The fifth and final volume of the Jason Wander series.
It’s been almost a year since my last post here, and a lot has happened during that time.
The last two volumes of the Jason Wander series were published by Little Brown Orbit in US and UK editions, and books 3 and 4 were published in Czech by Fantom Print.
In mid 2009 Baen books, the venerable giant of military SF, distributed by Simon & Shuster, bought the first three books of the follow-on Orphan’s Legacy series. I turned in Book I of the new series, Overkill, in January, 2010 and Baen will release it in Spring, 2011. The research involved the generous cooperation of the Office of Public Affairs of the US Army and a close encounter with an M1A2 Abrams tank that resulted in only minor damage. To me, not the tank. I’m now at work on Book II.
In March, 2010 Baen also released The Green Hills of Earth/The Menace from Earth, a collection of Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Heinlein’s golden age short stories, for which I was flattered to write the afterword.
Afterword by yours truly, cover art by Bob Eggleton, Foreword by Heinlein scholar Bill Patterson
I’ve also been busy with a general fiction project that I may someday actually show to my agent.
Next post: I’ll try to answer some of your FAQs about writing, publishing, and the Jason Wander series.
Robert Buettner 
May 14, 2010 at 8:40 am |
Great to hear there are more books in the pipe!
Steven
May 14, 2010 at 11:50 am |
Great to hear from you, as well, Steven.
May 14, 2010 at 1:29 pm |
YEEHAW. This is news I’ve been waiting for. Looking forward to it, Robert.
May 14, 2010 at 2:54 pm |
Thanks, Aaron.
May 27, 2010 at 12:07 am |
Very glad to hear more material is coming! Love your books, they really speak to us grunts, and you were right, I first got a copy of Orphanage that was passed around the platoon like a secret, full of dogears and everything. Thanks for the many hours of good reading out in the middle of nowhere.
May 28, 2010 at 9:58 pm |
Thanks, Matt. May Memorial Day in the middle of nowhere be a serene one for you.
June 27, 2010 at 9:14 pm |
Very glad to hear more material is coming! Love your books, they really speak to us grunts, and you were right, I first got a copy of Orphanage that was passed around the platoon like a secret, full of dogears and everything. Thanks for the many hours of good reading out in the middle of nowhere.
+1
July 8, 2010 at 3:33 pm |
Dear Mr. Miro:
Thanks for the kind words, and for your service.
– Robert
July 12, 2010 at 5:47 am |
Hello Robert, i absolutely loved the Orphanage series and was wondering if there is any way you could do a book telling the tale from Metzger’s point of view? i know he dies at the end, but i’d like to know more about Metzger…. like what’s his first name? also, a book about DeArthur Ord and Munchkin….. please?
July 13, 2010 at 1:17 am |
Dear Mr. Figueroa:
Thanks for the kind words.
Regarding your question, Sergeant Ord and the Slugs do go way back, and there is a prequel there to be written if the market demands it.
However, currently, I’m committed to the 3-book Orphan’s Legacy series. The Legacy books begin after the end of Orphan’s Triumph, Book 5 the Jason Wander series. Overkill, Book 1 of the new Legacy series won’t be released until Spring, 2011.
Inasmuch as (SPOILER ALERT) all of those characters you mention are dead by the end of the first series, it is fair to say you shouldn’t expect to see much of them for awhile. However, in a couple of years from now…
February 1, 2011 at 11:34 pm |
Dear Mr. Buettner,
Well… it took me a while, but I finally read “Alliance” & the grand finale “Triumph”! Like all the others a very enjoyable read full of wonderful characters and fun plot twists. I want to meet Ord, Aud, even Jeeb and, of course, Jason himself.
It was sad, but satisfying, to come to the end of the series. As I mentioned to you before, I found “Orphanage” at a dollar book store, one of the best bucks I’ve ever spent, it sent me on a long journey!!
So as I finished to last book today I though, “I sure hope Mr. Buettner has something new up his sleeve.” And just next month a new series starts… COOL!
I have a military history question: were any important battles won by a “Jason Wander”? Just was wondering, I’m not a history buff (hated it at school) so don’t have a clue.
Thanks again for such a wonderful ride.
February 2, 2011 at 2:13 am |
Dear Mr. Long:
Thanks for the kind words. As for your question, no, Jason’s quite fictitious. I’ve had a few folks write to tell me they have the same name, but so far none of them have owned up to being strategists.
February 2, 2011 at 2:41 am |
…I’m sorry, I should have been more specific. What I meant was; were there any Jason Wander “types” who disobeyed orders, made up their own rules, did the movie hero stunt, etc., that helped to win a battle? Or would military intelligence have buried the facts…?
February 2, 2011 at 3:18 am |
Hmm. Too many to name, really. The ones who take initiative when chaos reigns pop up everywhere.
Young George Custer, of all people, vastly outnumbered at Gettysburg, happened upon Jeb Stuart’s vastly more numerous cavalry, riding to support Pickett’s charge. Custer charged and turned them because, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Custer’s action may well have been the straw that broke Lee. More often history remembers the ones who went their own way and lost battles, though. Stuart, in the above example for one.
Halsey at the battle of Leyte Gulf took the Japanese bait and chased some Japanese aircraft carriers. He left hundreds of thousands of soldiers on troopships undefended. Halsey got away with it because the pitiful few destroyers and escort carriers he left behind just went ape on the main Japanese fleet and turned them back.
April 6, 2011 at 9:35 pm |
I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this series and I’m looking forward to your new one. I saw a post that you mentioned something about a possible prequel and I think that would make for a wonderful addition to the story or possibly even a continuation of the Jude Metzger story.
Additionally, has there been any discussion of a possible movie? There are many of us who would love to see this on the big screen.
Congratulations on a wonderful series and good luck on the next.
April 7, 2011 at 12:58 am |
Matt – Thanks for your ongoing interest.
As for film possibilities, the question has been asked enough that I’ll do a post that brings things up to date.