IEC Season 1 Review

By Ron Jacobs

Well Let me start off by saying that the Imonoran Empire Cast is my inspiration to do all of the things that I am currently doing. All of my writing and projects are still going because of this podcast. Now I'm not saying it is the best podcast, but it is still there after an entire year. There was some rough times, like the bout of writer's block that he dealt with during August and a few later months.

The IEC got off to a great start with the hard hitting short story of SAPAWs. This story is one of my favorites is a great way to start things off. After that we got some original work that had never been seen before (or has been seen again) Boot and College.

These stories are nice and give you a feeling of what life might actually be like in the Imonoran Empire. Especially College which shows the Imonoran Empire's College set up. It makes the Empire seem a little bit closer to home. After said homely stories we get the a view of how his Imperial Majesty celebrates Christmas.

The Imperial Christmas Story (of which we don't have an official name for yet) is quite a fairy tale that has no real point to it. It is not seen as something special by RB himself. It is an OK story for those who want ot see more of the Empire and How the Emperor has Christmas. Then we get a piece of the distant future. Later is a much different story.

Later is a story that is easily viewable as out of place until you start to here the some familiar names. Later is particularly odd for the small fact that it is five hundred years into the future of anything we have yet heard or read. This story happens in an era of Imperial History known as the Great Dispersion or Dispersion Era. It is a very interesting story and a very interesting look at the future of the Empire.

After that we jump into Lost Falchion (Click Here to see our review on Lost Falchion).

After this we have a story called Imperial Historical Data Archive (or IHDA, and you can find an interview about this Here). This story has not finished yet, but RB says he is working on the end.

We end the the first season with another major hard hitting short story: Saving Worlds. Saving Worlds is a nice story that gives us some good black ops views even if its point on the time line is unknown. It is great to see a different story. RB's friend is a good reader and I enjoyed her reading.

Now we have an entire years worth of Imonoran Empire Cast. It is great to go back and listen to the a lot of the stuff and get things out of it you had missed. The Imonoran Empire Cast is continuing on into the second season with RB's debut novel of Forced War. There are also going to be other short stories appearing in the feed so make sure you listen for those as well. RB has a Christmas story planned as well. The first season was good for RB's first time breaking into podcasting and I can't wait to see what RB will do with Season 2.

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Don't forget to e-mail us at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com, and post on our forums.

IEC Season 1 Wrap Up

By Sarah Macy

The Imonoran Empire Cast will be wrapping up in a few short weeks and we are giving you all some news on what to expect.

Two episodes this month (November) the First (1st) will be on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, and the Second (2nd) will be on Monday, November 17, 2008. These stories will feature the short story Saving Worlds written by RB but it will not be read by the author. RB is having his second ever guest reader: Amanda Moss (a close personal friend of RB's).

Technically there will be a third episode this month on November 30th, but this is an introductory episode to the Second Season of the IEC. It will be episode 200 and Episode 201 will come out the next day on December 1st. These will be the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Forced War.

This is what is going to happen at the end of this month. The next few weeks are going to be very long as we lead into the Second Season.

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Don't forget to e-mail us at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com, and post on our forums.

Lost Falchion (Complete) Review

by Ron Jacobs

Lost Falchon the latest story from RB is a very good read. It is a little to short for my taste but it takes all kinds of stories to make the world go round.

I enjoyed the story in both formats: the audio formatted Podcast Novel, and the Written PDF that we received (thank you RB). RB is working on editing it now so you should see a PDF come up somewhere of the edited Lost Falchion before he checks out printing options from Lulu and Word Clay and others.

The story really holds on to you and doesn't let go until the end.

I think everyone who enjoys RB's writing or just the Imonoran Empire needs to take a look at this.

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Don't forget to e-mail us at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com, and post on our forums.

Forced War To Be Podcasted

Forced War Now Destined for Audio
By Sarah Macy and Susan Lee
Forced War is going to be podcasted starting this November or December! That is the big news that was released in RB's Blog this last Sunday (June 8th, 2008). In the same update RB told us that Lost Falchion has officially been demoted to a Novella rather then a fill length novel.

As soon as we read this we got Susan Lee on the line to get some face time with RB. This is what she sent us:

Unexpected Ramifications: So can you fill us in on the new direction you are taking the Empire Project?

RB: Well since making the decision to podcast the other projects of RB's Universe I was seriously thinking about why shouldn't I podcast Forced War as well. I mean it would get me more support for the novel and then I could work on getting more product out there.

UR: Then can we look forward to actually finding out how you have updated the story since we you gave us that original rough First Draft? Have there been any major changes to the story?

RB: Yes this will be the second draft so much better than that first but I am still looking for an editor so if there is anyone out there who wants to edit it and doesn't want to be paid very much then e-mail me. No there are no major changes to the story. There are some minor differences in progression and flow but nothing has been changed... additions though, there are some additions to the book.

UR: So how much longer is Lost Falchion going to be now that you have decided to cut it back to a novella? Did you have to change anything to achieve this goal?

RB: Lost Falchion will run for at least for more episodes then it will be finished. Depending on how it is lumped together this could be anywhere from 5 to 10 more chapters of the story. It may run for more than that. Maybe six more episodes but after it is done it will be put up on Podiobooks.com. No I didn't really have to change anything to achieve the scale back but it has made writing for ti much easier.

UR: Since you are in the process of editing Forced War why is it now tha you have decided to Podcast it? Why didn't you make it your first Podcast Novel rather than your second?

RB: Those are easy questions and the answers are: 1. It won't be considered a finished product until I finish editing it. and 2. It is my first Podcast Novel. With this scale back that changed LF from a Novel to a Novella this means that it is not the IEC's First novel but rather a novella meaning that Forced War will be my first Podcast Novel as well as my Debut Novel.

UR: You said in your blog that you are going to have a preview in the next episode of the IEC what is that going to be ore can you tell us?

RB: That is going to be the prologue of the novel fully recorded with music (I have already picked the theme music for the podcast) and all that joy that is going to kill you because you have to wait until December to hear the rest of it. I think that everyone will enjoy this little preview because it has a larger production value than LF. Back in Episodes 3 and 4 we experimented with our production of Later. It didn't turn out so well but that was because the music that was picked was not very suitable to the story. But this music fits and the production of it has now run up to about the $50 mark. This means that you are going to get a lot of content and value for free.

UR: So you have worked a new production status into the format is this going to be specific to Forced War or are you going to be showing this during the months to come?

RB: Well I won't be showing it off in LF. The production format is set and if it was changed now it would be disastrous for the novella. Right now the only pieces I have to rerecord are the Prologue and Chapters 1-3 but other than that the episodes are going quite well.

UR: But after Lost Falchion are you going to start using this in future short stories to end out season one with?

RB: Maybe. I have sent word and the story to Mur Lafferty for her approval and Narration and I will be sending off a story to Scott Sigler at the end of the summer. I don't think I will be using it for their productions of these stories but Possibly for a new segment coming up call the Imperial Historical Data Archive (or IHDA for short). I am not giving away what this is right now but it will be something for you that will be part of the podcast for the end of Season 1.

UR: This new project will then be produced in the same way as Forced War?

RB: Theoretically. But the problem is the Production Value of such a short segment drastically drops from the value of a long segment. IHDA will only have a quarter of the production value that LF has and LF only has between a third and half of the production value that Forced War has. This means that when you hit the $50 mark in a large production (i.e. Forced War) you are gaining (even when you are putting it out for free) but when you hit the $50 mark on a smaller segment (i.e. IHDA) you are losing money.

UR: Mainly because Forced War will sell books and IHDA won't?

RB: That is A reason but not the whole reason. But in the long run you have a lot to look forward too!

UR: Thank you RB.

There you have it. A new discussion with RB about what is coming up in the IEC and as part of RB's Universe in general. It is a good thing that we can look forward to so much content!

Numbers and Project News

Podcast Numbers
by Edward Smith
RB has released some numbers for the download count of the Imonoran Empire Cast. As of the end of April the IEC has a total of 454 downloads. This is great and RB sends out his thanks to all you who are downloading telling friends and just helping to get more downloads.

RB's Universe Project Updates
by John Sanders
RB said in his blog recently that he is thinking of podcasting all his upcoming projects including the Urkia, Ynel and Linal projects.

"I am thinking of Podcasting all the above novels as well as Forced War. I'm not sure but it will boost support of the novels and it worked very well for Scott Sigler (Future Dark Overlord)."

RB (fan of Scott Sigler since Earthcore) is thinking of following in the FDO's footsteps and podcasting his novels making them available for free in audio format and then available in print through Lulu (if not another publisher).

With this good news (at least for us) he has also given us updates on each of the upcoming projects

Empire Project:
Forced War is now slated for an early '09 release. RB is unsure as to whether he will podcast it or not. He is still looking for someone to edit the second draft as well.

The Urkia Project:
RB is unsure as to whether he should write all these books at the same time or not. He has put forth that if he is going to podcast them he will but he still unsure at the moment. He is looking into several possibilities at the moment in ways to split the books up into two or three sessions. with a project in between each one.

Ynel Project:
"The Ynel project is not really even in a planning stage for the novel yet." So RB said in the same blog post as podcast info above. He has started on some short stories but other than that there isn't really a novel yet. RB says that he has "some working ideas that I can run with but nothing that would make a complete novel." He also says that there is no reason to worry because the Ynel Project won't start until December '09 at the very earliest and by then he will have a fleshed out outline of what he wants.

Linal Project:
"OK this is the one that most people are clamoring over. What is Linal? Well I'm not going to tell you. I have told you what Urkia is and what Ynel is and we all know what the Imonoran Empire is so you are just going to have to wait and see on what Linal is. I will release information about it before the Novel is released (most likely in the form of a short story anthology)." We have no information on this but that it is slated for 2010 at the earliest. We, the staff, can not wait to see what this is.

Lost Falchion

Lost Falchion
By Ron Jacobs

The latest book Lost Falchion is available in two ways at the moment. You can listen to it as a Podcast-Novel (the way it was intended to be received) or you can read it (the latest chapter comes out about a day after its release on the IEC). The Book is so far shaping up to be quite a twister. Things are happening back and forth and dropping new plot lines that no one could see coming.

If you are planning on reading it I would say that be careful. RB says that for right now he has not uploaded the edited versions of the chapters yet. He wants people to go and listen to the IEC and get the chapters there. Plus he says that there is a lot of editing that happens during the reading process that he doesn't write down. So if you want the most current version of each chapter go to the IEC and listen to it there.

RB says that he will upload the chapters to Podiobooks when the book is almost/or is finished.

Enough of the news on Lost Falchion now for the Literature Review:

The book is a very captivating listen. I think it had a rocky start but it is shaping up well. I look forward to the rest of the story and if he follows the outline that he has presented to me the stories end will be very, very unexpected.

So make sure you listen to it and go read it if you like that better, but Lost Falchion is worth the wait for all Imonoran Empire enthusiasts.

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Don't forget to e-mail us at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com, and post on our forums.

UR Staff

The UR Staff
By Jordan Calvary

The UR Staff is currently made up of eight people: (in Alphabetical order) Jordan Calvary, Ralph Davis, Ron Jacobs, Susan Lee, Sarah Macy, Joe Marcus, Edward Smith and John Sanders. These men and woman are here for one purpose to bring you the latest news about RB's Universe. We started in November of 2007 and had some technical difficulties but now we are back and it's time for you to get to know the writers and editors of this fan production.

(By seniority)

1. Ralph Davis (Editor 'n Chief)
   
   Ralph Davis started this as a senior project but was told that it would not fit the bill for a Journalism Major's senior project so he kept it going and started something else on the side. (He may post that here at a later date).
   
   He is a Journalist Major at the Utah State University and is working this as a tribute to RB. He thoroughly enjoys the stories in the RB's Universe and has gotten to see a lot of material that no one else has.
   
   
2. Ron Jacobs (Article Editor & Literature Reviewer)
   
   Ron Jacobs is also a Journalism Major at Utah State and a close friend of Mr. Davis. He decided to join Mr. Davis on this publication when he was looking for things to do during his spare time. With ninety percent of his credits already finished he has a lot of spare time to work with.
   
   He is the only person on the staff to have read the entire Forced War Draft 1 and is very proud of this. Every one else has gotten to read the first five chapters of Draft 2 but he got the entirety of Draft 1. "Being the Literature Reviewer has it's perks," he said in response to a nasty question thrown his way by Sarah Macy. (who was the original writer of the story that brought the Novel to everyone's attention.)
   
   
3. Joe Marcus (Content Editor)
   
   Joe Marcus and Ralph Davis have been friends for longer than either one of them can remember. He is a Tech Major at Utah State and originally started to help Mr. Davis with this because of their deep friendship. Later, about 5 months ago, he actually got into the stories himself and can't wait to get his hands on a copy of Forced War.
   
   He is now working on a server system that the team can move this Fanzine too. As well as a program to make the zine into a zine.
   
   
4. Sarah Macy (News Writer)
   
   A long time friend of Ralph Davis, and now Fiancée of Mr. Davis, she says she will follow him anywhere. She is also an Admirer of RB because he is, "six years younger and already doing what I want to do." A long time writing enthusiast she is working on a book of her own that she hopes to get as much support with as RB has gotten with his so far.
   
   
5. Jordan Calvary (Writer & Internal Affairs Reporter)
   By Sarah Macy
   
   Jordan got started on RB's Universe through his online friendship with Susan Lee. He then got in touch with UR through a series of e-mails that are now called the Internal Affairs Reports by the Staff. He seemed to do a very good job at gathering intel and finally asked the fateful question of if he could join the staff in our second issue. He has been added as the "Internal Affairs Reporter" meaning that he will write articles about: Internal Affairs.
   
   He has been gathering info for this article for about four months and seems to be very happy to finally post it.
   
   
6. Susan Lee (RB's Universe Specialist)
   
   Susan Lee is a close personal friend of RB and as such is the RB's Universe Specialist. She is our go to gal when we need someone to have some face time with RB or we need RB to answer a question immediately. She is also slated as the RB's Universe Group Specialist because she is the one who has spent the most time with RB and knows about it. She is also working on writing a story of her own set in the Imonoran Empire. (The lucky woman has the access to all of RB's resources.)
   
   
7. Edward Smith (Universal Writer)
   
   Edward Smith is a new addition of to the staff as of April and he is the one that suggested this for the Fanzine. The UR Staff is very thankful to him for setting this up for UR.
   
   
8. John Sanders (Universal Writer)
   
   Another new addition as of April. He you will be seeing his immense writing talents in the months to come. He is a close friend of Jordan Calvary.
   

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Don't forget to e-mail us at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com, and post on our forums.

How things are gonna work.

Well after the editors got together and talked it over we have decided to go with a standard format per month. We will post A "cover" at the beginning of what articles you can expect for that month and then the articles with follow.

Example:
For the End of April you can look forward to:

An Article about the Staff of Unexpected Ramifications By Jordan Calvary.

And Article about Lost Falchion by Ron Jacobs

And then we'll see you again in may!

Don't forget to go to our forums and to send us e-mails at Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com

And Make sure you check out the Licensing for this blog at the bottom of this page.
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UR Staff.

Imonoran Empire Cast

by Ralph Davis

The Imonoran Empire Cast is a new medium RB is using to get word out about RB’s Universe and more specifically the Imonoran Empire.

On The Imonoran Empire Cast RB is planning to read a story based in one of the worlds of the RB’s Universe Group (90% of the time it will be in the Imonoran Empire). He has two episodes out now with a zeroth and a Christmas Episode as well. The only story read so far that is not an IEC (Imonoran Empire Cast) Exclusive is SAPAWs. He plans to do as many IEC Exclusive stories as he can but have enough from Empire Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 to fall back on incase there is an off week.

On January 24^th RB plans to start the first ever IEC Novel. This Novel will be an IEC Exclusive and will not be aired or written down anywhere else. The only place to find it is on the Imonoran Empire Cast. We asked RB how he was going to work this and he said, “That’s easy, I’m not going to write it down.” We were taken aback by this and he set us straight: “I am going to make myself a map. In writing we call this an outline, and I going to use this to keep the general flow of the story of the going but I going to try and act it rather than read it. We’ll see how it goes if it’s horrible I may rethink this idea.”

He has not released a single detail about this new novel. In fact he says that the only way we are going to be able to find out about it is to stay tuned. And so we are.

RB is using this podcast to give out news as well so when you can’t read the new issue of Unexpected Ramifications because it has yet to come out go to http://imonoranempire.mypodcast.com to listen to the Imonoran Empire Cast. You can also check out the IEC Blog (http://imonoranempirecast.blogspot.com) for news behind the scenes and between the episodes.

Thank you.

Urkia Project

by Joe Marcus

The Urkia Quadrilogy (er’KĪ) has been postponed for a year now. Indeed we ask ourselves if we will ever see this story. The answer to that question is: yes. Yes we will see this series of four books. It just has taken RB a while to get his thoughts together. As soon as the Empire Project concludes (at the latest June of 2008) RB will start working again on the Urkia Quadrilogy.

He said that he has not forgotten the fans who have waited since the announcement last year that he would be writing it to see it. He just found something that was a little closer to his heart. RB is prized by his fans (those we talked to anyway) for his ability to build a world. He does not let a single detail pass him by. He makes the peoples the languages and the history in such a way that you feel as if you could add this as a second address on a legal form. He says that he is through chapter 3 and that he has the entire story outlined. Though this does not make it any easier to wait for the books he is keeping our hopes high as he always does.

He placed emphasis on the fact that he was not abandoning this project that it needed time to grow and stew and cook until it was ready to come out. RB thinks that it will soon be ready to come out and that he will be able to write it. Though he is not sure if it will be put up for printing it may just come out as a PDF on the RB’s Universe site, though he may put that up to a vote for us to decide.

The main gist of what he says he is trying to relate to us is that we need not worry about if the project is going to continue because he would never let something so dear to him as Urkia drop.

Federation Space Online

by Sarah Macy

The RB’s Universe plans to relaunch Federation Space Online 1 and 2. They are planning on relaunching the original Federation Space Online in early December then relaunch the Federation Space Online 2 in early ’08.

These two Online Roleplaying Games (ORPGs) were the original debut of the Imonoran Empire (not named such at the time, it was only named the Empire). The original (F.S.O., launched in 2000) was amazingly successful when it launched gaining quite a large following of fans. By the end of the game (the server that they were using was shut down in ‘01) the total number of players was counted as 3,047.

This original gamed chronicled the beginning of the Crondorian Conflict and followed, among various other ships, the ISS Venmar. The tales of the Venmar are numerous but many of the other players ships also made it into the canon of the Imonoran Empire as well. The ISS Curion (during F.S.O. was the largest ship in the fleet and was a prize to a contest held during the game) was also part of canon. Several stories grew into canon from the F.S.O. players. The story of Captain John William Carrier and his Cruiser-class ISS Victorious (by Arthur C. Mellington) is one such example. Several players also helped shape part of the Empire as we now know it (none of their names can be given because they are not known).

The sequel to the original F.S.O. came out soon after the first relaunch of F.S.O. This game expanded the universe a little and opened up a whole new level of playability. The creators (RB himself and two other helpers known only under a group name of the *WW team) added a new class of ship, the Destroyer-class, and a new player job. Of course you had the standard jobs the con, engineering, fighter pilot and so on. But now you could be a mercenary as a fighter pilot. As soon as you earned enough credits to buy your own Advanced Fighter you could become a merc. Advanced Fighters have the ability to make Hyper Space jumps and therefore the mercenary could use them to work for whomever he wanted (with this the game admins posted quests for the opposite side every now and then for more Credits than just a standard quest). F.S.O. 2 starts after the destruction of the ISS Venmar. The ISS Venmar II has just been launched and the tide looks like it’s about to turn for the better. The men of Imonoran Empire are fighting harder than they ever have. The official ending of the F.S.O. 2 Story line is the end of the Crondorian Conflict.

Because of this and the fact that that would end the entire game RB Corp (the predecessor to RB’s Universe) added an F.S.O. 2.5 which included the all new battle setting of the Vloran Skirmish. RBC also made F.S.O. 2.5 a dual launch with an ORPG called “The Compound.” The Compound is on the opposite side of the Federation of Arms. It is the Mobile Infantry’s and SAPAW’s side of events. It catalogs the entire history of F.S.O. 1 through F.S.O. 2.5 in the form of the ground soldier rather than the Navy.

We have been told that RB’s Universe does plan to release The Compound in First Quarter ’08 and F.S.O. 2.5 as its own stand alone game (with the same title).

They also plan to release a new game titled Federation Space Online 3 (or F.S.O. 3) we have not been told what this game will entail. Whether it will be during the brutal Aldran War or if it will be farther in the future than that we can only guess. But there is a gleam in the horizon because we do know that RB’s Universe is planning to release a companion game with this one as well. That’s right the Compound 2 is going to be released at the same time as F.S.O. 3. The only peep we have received about these two games is that their stories lines will coincide together and that you will be able to get upgrades in one by playing the other. We are not sure how that is going to work but it sounds exciting.

Stay tuned to find out more about F.S.O. 3 and The Compound 2.

Forced War (review)

by Ron Jacobs

UR was given half of the recently written novel, Forced War. It was an exciting read. It is in a time of war and it does have a lot of characters, at least at the beginning. The first four chapters covers most of the war, which means covering about 4 or 5 years, leaving the rest of the novel to cover the last year or so of the war and a little after. The story is written mostly about Hoban Rantré Imonora and Jucal Imonora.

These two men are the main focus of the novel though it does add in characters such as General Sir, the mysterious agent woman from the Saving Worlds and so on. It adds some characters we have never met before and kills many. For people who do not like death, you probably shouldn’t read this book. The book (at least what we have received) is not thickly laced with death but it is about war meaning there is death all around.

Over all I think that the piece we have received is a great story and I think it has ruined me. I want the rest of it so bad it almost hurts. Maybe RB will have some pitty on me and give me the rest. It doesn’t look likely. I am not aloud (by the author) to comment on writing or style because, and I quote, “I need time to be able to edit. It was really a rushed job I feel for having the time constraint and having to juggle the novel between college a job and Taekwondo. It really, really needs to be edited.”

But overall the story is amazing so far.

*EDIT*
We Have added the excerpt that came out in November as part of this article.

November 2007: RB has posted an excerpt from his novel! Here it is in all its glory:

Captain Hoban Rantré Imonora was known to some as a smuggler others a bounty hunter. He disliked the names that people gave him it was hard to switch from one to the other. From bounty hunter to smuggler it was always a different story. People tried to take things away all the time. He called himself a criminal. Rantré was in his shuttle on the way back from a job but people don’t want to leave you be when you’re a criminal and know it. A call came through the COM system.

“Ran?” Leesa’s voice was scared and tired.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked. There was too much coin sitting behind him for him to be really worried right now.

“I just got somethin’ on our sensors,” she whispered into her mouth piece as if someone might here her.

“What is it? Can you tell?” Now Rantré was a little worried. He looked at Jiso and back at the COM.

“It looks like an Imperial Destroyer. Ran I’m scared.”

“Leesa if they catch you you’re a hostage. Understand?” Rantré said very authoritatively. There was no answer. “Understand?” he said a little louder.

“Yes,” was all the very small voice said.

“Get the engines prepped for jump. I want to hit H-space as soon as I’m aboard.”

“Okay.”

Rantré looked over at Jiso again, “Move over!”

“But I’m flyin’”

“Your flyin’ too jing re slow! Get outta the way!”

We hope you enjoyed that we will be sure to keep you posted of all new events and leads we get on Forced War (the novel by RB).

RB's Universe Group

by Joe Marcus

The RB’s Universe Group is a group of websites and info spots that have info about the different places in RB’s Multiverse. The Group at this moment has two, a forum, a Fanzine, and a DA a page (RB’s DA page).

The different pieces of the group work independently but all have their hub in the RB’s Universe main site. This site has (or will have) a page for every aspect of the RB’s Universe Group or a link directly to that aspect. RB is trying to work with his crew to make the page expand faster. This month (November) though things are being put on hold because of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Future updates RB’s Universe Group include (for a few):

1. A RB’s Universe Myspace
2. A RB’s Universe DA page
3. The RB’s Universe Store

So be ready and make sure you check the Front page to the RB’s Universe Group often to see new updates.

RB's Novel

by Sarah Macy

Forced War- The title to the novel based in RB’s Imonoran Empire is slated to come out in the spring of next year. RB has been really closed on the details of the book thus far giving us nothing to go on but conjectures of our own. In fact we can count all the news we received on this subject on one hand.

1. It will be about a man named Hoban Rantré Imonora (cousin of Emperor Jucal Imonora).

2. The Emperor will also be in it.

3. It is based during a time of upcoming war.

4. And a quote "The stars call my name. Everyone of them says, 'Come Hoban.'"

5. No five as of yet.

All these appear in our interview this issue though which makes them the only news we will get until we receive the novel itself. Because this is our November issue and RB is already writing this by the time you read this… well… We probably won’t get any news other than what we’ve got.

I say this because RB (as stated) isn’t in to giving things about his book away and would rather let us all sit in dark corners and sulk. No not really but if we receive any news you can be sure to see it up on our site. We may do a between issues exclusive.

It is not certain either but we are also considering trying to have a contest for some signed copies of the book as well. Stay tuned for details on that.

Empire Vol. 1

by Ron Jacobs

Empire Vol. 1 is a very nice set of short stories written by RB. They are the first phase of the Empire Project. The Empire Project is described on the RB's Universe page as the pre-publication promotion for the novel that RB is soon to be writing. The stories range from a sort of top-secret motif to a Military setting and finally to a destination far in the future after the Empire has ended. The very last piece of this Volume is the appendix which is filled with the Imperial History (Volumes 1 & 2) and the Imperial Lineage. For people who love to look at a world and learn its history and its influences this section will appeal to you.

RB has put the book together rather well I have to say. The pictures that go with each set of stories are quite nice. The pictures are: Mathew and Sarah, R.A.I. 1082, a SAPAW, the ISS Jilquí, the ISS Utopia, the ISS Venmar, the ISS Venmar II, the ISS Venmar III, the ISS Venmar IV, and Juroh, a bonus picture in the appendix is of the Imperial Flag flying over what looks like a housing complex. These set the tone for each story. Before you read the story “SAPAWs” look at the picture of a SAPAW at the front of the section and before you read the story “Later” look at Juroh to get to know the character.

The stories are very imaginative and well written. RB paints wonderful pictures with his words and makes you think in new “Imperial” ways. It is a very nice read through and any science fiction fan will enjoy the read. He is planning a second volume so stay keyed in to here news on it. I love this even though there are some errors (always grammatical and in the process of being edited) it is a beautiful set of stories for a science fiction lover.

RB Interview 11-07

This is an Interview that was released with RB in November of '07.

This interview was done over the phone. Before anyone askes no we are not about to give out the phone number for RB. (This was done in October 07 and was placed in the November Issue).

Unexpected Ramifications: We are very excited to have RB on the line ready to have a little chat with us today. He has consented to giving us this little interview and we are very, very grateful. Hey RB thanks for letting us into the RB’s Universe Group. So what are you up to right now as far as RB’s Universe is concerned?

RB: Wow you guys really jump right into things don’t you? Well RB’s Universe is the project to link all my work. I really can’t (and this is a big problem of mine) stay focused on one item at a time. Thus the reason for all of my different worlds that form my “Multiverse” were made one at a time but usually while I was working on other projects, such as the Ynel being created during the beginning stages of the Urkia Quadrilogy planning. But right now it’s just getting the ideas and stories read for Empire Vol. 2 and getting the ideas for the Novel.

UR: So does this mean that you will be starting in on the novel soon?

RB: Yes and no. I will be starting the novel in November. This is because that is when NaNoWriMo happens (National Novel Writing Month for anyone who doesn’t know) and you have to write fifty thousand words in one month. So the novel will be around that long, and you can look for it in print at the RB’s Universe store of course, and maybe, if I’m lucky, in booksellers nationwide in about spring of ’08 (for the RB’s Universe Store at least).

UR: So you’re planning to write the entire novel on month? That’s intense. Can you let anyone know what the novel is going to be about? Or is that some big secret that the world will only know once they’ve read it?

RB: Well I’m not really into revealing to the world what I am writing about. You know the general setting and where the book is going to take place. What more do you need to know? Well I guess I’ll let you know the Main Characters that will be in the book. It is going to be a character we haven’t met yet. We might meet him in Vol. 2 but I’m not sure yet. His name is Hoban Rantré Imonora. He is the cousin to Emperor Jucal Imonora. Well he served in the Crondorian Conflict as a fighter pilot and then dropped off the map becoming a smuggler or bounty hunter when needed. He bought a ship and found a crew. It will also feature Emperor Jucal Imonora, a first for all stories in the Imonoran Empire. Oh, one other thing I will give you is a quote from the book itself. It's, "The stars call my name. Everyone of them says, 'Come Hoban.'" This is Hoban talking to someone I won't say who right now.

UR: So you will be using this character as your figure head to move the novel forward?

RB: No since no one, except me, knows who he is. So I will probably key the advertising more toward the fact that it is in the Imonoran Empire and Jucal Imonora. I am going this way because we haven’t had an in depth look at his personality but anyone who has read the history knows what type of man he is and who he is.

UR: So what other projects are you working on right now?

RB: Well I’m not working on any RB’s Universe Projects at the moment. I am working on a Firefly/Serenity Fanfic though. What can I say I am a Browncoat through and through and so I’m writing something to show that. I will probably be posting that to the Fanfic boards on the RB’s Universe Forum. You see I made sure they designated that for any fanfic. Yeah that is not of Mal and the BDHs though it is of my own crew on the Killer Bee class transport ship named the Tienen (the Spanish word for “they have”). Which brings us to the title which is… dun dun dun, They Have. Yeah exciting I know. But it Is the main theme of the story.

UR: So since you write Fanfic do you “want” people to write fanfic of your stories and worlds as well?

RB: Yes I am a big supporter of fanfic, not only for people to do but for writers to see. Let’s say someone has an amazing idea but about a piece of copyrighted work. So he writes a Fanfic, the writer of the copyrighted material sees it retools it and talks to the author of the piece and so the author of the fanfic get’s his moment in the sun. This get’s his name out and next thing you know bam. So and so who got his start as a fanfic writer now has written his own book. And a 33.659 Trillion dollar movie has come out based on it. So toy answer the original question yes.

UR: What is your favorite genre to write in?

RB: [chuckles] Oh that’s easy Science Fiction. I love space and space ships and everything else to do with it.

UR: Science Fiction? But then why do you have two out of three worlds as Fantasy?

RB: Well if you think about it Sci-Fi is fantasy but we’re not here to argue that. Well that is because When I was younger I was fascinated, as most children are, with witches and wizards and Middle-Earth and so and so forth. So I made Urkia. Urkia was where I could escape. I went there when I was lonely, hurting or just generally feeling bad. So Urkia was a place where men carried swords fantastic races lived (such as the Asgarth, my favorite) and I could make amazing stories, none of which ever made it into the Urkia Quadrilogy planning phases. Then came The Empire and when I was working on finishing Urkia Book 1 I made Ynel just to get back to a middle-earthy feel.

UR: Will we ever see this Four Book Urkia set?

RB: I have the gist of the four books lain out. I have the basic “sketch” of the first book finish. The only problem left with the first book is going from 500 to 50,000 words and editing of course. But yes I predict in the next four year you will see the Urkia Quadrilogy as a complete set on shelves, at least in the RB’s Universe Store.

UR: Why have you put the older Urkia Quadrilogy on hold for the newer Empire Project?

RB: Well this has to do with a couple questions ago when you asked me what my favorite genre is. I LOVE SCIENCE FICTION. There is no other way to say it. So I have put Science Fiction to the fore front of my writing. Whether that is good for me as an author, who knows and who cares. I love the Empire. It has since become the place where I live in my brain. So it is of course my top priority.

UR: Well RB it has been a pleasure speaking with you. Please be sure to check this out when it posted on the zine.

RB: I will thank you for making the Zine in the first place. I got to tell you it was a real shock when I got your e-mail about the fanzine. Thank You.

New UR

A new format has been chosen for UR (Unexpected Ramifications) and that will be this blog. We (the UR staff) will post articles here that you can view and look up. This will be a news blog for the RB's Universe.

First Article:
Apologies
by Ralph Davis
We are sorry for not having an issue out to you for four months. We have had many, many problems with the connections to our writers and members.

Please continue your e-mails and we will now post individual articles here. So check here every now and then to find out what is happening in RB's Universe. We will still answer e-mail but it will not be in a standard spot as it was in the "Fanzine."

The first order of business with this will be posting older articles here so that you can look them up with ease. We will then start posting new articles and the first will be an article by Jordan Calvary with an article about the people who make UR possible.

Thank you for all your support and don't forget to send your e-mail to Unexpected.Ramifications@gmail.com.

Editor 'n Chief Ralph Davis
Article Editor Ron Jacobs
Content Editor Joe Marcus
Writers:

• Jordan Calvary
  
• Ralph Davis
• Ron Jacobs
• Susan Lee
  
• Sarah Macy
• Joe Marcus
• Edward Smith
• John Sanders