Stories by Greg Howell

I'm a big fan of Greg Howell's work! Visit his homepage. He gave me official permission to mirror his stories. Last update from Greg's site was from 2008-02-12. Last check for changes was 2008-02-25.

The following descriptions are taken from Mr. Howell's page:

What follows is a collection of my writing, or at least what's available at the moment. They're science fiction and fantasy stories that I've been writing, off and on, for some time. They've received quite a bit of positive feedback from readers, so I decided to post them. Love them or loathe them, that's your perogative.

A word of warning: these aren't bed-time stories. They were intended for mature audiences and contain realistic violence and adult themes. There's nothing here that you won't find in your your high-street bookshop, but if this does offend you, don't read them. Simple, huh?

Please read the note on the formatting at least once so you will understand the available files.

Note on the Formatting
The TXT and RTF versions are the ones I downloaded from Mr. Howell's homepage. The HTML versions are the ones that I HTMLified. There should be no differences in the text between the two versions. Unfortunately, sometimes the paragraph breaks don't always come out right since the script has to guess where they are. You can always return to the original text if there is a problem - you may be smarter than the script. ;)

The "part" boundaries are put in by the reformatting script where Mr. Howell puts little dashed-line dividers. They don't necessarily have anything to do with how Mr. Howell officially divides his work into parts, sections, chapters, or books. They are provided for ease of remembering where you are as you read these stories in multiple sessions. Also, you may want to download and save the large files locally before trying to read them. :)

Mr. Howell posts new revisions as he writes them, and I have enjoyed watching the story editing process. I have tried to save previous copies as Mr. Howell posts new revisions so I can see exactly what has changed. However, it can be hard to diff the text versions. The HTML versions have been reformatted to be one sentence per line for easier diffing.

The formatting script is probably not perfect yet. If you see something that looks wrong, let me know.

The Stories
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The Human Memoirs
A human soldier is catapulted into a word where evolution took a very different turn. Alone in this new world, there is only one person who calls him friend, and she is far from human.
Godsend
Part I
When an antiquidated Nakuma Mining Corp vessel is crippled on the fringes of human space the pilot seeks refuge on the only Terra-class world ever found in centuries of exploration. That the world is already inhabited might cause a few problems.
Part II
Some time has passed. Some parts of the World have settled, others haven't. New reasons for old acquaintances to reunite.
Work in progress.
Borderlines
They'd been wondering if there was intelligent life out there. Finding it came as a bit of a shock. Work in progress set in the Godsend universe.
Light on Shattered Water
When Michael Riley took time away from his workstation screen he was looking forward to a quiet break in the Vermont countryside. The last thing he was expecting was finding himself in an America where humans had never evolved; in a land where greed and intrigue and betrayal are as common as ever.
Mr. Howell is hoping to get this published. I will take it down when he does. Good luck!!
Redlouts and Cheetah have written a soundtrack for one of the scenes. It's pretty darn good.
Storms Over Open Fields
How much of a difference can one individual make? Sometimes perhaps too much.
Sequel to "Light On Shattered Water". Work in progress.
Shards
Fragments and parts of stories. These will most probably not be elaborated upon.

This is just a small section where I can put story vignettes. These tend to be failed experiments or sections of stories I wanted to play around with: trying optional plot lines, lines of dialogue, or even fragments of stories that never were. These are usually parts of full length novel with characters and situations lifed from those stories. However, these stories were never intended to be finished so for the most part they are left hanging and riddled with grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Human Memoirs - End 3
An alternate ending of the battle for Weather Rock.
Human Memoirs - Return
I was considering a reversal for Memoirs. I didn't think this showed much promise and came up with a better idea. But here it is in sketch form.
Light On Shattered Water - Tryst
This was a scene I was considering putting in toward the end. However, the tory took a different direction so this go shelved. It's a bit... titilating so discretion is advised (like that ever stopped anyone)
Catch The Knife
I had this story knocking around in my head and just had to get it out on paper. How would the future handle a world where it's happened before?

[2000-10-18] Some people have requested I continue Catch The Knife. I have come to a decision. I WILL continue working on it However, I WON'T be posting any updates to it for a very long time. Possible until after Storms Over Open Fields is finished. The main reason for this is that anything I write in it will have happened in SOOF. It would both be a spoiler, and it'd be damned difficult and limiting to do.

C o m m e n t s :     updated: 2008-01-12 (190 days ago)
2004-07-28 : All these stories are too good to be true...
Especially "The human Memoirs", "Light over Shattered Water", and "Storm over Open Fields".
I read them twice, and it surely won't be the last time !!!
2004-07-30 : I've always thought so too. :)
-- Louis
2004-09-08 : Eer...havent quite figured your messageboard out but if this work then I´m on a roll:

I dig Greg Howell bigtime through the last 3 years. My personal favorite of the time is (of course) our hero Mika...I mean Michael. But a close runner would be Borderline. Its nasty and dark and nasty...Did I mention nasty? unfortunaly its also incomplete, which is a real pity. It seems the good Mr. Howell has left it "dead in the water".. "Human memories" was the first I read and looking back now it didn't have the same to "offer" as Shattered Water and the other. Perhaps simply due to a less complicated storyline with to little "personal conflict" and evil intentions from the surroundings. Certainly something that was cured in Shattered Water not to mension Borderline. The best descriped personality of the "aliens" in Gregs writing, I think, is in Godsend however...Just my 2 cents worth....Happy reading ;)

So my fav. list would be :

Shattered Water & Storm...
Borderline
Godsend/Human memories
Catch the knife (a VERY promising start)

Sincerly,

Tyrone "the miner"..(gotta run, theres an alien ship over there so Im OFF!).....
8-10-2006 -- Alias: GraniteYmir
I have been reading Greg Howell's stories from early 2002/3 and I have got to say that they are most interesting! He has a writing style that compels you to read on. I have read all he has to offer and I wish the best for him and his stories. Please, recommend his works!!!
2006-08-13 : Um, sure. I do recommend his writing! :)
-- Louis
1-12-2008 : I must say Light on Shattered Water is probably my favorite story, and quite possibly the best work of writing I've ever read, online or in a material book. What shocks me is Howell's brilliant descriptions and of how realistic the novel seems. All of the characters act in a consistent manner. I have most of what's written of Storms over Open Fields read, and so far it's a good sequel as well, though I was hoping (and still am hoping) for the return of everybody's dear friend Maithris, though I'm not sure if that's going to happen. I have already read Memoirs and I plan to read the Godsend series next. So far, Howell is the author that I respect the most out of all that I have read.
-- Alkonis
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