C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Crystal Deception (Crystal Series Book 1) by Doug J. Cooper

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Featured Sci-fi: Crystal Deception (Crystal Series Book 1) by Doug J. Cooper

99¢ as of March 8, 2025
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Criss lives in a special kind of prison. He can see and hear everything around the world, yet a mesh restrains his reach, forcing his cooperation.

His creator, Dr. Jessica Tallette, believes his special abilities offer great promise for humanity. But she fears the consequences of freeing him, because Criss, a sentient artificial intelligence with the intellect of a thousand humans, is too powerful to control.

Tallette’s world is upended when the Kardish, a race of alien traders, announce that they want Criss for themselves, expressing their desires with ominous undertones. She turns to the Union of Nations for help, and they task Sid, a special agent, with leading the response.

Sid believes that Criss is Earth’s greatest weapon and asks him to confront the Kardish.

But can the AI be trusted? And what is humanity’s role if an interstellar battle among titans starts to rage?

Featured Sci-fi: Man, True Man (The Chronicles of Tonath Book 1) by Mari Collier

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Featured Sci-fi: Man, True Man (The Chronicles of Tonath Book 1) by Mari Collier

FREE as of March 7, 2025
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After a spaceship crashes into the planet of Tonath, the lone occupant survives and fights his way to sunlit part of the planet. When a passing freighter finds him, he’s taken to the Western Starshift Institute of the Way, where the Teacher rules the sunlit part of the planet.

Tonath is a planet being torn apart by the forces of nature, and only the Teacher knows how to predict the movement of the stars and interpret the prophecies. Finding love and betrayal on the planet, the survivor also learns of the disputes arising from the teachings of the Greens and the Universalists.

When more strangers arrive to the planet, the Teacher must decide who is True Man and True Foe. But can they save Tonath from a thousand years of burning?

Featured Fantasy: The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

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Featured Fantasy: The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

$1.99 as of March 4, 2025
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“A dark and glittering jewel of a book.” —Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison

“Visceral to the core.” —Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights

New from the author of The Keeper of Night comes a YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family.

Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.

When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.

The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.

Don’t miss the Keeper of Night duology!
The Keeper of Night
The Empress of Time

Featured Sci-fi: Warden’s Legacy Series by Tyler Aston

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Start the Series FREE—Book 2 only 99¢ in the US & UK March 4, 2025
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Kyra groaned as she uncoiled the swords from her waist. It looked like she was about to spend another night shampooing entrails out of her hair…

Tristan is on the verge of becoming a Warden.
It is one of the greatest honours the galaxy can bestow – not bad for a scrawny kid from Earth. With it comes a new life of responsibility, dedication and sacrifice.

After a lifetime on the run, the rainbow-haired mercenary Kyra has a problem.
Her past, it seems, has finally caught up with her…and innocent people are paying the price.
Her family are in danger. Her home planet is under attack. She is the only one who can make things right – but she can’t do it alone.

Join Tris and Kyra on a desperate mission to the furthest reaches of space.
Together they must confront an enemy that has haunted Kyra’s dreams, and pursued her across the stars since she was a child.

But you can’t fight the past.
Or can you?

Find out now, in this fast-paced and explosive space opera – perfect for fans of Firefly, The Expanse and Killjoys.

Praise for the Earth Warden Saga:
“If I could give it six stars, I would. Maybe seven.”
“Humorous action adventure sci fi romp! Highly recommended!”
“I kept a Timothy Zahn novel on hold to finish it.”
“A wonderful collection of characters set out on an epic adventure with amazing sci-fi scenarios! And there is plenty of humour as well.”
“The ending of this book left me breathless and wanting to read the next book RIGHT NOW!”

*** PLEASE NOTE: ‘Embers of Esper’ was previously available under the author name Tony James Slater ***

Featured Fantasy: Witchy Awakening (Midlife Potions) by C. A. Phipps

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Featured Fantasy: Witchy Awakening (Midlife Potions) by C. A. Phipps

FREE as of March 3, 2025
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Discovering you’re a witch because your cat talks to you isn’t as fun as it sounds.

After the sudden death of her mother, Jessica Lavender’s mediocre life as a baker takes an unexpected turn.
Forced to return to her home town to run her mom’s store, she must learn to harness her magical abilities while dealing with nosy neighbors.

If that wasn’t enough, her snarky familiar insists she unearth and solve the suspicious death of the body in her garden!

Good Fortune is no longer the boring little town she thought it was and midlife crisis takes on a whole new meaning.

This paranormal cozy mystery will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about magic and murder.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Inception (The Genesis Machine Book 1) by K.J. Gillenwater

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Featured Sci-fi: Inception (The Genesis Machine Book 1) by K.J. Gillenwater

99¢ as of March 3, 2025
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Aliens have arrived… and this isn’t the first time.

When expert Navy linguist and cryptographer Charlie Cutter is recruited into a shadowy wing of the NCIS, she’s tasked with unravelling a mysterious ancient text that has puzzled researchers for centuries. Charlie isn’t eager to revisit her previous failures… but when she discovers the same strange language in top-secret photographs, she finds herself roped into a job that could make or break her young career.

After a strange pod crashes to earth during a violent storm, Charlie and her small team uncover an incredible truth: aliens have landed on earth – and not for the first time. Catapulted into a thrilling mystery that will carry them from the political swamps of D.C. to the scorching Las Vegas desert, Charlie must race against time to crack the code and save humanity from a possible alien invasion.

Surrounded by a web of secrets and lies, Charlie struggles to track down the origin of the pods – and unmask the hidden motives of their extra-terrestrial visitors. The mystery stretches back centuries… and it leads Charlie to a shocking revelation that will change everything.

Dive into a riveting technothriller that blends high-octane sci-fi with shadowy government organizations and desperate researchers fighting to unravel an extra-terrestrial mystery. The Genesis Machine is a page-turning read that’s perfect for fans of science fiction authors including William Gibson and A.G. Riddle. Scroll up and grab your copy today…