Happy New Year: Vertigo Audiobook Now Available, Plus a Transcendence Excerpt

I hope everyone had a lovely New Years Eve, whether it involved partying the night away or clinking champagne glasses with friends or family.

• The Vertigo audiobook is now available on Amazon, direct from Audible and iTunes. It's now linked on the book's main Amazon page, so you can always find it there. Pyper Down did a fantastic job as narrator once again, so I think audiobook fans will really enjoy it.

• I've added the 5-minute samples of both audiobooks to Soundcloud. There's a link in the sidebar to the Aurora Rising page on Soundcloud. You can also listen to the excerpts directly from the Books page here on the website.

• Work on Transcendence is speeding ahead. It is easily the most ambitious story I've endeavored to tell so far. To ring in the new year, enjoy the first excerpt from Aurora Rising Book Three:

“I am detecting the presence of 104 Earth Alliance vessels arriving 4.2 megameters above the planet. The presence of seven carriers suggests the forces includes a minimum of 1,200 fighter craft as well.”

Dr. Abigail Canivon looked up from the inventory list in mild surprise. “They actually kept their word and showed up? Interesting. Inform me when the aliens arrive, if you would, Valkyrie.”

“Of course, Abigail.”

She had planned to leave days ago. Her work at the Druyan Institute was important to her, but it could be continued elsewhere. She would not remain here simply to be killed by the aliens—and make no mistake, that would have been her fate. Beyond two purely defensive orbital arrays and civilian police, Sagan possessed no capability whatsoever to protect itself.

Valkyrie was far more important to her, but relocating the Artificial was a difficult task made impossible by the looming invasion. All the space on the evacuation transports was alloted to people, after all. So while it would pain her greatly to do so, she had accepted the necessity of leaving Valkyrie behind.

Then the Earth Alliance had informed the Sagan governor they would be defending the independent colony from the aliens. An elated governor had alerted the residents to the ‘good news.’

Abigail was skeptical, to say the least. Forty years working within the Alliance infrastructure had rendered her disgusted with the sheer stupidity endemic to the bureaucracy. It had eventually caused her to lose all faith in the system and the government she’d devoted her professional career to, sending her to Sagan jaded and disillusioned. So suffice it to say when she’d been told the Alliance was flying to their rescue, she had her doubts. But she’d nevertheless agreed to stay and help protect the hardware and data of the Institute, then proceeded to regret the decision approximately every half hour since.

“Twelve Metigen superdreadnoughts have exited superluminal and engaged the Earth Alliance fleet.”

“Nothing like cutting it close…thank you, Valkyrie.”

“I will monitor the battle and keep you informed of notable events. It should be exciting.”

“That’s one word among many for it.” She frowned as a holo-comm request appeared in her eVi. She couldn’t get any work done if she was always meeting to discuss work that needed to get done…but it wasn’t anyone from the Institute.

It was Alex Solovy.

~

Thank you all for making 2014 the most amazing, rewarding, fulfilling, slightly-insane year ever. Here's to 2015 being just as incredible.

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