Astronomy Archives - Greta van der Rol Books

Where science meets story

Searching for a suitable location in the Milky Way for my Dryden stories led me to look at science

This detailed Hubble view of Messier 24 captures a huge number of stars in only a tiny portion of the region, which is also known as the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud.

I was a science fiction reader before I dipped my toe into the vast ocean of romance. More than that, I like space opera. Yes, I’m a Star Wars fan, despite the rather ordinary science. What attracts me is the aliens and the space ships and the amazing different worlds out there. And after all, with current estimates for the number of habitable worlds in the Milky Way – those with liquid water – at up to five billion (New Scientist Nov 2020), why not?

Opening scene- Fireglass3 June 2026
The opening chapter of Fireglass by Greta van der Rol in which Linara Vey, against all advice, goes into the Prism Nebula
Opening scene – To Die a Dry Death8 March 2026
1629. The Dutch ship Batavia is sailing along the west coast of Australia, heading for the city of Batavia on Java. It never made it.
Opening scene – The Thunder Egg26 February 2026
the opening scene from The Thunder Egg, a science fiction romance novella. Afra takes a short cut through the mist and encounters a strange creature which leads her to a man who has been beaten up and left in an alley.
Opening scenes – the Search for the Crimson Lady23 February 2026
In this scene Tara attends a deceased estate sale and finds an artefact she thinks comes from the legendary ship the Crimson Lady
Opening scene – Drarkghon’s Hoard23 February 2026
In this scene Dru is interrupted when on a raid. He's chased and hides in asteroids orbiting a planet. That's when he discovers that the legend about the hoard left by mythical pirate, Drarkghon may actually be true...