Coming SOON!!! – The revised version of Star.

Posted on by Opher

I always thought this was a great book but it needed a good edit to give it that sparkle. I’ve got a new editor and it is so much tighter, punchier and fun!

I will be re-releasing the 2025 revised version shortly. Here’s the foreword:

Foreword

This book is Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll writ large across the galaxy.

I started writing Star way back in the 1980s. I had this idea of writing about the sixties but putting it into the distant future and centring it on a massive underground rock star. I used Jimmy Hendrix as the model but added in slices of Dylan, Jim Morrison, Lennon, Bowie and others as the mood suited. I tentatively called it Intergalactic Rock Star.  Blending my two passions of rock music and sci-fi worked for me.

I took all the many backdrops of the 60s – the Vietnam War, civil rights, Martin Luther King, the Fugs, Phil Ochs, Yippies, Dylan’s motorbike accident, Black Panthers, Peace Park, Anti-War demos, free concerts, Albert Grossman, lynchings, IT and OZ, Chicago riots etc. and fictionalised it. I built in the big business, record labels and mafia pressures.

I had great fun creating characters, bands and futuristic concerts. Zargos Ecstasy was created as a name before ecstasy the drug caught on. I was a bit miffed! The Terminal Brain Grope sounded fun.

What came out was part futuristic sci-fi thriller, part fantasy and a lot of twisted sixties events. I loved it. It had a light, fun touch and pacey feel, but it never took off. I changed the title from Star Turn: Intergalactic Rock Star to Star Turn and then Star. I carried out a rewrite and re-release in 2020 but still no joy. I have a new editor and decided to revisit. This is the 2025 update with cheesy cover and new blurb.

Enjoy!

Meet Zargos Ecstasy and the Terminal Brain Grope. Intergalactic rock for the intergalactic revolution. Maybe this time.

Zargos Ecstasy – Star – A Sci-fi novel

Posted on by Opher

It’s the sixties – the three thousand one hundred and sixties. The Federation is in conflict with the Confederation. The Troman war rages.

The Federation is being run by an authoritarian regime. It’s down to the Rock Musicians to head the opposition. Nobody exemplifies the voice of discontent more than Zargos Ecstasy. He not only struts the stage but also puts in words the thoughts of billions of young people.

When I was transforming the 1960s dissent into an SF novel I created this character. Based a little on Mick Jagger, with the poetic protest of Dylan and the voluminous persona of Hendrix, I wanted someone big enough to spearhead the youth revolution.

It’s all here – the civil rights, the anti-war, the social politics. On top of that we have the intrigue. I was looking at what happened to the likes of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Were they bought off, murdered or replaced?? Were the government or mafia involved.

Rock Music is big business. By the time we are into the intergalactic gigs of 3167 we are dealing with mega bucks.

If you are familiar with the 1960s you will recognise a lot of this. I’ve transformed it into the distant future and given it a futuristic vibe but the essence is the same.

What happened to Zargos Ecstasy, the voice of a generation?

Available in paperback and digital:

Star: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798647632906: Books

Star – the idea behind the book

Posted on by Opher

Star – the idea behind the book

 

I started writing Star in 1981.

I had an idea for writing a novel based on the underground Rock Music of the sixties but putting it a thousand years into the future on an intergalactic scale.

My main character had to be a larger than life Rock Star.

The motivation for the story was based on two separate incidents: the motorbike accident of Bob Dylan in 1966 and the death of Jimi Hendrix in 1970. Both spawned conspiracy theories of Mafia involvement, Black Panther involvement, pressure from management, contracts, work pressure, pressure to maintain creativity, drug use, government concern and many more.

That seemed a rich vein to mine.

So I put my character in an infamous underground band, thrust into a leading role in the social unrest that was taking the form of an increasing political, antiestablishment youth movement sweeping the galaxy.

All I had to do was recreate the social and political changes of the sixties in a futuristic setting and move my character through them.

It was interesting and fun. The result was ‘Star’.

Available in both paperback and kindle from Amazon.

In the UK:

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In the USA:

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In India:

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In Canada:

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In Germany:

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In Australia

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Or from your local Amazon Store.

Star – A Tale of a Rockstar in 3167 ACV.

Posted on by Opher

It’s 3167 ACV and the galaxy is rockin’ and revoltin’.

Zargos Ecstasy is king of the underground.

It’s Dylan, Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison and revolution.

There’s civil rights, war and protest.

There’s Peoples’ Park, the Yippies, a cold war, a belligerent President, riots, Black Panthers and peace-power.

There’s also Big Business, Record labels and the underworld Mafia who want in on the action.

If you lived through the sixties you’ll recognise it all.

In the UK:

In the USA: