sci-fi

OF A DARKER VOID Is Here

OF A DARKER VOID Is Here

OF A DARKER VOID, Book 2 of the Asterion Noir trilogy, is now available in ebook and paperback. The ebook is $0.99 for TODAY ONLY, so download it now! [UPDATE: Now available on Apple Books as well]

You can get the paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s website today, and it will be added to numerous additional retailers in the coming weeks - find them all here. Audiobook fans, Pyper Down is already recording, so expect the audiobook version in January :).

But that’s not all. EXIN EX MACHINA, the first book in the Asterion Noir trilogy, is on sale for $0.99 as well - so if you haven’t started Asterion Noir just yet, today is a great day to dive in. Get it from all major online retailers here.

New subscribers who are still working your way through the Aurora Rhapsody novels, you don't need to have finished Rhapsody to read Asterion Noir. While there are some historical connections between the setting of Asterion Noir and Aurora Resonant (the final Rhapsody trilogy) that long-time readers will appreciate, you won't suffer for not being familiar with that background - so feel free to take a break and hop over to this new world :).

Once you've devoured Of A Darker Void, spread the word! Reviews are the greatest gift you can give, but posts on Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites, your own blogs, and forums are also most welcome. Here's the book's Goodreads page, too. If the book moves you, tell others about it.

Thank you for coming along with me, with Alex, and now with Nika on these many wondrous journeys :).

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Retailer News for OF A DARKER VOID, Plus Teaser Excerpts & More

Retailer News for OF A DARKER VOID, Plus Teaser Excerpts & More

Only 3 weeks until OF A DARKER VOID is in your hands. Yes, all of your hands, if you so choose - I’m happy to announce that Of A Darker Void will be available at all major online retailers on release day! Amazon, iTunes (Apple Books), Nook, Kobo, Google Play and more. This means it won’t be available to borrow through Kindle Unlimited, but even if you’re a KU subscriber, I think you’ll find the release day price amenable ;).

I’ve also begun sharing teaser excerpts (non-spoilery for Of A Darker Void, but may contain spoilers for Exin Ex Machina) on social media. Check out the first one:

She’d never been on board a ship like this one. A real starship worthy of the name, where everything from the reinforced hull to the sophisticated instrumentation created a sense of presence, of consequentiality. When a vessel of this ilk cut a swath through the void, the void noticed.

But Nicolette Hinotori had once commanded a generation ship, which meant buried in Nika’s core operating system was knowledge about the operation of such vessels.

She stood in the center of the bridge, closed her eyes and asked herself a question. Results flooded her mind, and she hurriedly initiated a sort-and-prioritize algorithm to impose order on them.

Then she gazed around the bridge with new eyes.

To see more teaser excerpts, go to this page on my website, or follow me on your favorite social media platform. Until December 3rd!

Title & Cover Reveal + Release Date for ANR Book 2

Title & Cover Reveal + Release Date for ANR Book 2

Asterion Noir is due for another book, don’t you think? I think so. OF A DARKER VOID (Asterion Noir Book 2) will be released in ebook and paperback DECEMBER 3RD! [See the cover and description here]

More space. More cyberpunk. More Nika. More NOIR, hacking, aliens and explosions. More secrets and revelations. They will all be coming your way in a few short weeks.

I’ll be sharing further details, including retailers and spoiler-free teaser quotes, soon. Audiobook listeners, never fear - Pyper Down plans to start recording as soon as the final manuscript is ready, so expect the audiobook in very early 2019 :). OF A DARKER VOID already has a Goodreads page, so you can add it to your “Want To Read” shelf today.

For those of you who are still working your way through Aurora Rhapsody: first, fantastic! Second, you don’t need to finish Aurora Rhapsody to hop over to Asterion Noir, though there are some minor links between it and the final trilogy, Aurora Resonant. For an overview of Asterion Noir and how it relates to Aurora Rhapsody, check out this blog post: Introducing Asterion Noir. You can pick up Asterion Noir Book 1, EXIN EX MACHINA, in ebook or paperback at all major online retailers worldwide and in audiobook on Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

Thank you all for your patience and your support, as always.

Choose the Name of Nika’s Ship

Choose the Name of Nika’s Ship

[UPDATE]: The poll is now closed, and the winner was Wayfarer! While Wayfarer had a small lead from the very beginning and never relinquished it, all the choices were popular! Perhaps I need some more ships....

If you’ve read Exin Ex Machina, you know that near the end of the book, Nika gets herself a lovely starship. If you’ve read Aurora Rhapsody, you know that in my books, ships tend to take on a personality (and sometimes a life) of their own. Ships are characters in their own right, and they deserve proper, meaningful names.

So here’s your chance to contribute to Asterion Noir in a cool way. [SPOILERS for Exin Ex Machina follow!]

As you’d expect, Nika and Dashiel will be spending some time on the new ship in Book 2. Like I did, they’ll decide it needs a name - and what they choose is up to you. All the options have personal meaning for Nika, so we’ve got that prerequisite covered. Your options are:

  • KIR (Nika's Artificial during the SAI Rebellion that became part of her core psyche)

  • Nova (NOir Vertsatile Adjunct /a star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter)

  • Riven (to be torn or split asunder)

  • Wayfarer (traveler, or one on a journey)

Vote HERE!

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As promised, a dark Asterion Noir shirt style (t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, sweatshirts, etc.) is now available in the Zazzle store. Check it out and lots more Aurora Rhapsody and Asterion Noir gear here.

Next time: Cover and title reveal for Book 2! And a release date? Stay tuned….

Exin Ex Machina Now Available Everywhere

Exin Ex Machina Now Available Everywhere

Readers of iBooks, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and everything that isn't a Kindle - the wait is over. Exin Ex Machina (Asterion Noir Book 1) is now available on all major ebook platforms, worldwide: links here. And of course you can also get it in audiobook on Audible, Amazon and iTunes, and in paperback  at online retailers worldwide.

Did you tune out all the Exin Ex Machina chatter once you learned you couldn't read it yet? Now suddenly curious what the fuss is about? I hope so. I'll let readers fill you in:

A game of rebels, politicians, cops, criminals and black markets - a big twisty web of motivations and intrigue.

Techno space opera with romance and lasers - what more could you want?

Puts a whole new spin on the noirconcept - even the combat has a rebellious-outlaw flare to it.

Great characters, cool-ass tech, wonderful plot-lines that keep the reader wanting more, and twists and turns that you don't quite expect.

Read about the background of Asterion Noir and how it relates to Aurora Rhapsody in my blog post, “Introducing Asterion Noir.” And for everyone who's all caught up and waiting for more, know that Asterion Noir Book 2 is now quite far along - expect a cover and title reveal and release date announcement next month!

Beyond the Stars: Unimagined Realms - With a New AR Short Story

Beyond the Stars: Unimagined Realms - With a New AR Short Story

Who misses Alex and Caleb? It's okay, you don't have to raise your hands - I can guess the answer. Well, today I have a treat for you. A small, bite-sized short story treat, but a treat nonetheless.

Available today and for only $0.99 is the latest volume of the bestselling Beyond the Stars anthology, titled UNIMAGINED REALMS. It includes "Fractals," a brand-new short story set in the Aurora Rhapsody universe, but outside the primary timeline of the series. The official teaser reads like this:

"A mysterious signal coming from deep space attracts the attention of humanity’s scientists and the soldiers who protect them—the kind of attention the originators of the signal will do anything to avoid. When the two converge, first contact doesn’t go the way either side planned."

A mysterious signal coming from deep space? If that sounds familiar, you're not wrong. But here's the real hook for Aurora Rhapsody veterans: What if the 1st Crux War had never happened? How would that have changed the trajectories of Alex and Caleb's lives in the years leading up to the events of Aurora Rhapsody? Who or what could change history in this way, and why?

In Fractals, see Alex and Caleb in action again, but not exactly as you remember them - yet in some ways, exactly as you remember them ;). Is the story Aurora Rhapsody canon? For now, I'll just say this: I'm reminded of a quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

I should probably mention that Unimagined Realms also includes 11 imaginative stories by top-notch indie sci-fi writers David Bruns, T.R. Cameron, Marion Deeds, Patrice Fitzgerald, Joseph Robert Lewis, J.E. Mac, Craig Martelle, Sean Monaghan, Chelsea Pagan, R.A. Rock and Mark Sarney. And I should definitely mention that the $0.99 release price will only last through August 31st, so grab it from any of these retailers for pennies today, while you still can: [read more]