Today we have O.R. Savage on the blog, here to answer a few questions alongside the release of Vanguards: Galactic Crisis, book two in the Vanguards series.
Welcome! Can you tell us about your writing partnership and how that came to be?
The “O” in “O.R. Savage” is the elder brother. As boys back in the 1950s, we shared a bedroom. When it was time for bed, “O” would make up stories involving the two of us as the main characters and tell them to me (the “R” in “O.R. Savage”). The idea was to help us both get tired and fall asleep. It always kept me awake longer. Our dear parents cut us some slack, recognizing that we were developing talents in the process. He began his first novel while I was out of the country doing charity work in Brazil. When I got back and began reading the chapters he had written so far, I wanted to help. He said yes. Imagine how many big brothers would allow their frothing younger brothers to take a hand in their work. That was the beginning of the Vanguard Universe—the early 1970s.
What got you into writing, were there any books that really influenced your writing?
I read SF voraciously. My first book was Seven Science Fiction Novels by H.G. Wells. Mom and Dad had given it to me as a birthday present in elementary school. I think my reading had been a bit behind grade level. It certainly picked up from there.
What do you enjoy most about writing science fiction?
Placing people in worlds that are marvelous to the imagination (at least in our imaginations) or situations that are alien or advanced beyond our current world and expectations. How these characters solve problems that may be unique technologically but are ultimately interesting variations on challenges to the human condition today. They may share solutions driven by integrity and offer hope upon their resolution—or, perhaps, be cautionary if they exceed good judgment, or potentially avoidable altogether if we take the results seriously.
What inspired this book/series in particular?
The “O” partner found the “what ifs” of the Vanguards universe in an archaeology class he was taking at the university. Pushing that into the future, including mythologies that actually hid real powers and truths, led to the creation of Gaultor, Palmer, Reeber, and others.
Who is your favorite character to write in this book?
I would think that, for both of us, it would be Palmer and Gaultor—almost unified as a singular force in the story. For the “R” partner, Clement Reeber (we meet him in Vanguards: Galactic Crisis), along with other characters working at the galactic level to try to save planetary systems falling to Hypermotility—mysterious, world-shattering death.
Who is the most difficult character for you to write?
Korday—one of the ancient immortals who has lived for billions of years in his evils, with no chance of escaping them, while only becoming ever more vile. We meet him intimately in book 3: Vanguards: Procyx—coming out in January of 2027.
Can you tell us about your writing space? Where do you do most of your writing?
We have spaces in our homes where we can close the door and, sometimes with impressionistic or movie soundtracks, gain some inspiration on where to go and what to do to create something we hope is engaging.
What are some things you are really enjoying reading right now? Books, TV, foods, etc.?
It’s fun watching 1950s SF movies we missed growing up on YouTube channels—and the 4K version of Forbidden Planet just came out—a touchstone for both the “O” and the “R” of O.R. Savage together!
Want to know more about Vanguards: Galactic Crisis?
Vast and cerebral, “Galactic Crisis” is an epic science fiction novel featuring sentient starships, ancient prophecy, and a dying galaxy—where the one man who spent his life debunking the legends may be the only one who can read them.
The galaxy has a plan.
A mythology professor was not part of it.
Clement Reeber, a mythology professor, built his name debunking the Vanguards—impossibly powerful sentient starships no serious scholar believes in. Then Federation Security delivers him aboard one, a vessel with walls of liquid metal and a crew that glows from within, and a lifetime of certainty collapses in a single moment.
Worse, he carries two ancient Mhyrnian artifacts half the galaxy will kill for—and at the galaxy’s heart, he’s seized by a vision meant only for those born with supernatural gifts. No one can explain why an ordinary academic received it.
But the galaxy is already moving. As the EndStar Procyx devours whole systems, the council pushes the twelve Vanguards toward a computer-modeled strike promising to end the crisis in one blow. Reeber is the lone voice insisting the model has never been tested—and with the strike already in motion, a lifelong skeptic must decide how far he can trust what he cannot yet prove.
Perfect for readers who love:
- Epic space opera and sentient starships
- A skeptic hero swept into ancient prophecy
- Vast, cerebral, idea-driven science fiction
- A galaxy-wide threat and a race against time
Meet O.R. Savage:
O.R. Savage is a collaborative pseudonym created by two brothers, Orval and Reuben, who have been building a science-fiction universe since the 1970s.
What began as stories exchanged between siblings grew into a lifelong creative partnership rooted in imagination, trust, and continuity. Writing with a single voice, the work unfolds in original worlds and galaxies shaped by the guidance of a higher power whose influence is multidimensional.
Stories follow ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, where choices carry real weight and moral clarity matters. Good and evil are presented as true opposites, and heroism is defined by conviction, sacrifice, and resolve—not rebellion masquerading as virtue. In this universe, anti-heroes are not heroes, and hope is forged through truth.
