“The way Tommi Salminen took Star Control 2’s story and turned it into a novel is nothing short of brilliant. This book is a great SciFi book on it’s own and previous knowledge of the source material is not required.” –NightShadowPT (Amazon review)

Groombridge Log is Tommi Salminen’s first novel. It is the first part of The Ur-Quan Masters series, the novelization of Star Control 2. The story continues in Eternal Doctrine.

In 2155, 20 years after a lost war, humanity is imprisoned on Earth under an impenetrable slave shield. The only humans outside are a group of nearly 2000 men and women, assigned to serve their masters on a starbase in Earth’s orbit.

The starbase was supposed to be resupplied every five years, but already eight have passed without a word. Energy cores are exhausted and life support is failing. But then, just when all hope seems lost, they get visitors who might have the power to change everything.

• Part 1/2 of The Ur-Quan Masters series
• First published in 2014
• Language: English (Russian translation in progress.)
• Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand, Helsinki, Finland
• ISBN: 978-952-318-680-4

Groombridge Log is available both as a printed book and an ebook in most online stores, such as Amazon. (Unfortunately the ebook might be listed as unavailable to customers in the United States.)

If you are unwilling to purchase the book, you can still read it in PDF format here

If you are willing but unable to purchase the book, you can read the PDF for free and make a donation via Paypal. That also works if you just want the author to shut up and take your money.

Update April 2020: There have been cases where the book appears unavailable in Amazon. According to the publisher, they do not have a contract with the US Amazon. Here are some observations, though:

– The availability issue supposedly only affects the Kindle version
– I, personally, was able to buy the Kindle version from the American Amazon
– One American fellow said he was not able to buy the ebook from UK Amazon
– One Indian guy saw the book listed as available in US Amazon prior to logging in, but unavailable after logging in
– It might also have something to do with the account holder’s listed home address, but this is unverified.

So here are my suggestions if you are having trouble purchasing the books from Amazon:
– Try another locale’s Amazon
– Try another store entirely
– Pose as a non-US customer in the best way you see fit
– Settle with the printed version if that one is available, but the ebook is not
– as a last resort, live with the PDF version

Update April 2018: A fellow named Vitaly Chechebа has took on the task of translating Groombridge Log into Russian. You can read the ongoing translation in PDF format here

Originally Groombridge Log was supposed to be a comic book. Prologue and chapter 1 were finished in comic form, but the amount of work was too overwhelming. Some years later the novel project began. You can read the beginning of the comic in the “Other Stuff” section. It still works as a gentle introduction to the Star Control universe.