Blog - C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fantasy: Psyker (The Psyker Saga Book 1) by Rory Surtain

February 13, 2025 by Carolynn

99¢ as of February 13, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom (Regular price: Canada, Germany, Australia)

In the grim darkness of humanity’s future, even noble blood won’t protect you from what lurks in the depths…
Seventeen-year-old Paric Kilhaven had his life mapped out as a noble scion in the towering hive-city of Hydra Secundus, but that life ends when he’s attacked in the city’s lawless underhive and infected with a mysterious substance that unlocks doors to another dimension.

Surviving the attack, Paric is thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Working covertly for the Ecclesiarchy, he must navigate between rival hive gangs and corrupt nobles while investigating rumors of a Chaos cult. He soon finds a dire threat hidden in the underhive’s shadows—a Warp witch preparing to birth a daemon that could destroy everything Paric has ever known. Relying on outlawed powers, unlikely allies, and a determination to protect those he’s grown to care for, Paric must stop the witch before it’s too late.

Set against the backdrop of a rigidly hierarchical hive-city, “Psyker” offers a compelling exploration of unmatched power, politics and identity, where one’s existence is both a duty and curse.

Part adventure, part mystery, this dystopian science fantasy novel is appropriate for Adult and Young Adult readers.

Featured Fantasy: Dragon Shift (Dragons of Kaitstud Book 1) by Clarissa Gosling

February 13, 2025 by Carolynn

FREE as of February 13, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

A dragon-sized secret.

A life-changing test.On the continent of Kaitstud, dragons are feared and thought extinct. The four clans who now rule the continent condemn and slaughter any hints of dragons.

In her sixteenth summer Birgith must face her manifestation test with all the others of her age. The test will prove her ability and solidify her place with the Bear Clan that has raised her.

There’s just one problem.Birgith might shift into a bear… But she could also end up a dragon. And if that happens, she’ll end up dead and the four clans of Kaitstud will hunt and slaughter the family she’s never met.

But when the test comes, she is unable to shift at all. She is exiled and classed as a lowly human. Trapped and alone, she fears never being able to escape or find out who she really is.

A group of travelling traders provide a way out, but she is unsure how much trust them. Will they help her with her search, or be the first to join the hunt? Birgith needs to decide before it is too late.

Part bear, part dragon, part human. Is Birgith destined to be an outcast mongrel? Or will her diversity be the answer Kaitstud has been searching for?

Dragon Shift is the first in an exciting new epic fantasy series for young adult readers who love dragons, adventure and strong female characters.

Featured Fantasy: Hell for Hire (Tear Down Heaven Book 1) by Rachel Aaron

February 13, 2025 by Carolynn

FREE as of February 13, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

“Featuring a motley crew of loveable demons, a chaotic male forest witch with a sassy talking cat familiar, snarky sentient weapons, wicked warlocks, and plenty of magical mayhem, Hell for Hire is a bewitching and diabolically fun Urban Fantasy that is as thrilling as it is wholesome.” – Before We Go Blog

The Crew
A hulked-out wrath demon who eats gamer rage and loves cats, a shapeshifting lust demon who enjoys their food a bit too much, and a void demon who doesn’t see the point of any of this. They’re not the sort of mercenaries you’d hire on purpose, but Bex wouldn’t trust her life to anyone else.

Ever since the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh decided death wasn’t for him, killed the gods, and conquered the afterlife, times have been rough for a free demon. But the denizens of the Nine Hells aren’t the quitting sort, and Bex and her team have been choking a living out of the Eternal King’s lackeys for years. It’s not honest work, but when Heaven itself declares you a non-person, you smash-and-grab what you can get.

This next gig looks like more of the same…until Bex meets the client.

The Job
Adrian Blackwood is a witch with a problem. His family has skirted the edges of King Gilgamesh’s ire for centuries, but thanks to a decision he made as a child, Adrian is personally responsible for putting his entire coven in Heaven’s crosshairs.

Determined to set things right, Adrian drags his broom, caldron, and talking cat thousands of miles across the country to Seattle where he can fight the Eternal King’s warlocks without bringing the rest of his family into the fray. But witchcraft–like all crafts–takes time, and if the warlocks catch him before his spells are ready, he’s dead. So Adrian does what any professional witch would do and hires a team of mercenaries to keep the warlocks off his back. He didn’t expect to get demons, but when you’re already on the killing-edge of Heaven’s bad side, what’s a bit more fuel on the fire?

Sometimes you get more than you paid for.
Neither Adrian nor Bex knew what to expect when they signed their contract, but witch-plus-demon turns out to be a match made in the Hells. With this much chaos at their fingertips, even impossible dreams can come back into reach, because Bex wasn’t always a mercenary. She used to be the Eternal King’s biggest nightmare, and now that she’s got a witch in her corner, it’s time to put the old magics back on the field and show Adrian Blackwood just how much Hell he’s hired.

A new, action-packed Urban Fantasy from the author of NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST and MINIMUM-WAGE MAGIC!

Featured Sci-fi: Soothsayer (The Oracle Trilogy Book 1) by Mike Resnick

February 13, 2025 by Carolynn

$1.99 as of February 13, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo

A hard-bitten thief must protect a powerful little girl from danger in this classic science fiction trilogy opener by a five-time Hugo Award winner.

Mouse may be a tough, cynical, professional thief, but when she sees a little girl in need of rescuing, she knows she must help. But just who exactly is this innocent-looking child?

Penelope Bailey is potentially the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. Three governments want her captured. Almost two hundred men and women are out to collect the bounty on her head. It’s a miracle Penelope has evaded her pursuers thus far, but Carolos “Iceman” Mendoza knows the secret to her survival . . .

As the bounty hunters get closer to their target, Mouse begins to grasp just how important it is to keep Penelope safe. Little did Mouse know, Penelope was more than equipped for the obstacles ahead, and it was Mouse who was going to be in greater need of rescuing . . .

Perfect for readers of Alan Dean Foster, Timothy Zahn, and Joe Haldeman“One of those rare novels that pulls you in so quickly and effectively that you’ll end up reading it in a single sitting.” —Science Fiction Chronicle

Featured Sci-fi: The Kurgan War by Richard Turner

February 10, 2025 by Carolynn

Start the Series FREE — Book 2 only $3.99
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Nook, Apple , Kobo, GooglePlay

When war comes after a century of peace, it is sudden and brutal. Taken by surprise Earth’s far-flung colonies are in danger.

The only son of an admiral, Second Lieutenant Michael Sheridan finds himself thrust into a desperate conflict that he and the untried soldiers under his command are not ready for. Focusing on the people struggling to survive the onslaught, First Strike is a novel that propels the reader to the furthest limits of space. Fighting a ruthless and determined enemy, Sheridan soon learns the brutal lessons of war and that his enemy may not be what it appears to be.

Featured Fantasy: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

February 10, 2025 by Carolynn

$1.99 as of February 10, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, Canada, (Regular price United Kingdom*, Germany, Australia)

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

RECOMMENDED: A mesmerizing, lyrical read that kept me up all night. So if that’s your thing pick it up.

In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives….

Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake.

Until one day, he does….

As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be.

The Darkest Part of the Forest is bestselling author Holly Black’s triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her YA career.

*The UK price was still very reasonable when I checked: £2.99

Follow Me