Aurora Rhapsody

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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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Dragon Con Schedule, New Collection Covers, & a Bundle of Free SFF

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Dragon Con Schedule, New Collection Covers, & a Bundle of Free SFF

Dragon Con is next week, and I will be there! It runs Sept. 1-5 in Atlanta, and is one of the world’s largest celebrations of all thing sci-fi and fantasy: movies and TV, comics, of course books, and so much more. Get your tickets here. If you're going to be there, come see me whenever I'm at the Bard's Tower. You don't need to buy a paperback, promise - just stop by, say hello, and we'll take a pic together if you like. (Read the full post to see my schedule.)

Now, what is this madness? It's a comprehensive re-branding of the omnibus collections, that's what it is. One theme, one epic story, one beautiful set.

Important: the content has not changed - just the titles and covers. So if you've already got your "Complete Collections," you're good.

No, Volume VI isn't out yet - as per usual, it will come out 2-3 months after Duality does, and will include All Our Tomorrows, Chaotica & Duality (maybe some bonus material?). BUT, you can pre-order it today: https://www.gsjennsen.com/amaranthe-vi-verge.

Also no, the fact that the wheel is complete with VI does not mean that the story of Amaranthe ends there. But I am going to need a new wheel....

If you already own the Collections and you bought them from Amazon, you can get the new covers by removing the download on your Kindle then downloading the book again. (Note: don't "permanently delete" - just remove the download then re-download.)

Finally, I leave you with an epic giveaway of FREE sci-fi and fantasy ebooks.

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Audiobook Listeners Shouldn't Get to Have All the Fun

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Audiobook Listeners Shouldn't Get to Have All the Fun

It’s summer, and there’s plenty of fun to go around for everyone, right?

First, a quick reminder: the nomination window for the Dragon Awards is about to close! So if you think Chaotica deserves consideration as the best SFF novel of the year, go get your nomination in. :) DRAGON AWARD NOMINATION FORM

Now, about the fun. From now through the end of the month, all my ebooks are 30% OFF in my ebook store! Individual novels, collections, the whole shebang. Buy as many as you like, and take 30% off the (already below retail) price for every one of them. Just enter the coupon code THIRTY at checkout!

Speaking of sales, that huge audiobook sale is still going on (also through the end of the month). In fact, I sweet-talked Nook into joining Chirp and Apple in the festivities. Nook has been investing heavily in their audiobook division lately, so here’s a great chance to check them out if you’re a Nook fan. AUDIOBOOK SALE

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. I’m thrilled to let you know about a huge * free * SFF promotion. More books than you can count (okay, I tried, and stopped counting at 100), from military sci-fi to portal fantasy and everything in between. Bonus, the books are organized by genre and by retailer, so you can go straight to what tickles your fantasy. The promotion ends Sunday, so go stock up now. FREE SFF BOOKS

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The Most Epic of Audiobook Sales, & A Huge Thank You

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The Most Epic of Audiobook Sales, & A Huge Thank You

Behind the scenes, I’ve been splicing together and uploading all the omnibus collections as audiobooks. And now, to celebrate the upcoming release of the Chaotica audiobook (it will be here very, very soon, I promise) - and the fact that I actually finished this project (with lots of help from Mr. Jennsen) - I am running a frankly ridiculous sale on the collection audiobooks for the entire month of July.

If you’ve ever been curious about the audiobooks and what all the fuss over Pyper Down is about, this is a price you absolutely cannot beat: 15 novels + 3 short stories for less than $20. Or just start with Aurora Rising for only $1.99 - and if you love it, come back before the end of the month for the rest of them!

This sale is available only Chirp and Apple (Audible simply does not let me set the price, though the collections are up there).

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More news: You guys did it! Chaotica has been named the Best Sci-Fi Book of 2022 (So Far) by readers! See the final results here.

I am floored. Blown away. Gobsmacked. Other thesaurus-y words. I mean, I love this book; subjectively, I feel it might well be the best book I've ever written. But what matters is what YOU think, and now you've told the world.

I know I don't have as many readers as John Scalzi or Adrian Tchaikovsky or David Weber - but what I do have are readers that are enthusiastic, engaged and who love this universe and its characters as much as I do. Thank you all so, so much.

...now to go make DUALITY even better.

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New Short Story, "Starlight Express" - Available Now

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New Short Story, "Starlight Express" - Available Now

I’m thrilled to announce that I have a brand new short story, “Starlight Express,” in the BEYOND THE STARS: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE anthology, which is out today. Better yet, the anthology is on sale for 99 cents for release week only - and free to read in Kindle Unlimited - so grab it quickly.

** SPOILER WARNING ** If you’re still making your way through the Aurora Rhapsody novels, Starlight Express contains major spoilers for the end of Requiem. In fact, even the summary below contains spoilers. So get the anthology now, while it’s only 99 cents, and stash it to the side. Once you finish Requiem, I think you will find this story an absolute delight to read. :)

For everyone else:

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Six months after The Displacement transported humanity to a universe teeming with advanced alien civilizations, they’re working diligently to settle into their strange new world. Diplomatic relations with the other species are proceeding in fits and starts, and peace hangs by a tenuous thread. But in the meantime, for most of humanity, life goes on.

The Starlight Express has a reputation as the wildest, most exotic alien bar in two dozen galaxies. So when Noah and Caleb want to kick back for a few hours the night before Noah’s nuptials, it’s the obvious choice. And the wrong one.

See, aliens tend to be the quirky sort, and humans haven’t quite gotten the hang of them yet, which is why no one should be surprised when a friendly disagreement over one too many drinks goes sideways. Now, a jailbreak, a police chase across seven galaxies and an exploding ship have to get them out of this mess, or else Noah’s last night of freedom will end up being his last night, period.

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BEYOND THE STARS: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE also features fantastic, original space opera tales from David Bruns, Jack Lyster, Cindy Hung, J.M. Thomas, Nemma Wollenfang, Nadya Duke and Thomas A. Farmer, and is edited by Patrice Fitzgerald and Richard Leslie.

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I am happy to report that I am now successfully ensconced in the new house in Montana - and once again utterly surrounded by boxes. The move has gone more smoothly than I had any right to expect, for which I am so grateful. I need to get just a few of these boxes unpacked, then I will be returning my attention to ALL OUR TOMORROWS. Expect a cover reveal, release date and pre-order announcement very soon!

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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.