Starshine

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Time Flies When You’re Saving the Universe

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Time Flies When You’re Saving the Universe

Ten years ago today, I hit the ‘publish’ button on Starshine and unleashed Alex upon an unsuspecting public. At the time, I had no idea the impact this one act was going to have - on my life, on hers, on the multiverses of Amaranthe. But in the years that followed, a story about a starship pilot with dark red hair that came to me in the shower one morning (you’ve all heard that story by now) became so, so much more. Over the course of 2,227,818 words, 20 novels and 10 short stories, it has transformed into an epic tale of humanity (and our allies) putting aside our squabbles to rise above our deepest fears and come together to do what we must to survive, then thrive.

Amaranthe is, above all, an optimistic vision that dares to believe humanity will prove to be both stronger and better than we believe ourselves to be - and that’s the story I was driven to tell when I started typing on a keyboard ten years plus nine months ago….

It was the summer of 2013, I had no idea my life was soon to change.

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Best Sci-Fi Book of 2020? Plus a Surprise Fractals Audiobook

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Best Sci-Fi Book of 2020? Plus a Surprise Fractals Audiobook

First, a quick reminder: ECHO RIFT, Book Three in the Riven Worlds series, will be released on JANUARY 15, 2021. Pre-order it today and have it auto-delivered to your ereader on release day: PRE-ORDER ECHO RIFT

Back in July, you voted INVERSION the Best Sci-Fi Book in 2020 (So Far) by a huge margin. It was incredible. Now, Discover Sci-Fi is voting on the Best Sci-Fi Book of 2020 (period, no qualifiers or interim status) and INVERSION is again a Top 10 Finalist. As the train wreck of a year that was 2020 comes to a merciful close, if you still feel like INVERSION was the best book you read last year, go vote for it!

Audiobook listeners, I've got a treat for you today: Pyper has recorded the audio for the FRACTALS short story, and you can listen to it for FREE right now.

I'll be honest with you - while I'm thrilled that you finally get to hear this fun, trippy, 'what if?' story, this is also a trial run for a new way of bringing you audiobooks, so I can work out the kinks before the ECHO RIFT audiobook arrives. Note: the Fractals audiobook will be available on Audible *eventually*, but when it gets there, it likely won't be free (the price isn't up to me). So take this opportunity of a short, free audiobook to explore new ways to listen.

To that end, try out the various options and let me know what you think. Tell me what works for you and what doesn't. Do you like the Authors Direct app, or is one of the other retailers working best for you? How about listening directly on the website? I want your feedback! (Just hit 'reply' or email me at gs@gsjennsen.com.)

Finally, I've got an awesome post-holiday gift for you: 30+ FREE sci-fi books by such indie superstars as Joe Vasicek, Patty Jansen, George Saoulidis, C. Gockel, Eric Michael Craig, Andy Peloquin and many more: Mind-Bending Sci-Fi.

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Announcing: Starshine 5th Anniversary Annotated Hardback

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Announcing: Starshine 5th Anniversary Annotated Hardback

Five years ago today, I unleashed Alex on the world. At the time, I don’t think I realized the impact this one action was going to have - on my life, on hers, on the multiverses of Aurora Rhapsody.

It’s been an incredible, humbling five years, though the story behind Starshine stretches back in time for far longer - but I don’t want to rewrite my Foreword here, so without further ado: I give you the STARSHINE 5th Anniversary Annotated Hardback Special Edition (S5AAHSE). What makes it special? Well….

  • 1 beautiful dust jacketed cover with new art…

  • …wrapped around the first ever hardback printing of Starshine

  • 220 text annotations

  • 1 overly indulgent Foreword

  • 4 appendices of fun extras

  • 1 autograph

Within the annotations, learn what it was like to write the book, what I wish I’d done differently, lessons I’ve learned, funny anecdotes and a few blush-worthy secrets. The text of the novel has also been cleaned up, buffed and polished to a…shine.

The S5AAHSE - no, that’s never going to work - the Starshine Annotated Edition can be pre-ordered from my website here today! Right now! Pre-orders placed this weekend will ship in early April (unless 500 of you order copies, in which case it’s going to take an extra week or so for me to get all those in stock….).

The book will be available exclusively through my website - no retailers will be carrying it. This is for two reasons. One, so I can individually sign each copy :). Two, because this edition is not for newcomers to Aurora Rhapsody. The annotations reference events in all nine novels and most of the short stories, and if an event warrants a call-out, odds are it’s a meaningful one. If you haven’t finished reading Aurora Rhapsody yet, you risk getting spoiled in some pretty big ways - so to those of you who are still reading, I say this: carry on and enjoy the journey. This edition will still be here waiting on you when you flip the last page on Requiem.

For everyone who has flipped the last page on Requiem, revisit Alex and Caleb’s (and Miriam, Richard, Kennedy, Noah and Mia’s….) beginnings and see them in a way you haven’t before. The Starshine Annotated Edition is available for $21.99 plus shipping. I’m happy to ship internationally, though I realize the shipping costs will be a pain point. I wish I could fix that.

Today, perhaps more than any other day, I’m so thankful to each and every one of you. Thank you for allowing me to write for a living. I have to say, despite the fact that I’ve been at this for half a decade now, nothing prepared me for the effusive joy of seeing and holding my first book in hardback. So thank you for falling in love with Alex and Caleb and everyone else, and in doing so creating a world in which I get to share this very special printing with you.

*glances at the calendar* Unless something unexpected happens, the next news update should be a The Stars Like Gods release date announcement and cover reveal. :)

ORDER HERE

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Aurora Resonant: The Complete Collection Is Now Available

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Aurora Resonant: The Complete Collection Is Now Available

AURORA RESONANT: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION is now available on Amazon worldwide at a special release price of $0.99 for 4 days only. The Collection bundles together the three novels in the Aurora Resonant trilogy (Relativity, Rubicon, Requiem) as well as the Re/Genesis short story in one ebook with a stunning new cover.

The Collection also includes an EXCLUSIVE excerpt from the upcoming novel EXIN EX MACHINA (Asterion Noir Book 1). So even if you've already read the Aurora Resonant novels, here's your reason to pick up the Collection: to read how the epic new space opera/cyberpunk trilogy begins, before it begins. Did I mention it's only $0.99 for the next 4 days? Get it today.

SCI-FI BRIDGE is running an awesome audiobook/ebook giveaway this week. Sign up for a chance to win a Free Audible Credit to use on your choice of these incredible Sci-Fi books! All who enter will receive 2 E-books FREE. Enter here:  9 Winners will receive a Free Audible Credit, and 1 Grand Prize Winner will receive an Audible Credit and a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

All the AURORA RISING novels - Starshine, Vertigo, Transcendence and Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection - are now available at all major ebook retailers (Amazon, Nook, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, etc.). Starshine continues to be free at all retailers. If you've got friends who love their non-Kindle ereaders, share the links with them. Much appreciated!

So how is Exin Ex Machina coming along? To the tune of 85K words, that's how :). I'm not ready to announce a release date yet, but the excitement level around here is high, that's for certain.

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Starshine Is Free & Other Outlandish Notions

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Starshine Is Free & Other Outlandish Notions

I admit, there was a time when I thought I would never, ever make Starshine free. It was my beloved, my baby, my most treasured creation, the raison d'être of my career. And it remains all of those things.

So why is it now available for free? Because I believe in the Aurora Rhapsody saga. I believe in it so fervently that I want to remove every single solitary barrier to a reader discovering it - which is why the ebook isn't just free, it's available on all major ebook retailers. It's free in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, India, and probably more countries I can't track. Companies offer free trials to customers when they believe in the quality of their products enough to pull back the curtain and let the world look under the hood. This is no different. I'm inviting everyone to the adventure, no risk, no catch, because I believe once they're on board, they'll never leave.

AND, on the off chance that 155K words isn't enough to seal the deal, new readers who subscribe to my website will get the Vertigo ebook for free. So share the links below with your fellow science fiction fans and your irascible uncle. Requiem is coming soon, but there's no finale without the journey that leads to it.

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Epic SFF Sale For Your Holiday Weekend (Plus an Update on Requiem)

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Epic SFF Sale For Your Holiday Weekend (Plus an Update on Requiem)

In the US and Canada, the 3-day holiday weekend marking an unofficial end to summer brings with it last trips to the beach or the lake, cookouts and other outdoor festivities. Or, it brings extra reading time. It brings BOOKS. If that's more your style, then peruse this epicness: 100 SFF books, all $0.99 each this weekend.

The Space Opera category alone is packed with great books, including one of my favorites, Betrayal: The 1000 Revolution Book One by Pippa DaCosta, as well as the excellent Fallen Empire Collection by Lindsay Buroker and Translucid: Dragonfire Station Book One by Zen DiPietro (also a little tale called Starshine....). And that's just the first category!

I'm having my own sale this weekend: the Aurora Rising trilogy novels, plus Sidespace (Aurora Renegades Book One), are on sale for $0.99 each through Monday.

I've pulled out all the stops for this one, because I want everyone I can reach to discover Aurora Rhapsody before Requiem releases later this year (more on that in a second). The promotion is already succeeding beyond my wildest expectations; on Thursday, Starshine cracked the Top 100 on Amazon and hit #1 in Space Opera as well as a number of other sci-fi categories. I'm thrilled at the prospect of thousands of new readers join Alex, Caleb and crew on their epic adventure.

I realize most of you already own and have read the first four books, and the next four. But this is the perfect time to introduce other sci-fi readers to the series....

...Because Requiem is coming. You know this. You've read the blog post, "A Word About A Word" (or you can read it now - I won't keep track). You've seen the final cover, because I'm terrible at keeping things under wraps (unless it concerns what happens between the first page and the last).

Midway-through the 2nd draft, Requiem is bumping up against 100K words - and this is before all the really juicy words get added. I'm quite happy with how the story has come together, and despite some distractions like big promotions to organize and other matters I will keep under wraps, dammit, the book remains solidly on schedule for a Winter 2017 release. Which, as the arrival of the Labor Day holiday reminds us, isn't too very far off now.