Taste of Cyn

The Color Of Vegetation On Alien Planets

By Cynthia Sax on March 19, 2022

I don’t spend a lot of time describing the alien worlds the cyborgs visit because…well…I could write a gazillion words about these worlds and my focus should be on what the cyborgs are doing rather than on their surroundings.

Often the trees and other vegetation on these planets aren’t green. This is unusual and not the way we often envision vegetation. But it is definitely biologically possible.

Non-green plants exist right here on Earth.

There are plants and trees that contain chlorophyll but whose other pigments cover up the green color.

For example, there are trees that sport red leaves (like the stunning Photinia ‘Red Robin’ – https://www.gardeningetc.com/us/advice/trees-with-red-leaves ), purple leaves (the beautiful Malus Pupurea ‘Crimson Cascade’ – https://www.gardeningetc.com/us/advice/trees-with-red-leaves ), blue leaves/needles (the magnificent blue spruce – https://easysucculents.com/blue-leaf-trees ) or yellow leaves ( the eye-catching Zlatia Golden Beech – https://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/fagus-sylvatica-zlatia-golden-beech/ ) all year round.

There are also plants and plantlike forms that don’t contain chlorophyll, that feed off other sources of energy.

The plantlike form that always comes first to my mind is the mushroom. Mushrooms are available in a vast array of hues from red to blue to white and they feed off a variety of different sources from living trees to dead things.

The phantom or snow orchid is a ghostly white plant and has a symbiotic relationship with fungi ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalanthera_austiniae ).

Broomrape can be yellow, brown, purple, or white and they feed off other plants ( https://www.britannica.com/plant/broomrape ).

And we haven’t even started talking about the plants and plantlike forms found in our oceans! They bring unusual to an entirely different level. (grins)

If there’s a color you can imagine, there’s likely a plant or plantlike form here on Earth that sports it. Vegetation on alien worlds can be as colorful.

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Seizing Power

This cyborg believes he’s in control.

Power is the self-appointed leader of the cyborg council. Other members might debate situations. He makes the ultimate decisions.

When a threat to Homeland is revealed, he takes command of a fleet and ventures to the edge of cyborg-controlled space to investigate. He finds a rebellion led by a mysterious upstart he calls Cadet.

The plan Power derives is simple—he’ll quickly quash the uprising and teach its leader a lesson the warrior will never forget.

NO ONE challenges his authority.

Eirene Ours might be called a cadet by Power but she is NOT his subordinate. She is the arrogant E Model’s genetic match.

For much of her mature lifespan, she has desired the male, yearning for his dark-eyed gaze, craving his sure hands, longing for his respect.

That esteem was never granted. And Eirene Ours can no longer wait to earn it. There’s an external threat to their kind, a danger that might destroy them all.

Having lured Power to her home terrain, she now plans to use everything within her means — her fists, her daggers, her ship-destroying missiles — to pound that truth into her stubborn warrior’s thick metal skull.

The future of every cyborg is at stake. She can’t fail them.

Power will believe her. Or he will die.

***

Seizing Power is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features an epic battle between two equally strong cyborg leaders, plans that go terribly yet passionately wrong, and a love that will shake the entire universe.

Buy Now:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HT5RMH8

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HT5RMH8

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09HT5RMH8

Apple Books:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/seizing-power/id1589084775

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seizing-power-cynthia-sax/1140305634

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/seizing-power-2

Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1108292

Topics: General SciFi Romance | Comments Off on The Color Of Vegetation On Alien Planets

Under Strain And Trees

By Cynthia Sax on April 27, 2021

Kamyelle, the human heroine of Under Strain, lives mostly in the trees on Rohini 9.

These alien trees are very tall and they have thick, horizontally growing branches. The branches often intertwine with the branches of neighboring trees.

This makes them easy to navigate. Kamyelle can run along the trees’ branches, using them as an in-the-sky pathway. She sleeps in the trees with little fear of falling out of them.

As a girl, I would often sleep on branches of less-sleeping-friendly Earth trees. (grins) Some kids can sleep anywhere and I grew accustomed to being in the trees.

When the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I travel, I take photos of interesting trees and other instances of nature I think might make great alien environments.

These tree photos were taken in Kauai. The trees on Rohini 9 are MUCH larger but the branches are very similar.

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Under Strain

A damaged cyborg warrior is hunted by a peace-loving human female.

***

Strain is severely malfunctioning. The D Model cyborg was the sole survivor after a horrific decision was made by his cruel manufacturers. He hates all humans, and when he attacks one who is under his cyborg leader’s protection, he is reprimanded, stripped of his weapons, and told to watch and not actively participate in the next mission.

That mission takes place on a small remote planet. Its lush terrain should only be inhabited by the cyborgs they were sent to rescue, but Strain senses another presence on the surface. She is watching him, tracking him, hunting him.

A fully operational cyborg would end her lifespan.

Strain wants to claim her. Forever.

Kamyelle is the only one left of her kind. Warriors have killed the other nonviolent human inhabitants of her planet. She survived…barely…by hiding in the trees, observing her enemies, and covering herself with lifeform scan-concealing mud.

When a handsome, gray-skinned, brilliant-blue-eyed male arrives, surrounded by weapon-carrying warriors, she has to save him. Warriors harm and they kill. That is what they do.

She won’t allow them to hurt Strain.

***

Under Strain is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a broken warrior, a human female who thinks he’s perfect, and velociraptor-like dinosaurs who view them both as light, tasty snacks.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08R322L7S

Apple Books: