A repository of writing by Lachlan Marnoch - short stories, fantasy, science fiction, science fact, and adjacent opinions.
This symbol has a few different meanings throughout my Legacy universe (under construction). Within the universe's fictional history, it's been passed down from civilisation to civilisation, symbolising different things to each.
Read MoreThe ambiguous fish mocked me from the rock. A forgotten skeleton, not bones anymore, but stones, taunted me with intermediate features. The empty eye socket stared smugly into mine: “You don’t know what I am.”
Read MoreIt's been ages since I posted last. I've been thinking a bit (a lot) lately about writing, and what it means to me and what I want to do with it. I've said this before... but I'm hoping to post a lot more in the near future. I've got plans, man, big plans1, you just wait.
So anyway, I thought I'd post this to get the ball rolling. This is a story and a universe I've been working on in bits and pieces since the Planck epoch. The Richell Prize, a novel-writing competition, prompted me in 2015 to go ahead and get the first few chapters done. I didn't make the shortlist, and I wasn't expecting to, but it did succeed in getting me to put some actual stuff down. Two years later and I haven't added much - you know how it is - but I thought I'd put it up here anyway. It's a bit rough in retrospect, and it could definitely use some work. One day, man. One day.
Legacy: The God of Night (a sample)
1 Plans are at most mild to medium in size.
My war started a long time before the Tulisan. I was getting old before they were even a blip on SDU deep space radar. I'm a veteran, you know, from the Storm border conflicts. I enlisted right out of school, as soon as I could. I was stationed on Bulwark, my homeworld, actually, which has the happy distinction of playing host to no less than three Storm invasions. And one Tulisan invasion.
Read MoreWhen I was six I managed to almost drown and get stung by a bee at the beach, all in the one holiday.
Read MoreThe Planet Eater swung around the yellow star and closed in on his prey. The blue planet swelled into his view, emerging from the milky strew of stars. He could feel the radio waves emanating from it; see the spectral lines of molecular oxygen in its atmosphere, its swarm of tiny satellites. This was a planet at the peak of its lifespan. His mouth started to water.
Read MoreThe Romans were the first of many kingdoms to lay claim to Great Britain over the centuries, which would rise from these hardships as an important international power...
Read MoreHey all! I'm just writing to let you know that I've made my first post on Oddity.me Magazine, formerly known as ReadersDoor. It's also my first review, John Scalzi's The God Engines. Take a look! You know, if you want. Or not. Not that I care. (Please look)
Human beings, the anatomically modern kind, have lived on Earth for the last quarter of a million years. Although that is a tiny amount of time compared to the vast spans I’ve described so far, I feel we’ve achieved rather a lot.
Read MoreHey guys! The next chapter in the History of the Universe is taking a little longer than the others, so I thought I'd put it on hold to post this screenplay.
I wrote this as the major assignment for my Introduction to Screenwriting unit last semester. It's a little rough and I'm not sure that I like a lot of things about it, but it somehow earned me an unexpected Distinction! It follows a university physics student who is struggling through his third year at university and dealing with his philosophical realisations about determinism. (Yes, there is a somewhat autobiographical bent to the script, which is one of the reasons I'm not totally keen on it)
Enjoy!
Uncertainty (2015)
Mammals lived, for 135 million years, in the shadows of much larger reptiles. Dinosaurs dominated the land, giant marine reptiles owned the seas, and pterosaurs patrolled the skies. Mammals did not rest on their laurels, however, developing the traits that define them today.
Read MoreSexual reproduction has been a powerful force for the last 1.2 billion years. Exactly why and how it evolved remains unclear, but it does offer some advantages.
Read MoreHow, exactly, the complex biochemistry that animates our cells came to be remains mysterious. The best guess we have is that RNA, ribonucleic acids, were the first part to materialise.
Read MoreThe Earth formed in the same manner as its brethren: by accretion from the disk of dust left behind by the sun’s birth. Heated by the many collisions that grew it, the planet was molten at first.
Read MoreAround five billion years ago, an average-sized white star swelled from the dust of a barred spiral galaxy. From the disc of remains that surrounded it, smaller bodies pulled together and fell into line around it, until it was orbited by a swarm of planets, from gas giants to tiny, rocky worlds.
Read MoreEverything that makes up my body was once packed into a single point, along with all the other energy that has ever existed. That includes everything that makes up the planet Earth, every star in the sky, and you, dear reader.
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