Character Sketch: Joseph Bernard ("Joe") from Preparing The Ground
When we meet Joe, he's a 22 year old community college drop out. He was studying to be an automobile mechanic, but he got lucky in that his aunt Grace was the first person from Earth to become a trained Guardian.
The family is mixed race. His Anglo father was a retired Senior Chief in the US Navy who worked at a defense contractor, his Mexican-American mother was a homemaker who recently got her real estate license as her youngest was getting close to graduating high school. Joe is the third of five children, three boys and two girls. The family has lived in Temecula, California for about the past five years since his father retired from the military.
When his aunt started a business shipping dogs back to the Empire as pets, Joe was one of the first to sign on, ditching his community college classes and part-time job. She taught him and other members of the family what it takes to be a crewman on an Imperial cargo vessel, and he spent about a year working the dog business, both working with the dogs on the ground and as a crewman on her ships. As a consequence, when the Empire made official contact with Earth about six months ago in the wake of a nuclear war between Russia and China, the family is about the only place interested parties on Earth can find people who know anything about Imperial technology. He is sought out and offered a post on Earth's first interstellar mission. His cousin Adela also gets a berth, but on the other ship.
Joe is a fairly typical young man who has been raised well, but not in a particularly genteel fashion. He's used to being middle class, but he's not a gentleman by any stretch of the imagination. For all of that, however, he's a good human being, and he tries to do the right thing when he realizes what it is. He doesn't realize how much his father's military attitude rubbed off on him, despite his father's frequent absences on deployment while he was growing up. The family might well be the richest on Earth under the new Imperial economy (dogs are one of the few things Imperials are willing to pay for, and they own the largest dog rescue operation and control the transport mechanism), but they still act middle class as they haven't had opportunity to adjust their thinking.
You can read more about Joe in Preparing the Ground Amazon e-book or paperback Books2Read
Joe's Adventures are further continued in Building the People Amazon e-book Amazon Paperback Books2Read
Preparations for War, Book Three, tentatively titled Setting the Board, is in the plotting stages
Buy My Science Fiction Novels!
Dan Melson Amazon Author Page
Dan Melson Author Page Books2Read
Links to free samples here
The Man From Empire
Man From Empire Books2Read link
A Guardian From Earth
Guardian From Earth Books2Read link
Empire and Earth
Empire and Earth Books2Read link
Working The Trenches
Working the Trenches Books2Read link
Rediscovery 4 novel set
Rediscovery 4 novel set Books2Read link
Preparing The Ground
Preparing the Ground Books2Read link
Building the People
Building the People Books2Read link
Setting The Board
Setting The Board Books2Read link
Moving The Pieces
Moving The Pieces Books2Read link
The Invention of Motherhood
Invention of Motherhood Books2Read link
The Price of Power
Price of Power Books2Read link
The End Of Childhood
The End of Childhood Books2Read link
The Fountains of Aescalon
The Fountains of Aescalon Books2Read link
The Monad Trap
The Monad Trap Books2Read link
The Gates To Faerie
The Gates To Faerie Books2Read link
Gifts Of The Mother
Gifts Of The Mother Books2Read link
The Book on Mortgages Everyone Should Have!
What Consumers Need To Know About Mortgages
What Consumers Need to Know About Mortgages Books2Read
The Book on Buying Real Estate Everyone Should Have
What Consumers Need To Know About Buying Real Estate
What Consumers Need to Know About Buying Real Estate Books2Read
Logical failures (straw man, ad hominem, red herring, etcetera) will be pointed out - and I hope you'll point out any such errors I make as well. If there's something you don't understand, ask.
Nonetheless, the idea of comments should be constructive. Aim them at the issue, not the individual. Consider it a challenge to make your criticism constructive. Try to be respectful. Those who make a habit of trollish behavior will be banned.
Leave a comment