Did you know that the most popular holiday gift in Iceland is a book? We should all be more like Iceland. Although I might prefer not to have active volcanoes. . .
For your reading pleasure, I recommend the following books to be added to your TBR piles or given as gifts.
I've long been a fan of Rick Wayne's writing and I've been simultaneously both eagerly awaiting and dreading the
final episode of his MINUS FACTION series. Well, here it is and now, for all of you binge readers waiting until the series was complete, go forth and read. The first episode is free on kindle.
I'm a picky reader and even pickier when it comes to reviewing and blurbing novels. This is what I said about
Episode One:
THE MINUS FACTION "features singular characters, strong voices, believable moral dilemmas, adventure, brutality, beauty, and action. And did I mention the kick-ass writing?" Rick does not disappoint in this close to a standout series.
* * *
I'm a sucker for Space Opera SF adventure and K. B. Wagers'
BEHIND THE THRONE has it in spades. It also has a heroine who isn't some young, inoocent ingenue; rather she is a well-established gun runner who is reeled back to the politics of her home world she left decades before when her sisters - heirs to the throne - are killed.
Great world building and a breakneck plot left me wanting more. And luckily, book 2 comes out next month! The kindle edition is on sale now for $2.99.
* * *
I'm not typically a fan of either westerns or horror, but
ENDURANCE captivated me from the start and did not let me go. It's a beautifully written, intensely human story of love, fear, and terrible choices set against a backdrop of a re-imagined frontier landscape in a world where what it means to be human is not so easily defined.
The world building is masterful and from the very first pages, I found myself caring for and worrying about these characters. Watts and Gerke have created an intensely atmospheric story, an alternative Western that is at its heart magic realism.
* * *
And if you are looking for signed physical copies of any of my novels for the holidays, please email me and I'd be happy to offer free shipping in the US for any direct holiday purchases.
PARALLAX: Sneak Peek
Parallax, book 4 of the Halcyone Space series is nearing completion. I've been sharing draft scenes of the work in progress and if you want to take a look, I have them all in a collection housed here. This is a brief snippet from the story's opening.
Nomi's silence was like a new vibration in an engine. It would be so much simpler if Ro could just disassemble and recalibrate her, but people didn't work that way. And, if she was being totally honest, neither did Halcyone. Her ship was more than the functioning of its mechanical parts. Still, Ro knew she could troubleshoot anything made from code or machinery; this was so much harder.
She set down her coffee and walked across the apartment to where Nomi sat on the end of the sofa staring down at her micro. Her gaze flicked up at Ro and then away again. If Ro were like Barre, she might know the right words to tell Nomi how concerned she was. How sorry that she hadn't been there when Nomi was arrested. How guilty she felt. But she wasn't Barre and she knew if she opened her mouth, something blunt and unhelpful was likely to emerge.
Her faded and pilled quilt lay folded neatly across the back of the sofa. Ro sat beside Nomi and tucked it around both of them, covering Nomi's hands and her micro. She made no move to shrug the blanket aside. Instead, Nomi slid her hands out, turned toward Ro, and hugged her.
Ro stroked the smooth dark wave of Nomi's hair and waited. It felt like light years until Nomi muffled some indistinct words into Ro's collarbone. "Hmm?"
Nomi lifted her head before slipping an arm free from around Ro's back and picking up her hand instead. "I'm a mess. I'm sorry."
"Hey. No apologies. Okay?" Ro lifted her other hand and tipped Nomi's chin up. Her eyes were blood-shot and had dark circles beneath them the color of a bruise. "That would be my job."
The draft of PARALLAX should be completed by the end of November and I'm on on track for a summer 2017 publication.
