of the Hydra, from Charlotte’s Library. She calls the book “a fun, exciting space adventure that is really solid sci-fi” and recommends it “with conviction.”

I was particularly happy because Charlotte notes that she had no experience with kids’ books about space piracy, and admitted straight off that piracy isn’t her favorite fictional thing. So it’s heartening that the characters engaged her and she had fun with the adventure.

Sorry about making you miss the bus, though!

Views From the Tesseract Calls Hydra ‘A Marvelous Space Adventure’

I just read a nice new review of Hunt for the Hydra by Views From the Tesseract. This in particular made my day:

This is the kind of stuff that will capture imaginations and provide readers with possibilities for our future that aren’t uniformly dark or oppressive. It’s a delightfully accessible and vivid read and evidently just the beginning of our crew’s ongoing adventures! I heartily welcome this marvelous space adventure to the shelves and can’t wait to read more!

If you’re a Star Wars fan (or if you know one, or are just curious), here’s how to win a chance at a signed copy of The Essential Guide to Warfare. And please join the Crew – that’s the Jupiter Pirates email list. As a thank you, you’ll get an exclusive dossier about the Shadow Comet‘s crew written by Vesuvia.

Finally, if you know someone who might like a sneak peek at Hunt for the Hydra, they can read, download and share the first five chapters here.

Two Takes on Gender and The Jupiter Pirates

I really enjoyed two recent takes on The Jupiter Pirates that I wanted to share.

First up, here’s Jay Shah of Eleven-ThirtyEight on Hunt for the Hydra.  Eleven-ThirtyEight is a site for hardcore Star Wars fans (like me), so Jay’s take is from a Star Wars perspective, but he’s really talking about storytelling, which is universal. I hope you’ll read the whole thing, but here’s a passage I really zeroed in on:

Where The Hunt for the Hydra succeeds admirably is how it deploys female characters. The captain of the pirate ship that serves as the main story setting is a female: Tycho’s mother, Diocletia Hashoone. She’s the captain, and basically the head of the family too. The most important part about this, and why I think it is particularly important for a young audience (but really, everyone) is that it isn’t once commented on as unusual. It’s not an issue: mom’s in charge. Her husband doesn’t make a fuss, her father doesn’t make a fuss, and the only person who could have ever had a claim to the captain’s seat is her sister: but Diocletia earned it by merit (how one earns a captaincy is a running theme in the story), and that’s that. Tycho also has a twin sister – Yana – who seems to have a decided disdain for dresses, and there’s a scene where a particularly snooty character remarks that it’s not very ladylike of her to be a privateer but then that character doesn’t think anyone ought to be a privateer, so it’s not a gendered put down. Yana wants to be who she is, and nobody really has an issue with it.

Eleven-ThirtyEight’s review was followed by thoughts from Tricia Barr of FANgirl (who has a cool new book, Wynde, that you should check out). 

It’s unclear whether Fry thinks hard about it or if it’s natural, but he tells a story that feels like it is steeped in history, yet it is not lazy about buying into historically sexist standards such as stereotypical gender roles. When I closed the first book of The Jupiter Pirates, I felt like my nieces and nephews would all gain from the story being told.

Huh. Really interesting. I guess I need to write that post I kind of promised, don’t I?

In the meantime, many thanks for all the support you’ve given the Jupiter Pirates. Please keep helping get the word out about the book! To assist with that, I’ve got order information for books and ebooks over on the home page, or there’s your local bookstore. If you’d like to give someone a sneak peek at Hunt for the Hydra, anyone can read, download and share the first five chapters here.

Finally, join the Crew – that’s the Jupiter Pirates email list — and within an hour you’ll get a link to download an exclusive dossier about the Shadow Comet‘s crew, prepared by Vesuvia. It’s a thank-you for signing up, and there’s more good stuff to come!

Tosche Station Gives ‘Hunt for the Hydra’ a Go

The year’s almost over, but I wanted to squeeze in one more review of The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra before ringing in 2014.

Nanci at Tosche Station had me smiling with her opening sentence:

It’s hard to write a review of Jason C. Fry’s The Jupiter Pirates that isn’t just me saying “It’s really fun! Go read it!” But that’s the truth. It’s really fun. You should go read it.

Nanci liked the world-building, and as with books4yourkids’ review from yesterday, she zeroed in on the fact that the siblings aren’t just competing for the captain’s chair, but cooperating as crewmates. I was glad to see her respond to that — the sibling rivalry is a big part of Jupiter Pirates, of course, but I also want readers to have moments where they can sit back and imagine being part of a well-disciplined starship crew. No self-respecting space opera would be complete without that stuff, after all.

Here’s another bit from Nanci’s review that I found very interesting:

I want to high-five Jason Fry for making the mother the captain of the ship instead of the father. I also want to high-five him for giving the children the mother’s last name instead of the father’s, and having the father keep his own last name. It’s a really interesting family structure, and I hope to learn more about Mavry’s past and how he and Diocletia became a couple.

The fact that Diocletia is the captain and not Mavry has come up in a number of conversations about Jupiter Pirates. I’m working through a potential blog post or article about that, but I haven’t written it yet because I need to think about it some more.

From reader reactions, it seems like making Diocletia the captain was a smart move — and I hope Jupiter Pirates will have appeal beyond boys (of whatever age). Nanci’s reaction made me happy, but I have to admit that making Diocletia the captain wasn’t part of any calculated effort to broaden the books’ appeal. In my mind it was always that way — she was the captain from the first moment the story began to form in my head. I’m not sure what that says about me as a writer or storyteller, or if it would make for interesting reading. Like I said, I need to think about it more.

I can promise this: We start learning more about Mavry and Diocletia’s past in Curse of the Iris, and their relationship is a very important part of the story treatment for the as-yet-untitled Book 3.

I’ll have a lot more Jupiter Pirates news in 2014. For now, there’s order information for books and ebooks over on the home page, or drop by your local bookstore. And if you’d like to preview Hunt for the Hydra, or give a friend a sneak peek, you can read, download and share the first five chapters here.

Finally, join the Crew — that’s the Jupiter Pirates email list — and within an hour you’ll get a link to download an exclusive dossier about the Shadow Comet‘s crew, prepared by Vesuvia. It’s a thank-you for signing up, and I can promise there will be more exclusives for members — not to mention sneak peeks and other good stuff.

Happy New Year!