Greets Bloggorites! Forgive the schmaltzy blog post title; I couldn't help myself, but how many businesses are advertising a Veterans Day sale this week? I have to say, though, this announcement-slash-sale is way more thrilling and blow-y out-y than all those others. What better way to celebrate the holiday than to read something by those for whom the holiday was created?
Announcing:
Three New Releases from Three (old) Vets!
(Plus another awesome author!)
That's right. I (former army paratrooper) have a new one out in military science fiction, CONVICTION: A Spectras Arise Novella, as does the fantastic science fiction/steampunk author Scott Whitmore (former naval officer), GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE: and other stories from the Vyptellian War. I have read this novella and promise you, it's amazing.CONVICTIONTRUSTING OTHERS IS YOUR FIRST MISTAKE.If Corps Tech Sergeant Aly Erikson wants to survive another day, she will have to give up everything: her identity, her rank, her attachment to her brothers-in-arms, and most of all, her guilt.After doing her duty as a member of a ground infantry squad tasked with “neutralizing” an insurrection by non-citizens on a mining planet, Erikson realizes that everything she thought the Corps stood for, thought she stood for, is crumbling away. Where is the honor, the justice, the spirit of law? When the enemies are nothing more than outclassed and outgunned dregs of the Algol System’s forgotten people, being part of their execution squad has put her as far from the ideals of justice as Erikson can imagine. Haunted by their ghosts, she struggles to maintain her military bearing until even that is suddenly ripped away in an act of terrorism that sends her, her brother, Tech Sergeant David Erikson, and another Corpsmember, Rebecca Soltznin, on the run on a hostile planet. Forced for the first time in ten years to blend in with a civilian population, the three are faced with a single choice: regroup with their brothers-in-arms or become deserters. For Aly, it’s easy; why go back to being a cog in the death machine the Corps is becoming? But for the other two, the price for making the wrong decision may be higher than they’re willing to pay.On the run, under attack from the scavengers who plague the system, and out of options, the three face conflict from every direction. If they can’t find a way to fight together, their chances for survival are less than zero. And for one of them, the best solution may come down to one simple act: betrayal. In this prequel to the popular Spectras Arise Trilogy, readers get an intimate look into the events that led Aly and David Erikson on their path from decorated and dedicated soldiers to black-market arms smugglers, and ultimately, to rebels against the Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds.
Get it at AMAZON, B&N, APPLE, or KOBO, or join my newsletter tribe for a free review copy.
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GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE
A war of millions is fought by individuals. For sixteen years humanity and the alien Vyptellians have battled in space and on hundreds of planets in a distant corner of the galaxy.
Tyko is a teenage space fighter pilot who has never known peace; insulated from the horrors of the battlefield, he’ll learn war isn’t a game. Sergeant Siengha is one of a handful to survive the war’s first battle; surrounded and vastly outnumbered by a merciless enemy, it takes everything she knows to keep those around her alive and fighting.
These are just two of the countless stories from the human side of the Vyptellian War. To those on the frontlines and their families at home, why the war began is unimportant, forgotten when the first shot was fired. What matters is the survival of the species.But after years of bloody conflict, the war’s end is closer than anyone realizes.
Get it at AMAZON and visit Scott at his blog for more of his marvelous missives.
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And in science fiction/fantasy, check out these two new releases from David Bruns (another former naval officer):The science fantasy series, The Dream Guild Chronicles, tells a different kind of first contact story—one from the alien’s point of view.IRRADIANCE, Book One, imagines the kind of dystopian world you might get if you paired Big Brother from 1984 with A Wrinkle in Time. Maribel, a scientist, uncovers an ecological disaster that makes her reexamine everything she thought she knew about her Community. In desperation, Maribel flees her home world with her family and a few friendsIn SIGHT, Book Two, the storyline focuses on Sariah, Maribel’s daughter. Her parents are frantic to find her a new home safe from the long arm of the Community. But new worlds are fraught with new dangers, and SIGHT will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow Sariah trying to navigate the superstitions of hunter-gatherer tribal culture.Imagine Lost in Space crash landing into an ancient Incan civilization and you have SACRIFICE, Book Three of The Dream Guild Chronicles.If crash landing isn’t bad enough, a crew member is taken captive by the natives. A rescue attempt, a firefight and one crewman is left for dead.But he’s very much alive.Alone, light-years from everyone who cares about him, Gideon navigates royal politics, tribal rituals, and ancient prophecies as he struggles to take back the artifact that will let him reconnect with his family.
Get it at AMAZON and visit David at his blog for more on his wordly adventures.
BONUS STORYErik Wecks, author of the sweeping Pax Imperium series, has also released a new serial story in the last couple of weeks that you all will enjoy, and it's free! Gravlander, Episode 1.