C Gockel Writes

Book Reviews: Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

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Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel 50th Anniversary Edition, Kindle Edition by Kurt Vonnegut (Author)

$1.99 in the US & Germany
Click for current price: Amazon US, Canada (Full-price: United Kingdom, Germany, Australia)

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

Slaughter House Five is one of the first science fiction books I feel in love with. Science fiction might not truly be its genre, it borders on surrealism, and yet it is incredibly readable. It’s slyly humorous, surreal, and profound. The book is partially based on the author’s lived experience: he survived the bombing of Dresden as an allied prisoner of war, three stories below ground, in a meat locker. The aliens that came to visit were probably wishful thinking.

Maybe.

Highly recommended.

Featured Sci-fi: Space Academy Dropouts by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

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Featured Sci-fi: Space Academy Dropouts by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

FREE as of April 20, 2024
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA:

“Boldly going because they’re completely lost.”

The newly renamed Vance Turbo has sabotaged his own career at Space Fleet Academy due to a desire to atone for a training accident. Unfortunately, his actions result in him getting press-ganged into an expendable crew of misfits recruited by a legendary starship captain. Their mission? To recover a collection of lost sun-destroying missiles that could restart a galactic war. Unfortunately, Vance is smart enough to know something is wrong with this picture. After all, no sane person would recruit this crew to save the universe.

SPACE ACADEMY DROPOUTS is an all-new series from the hilarious duo of C.T. Phipps (Supervillainy Saga, Agent G) and Michael Suttkus (I Was a Teenage Weredeer, Lucifer’s Star) that lampoons the space opera as well as military science fiction genres.

Featured Sci-fi: Metal & Blood Complete Series by GJ Ogden

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99¢ as of June 21, 2025
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– From Kindle Storyteller Award Winner, G J Ogden –

A spark of rebellion can topple an empire.When Finn Brasa is thrust into a deadly gladiatorial battle against high-tech assassins and intelligent robots, it’s all for the entertainment of the masses.

No one expected him to survive – least of all, Finn himself.

His reward? Status and riches. But what Finn truly hungers for is revolution. The common people are desperate for a leader to rise up and challenge the ruthless empire that has subjugated humanity for centuries.

From the streets of Earth’s last city to the colossal space station Nimbus, Finn will stop at nothing to crush humanity’s high-tech overlords.

He’s beaten the odds before – but can one man really bring down an empire?

Fans of sci-fi adventure, daring rebellions, and epic battles against deadly AI will love Metal and Blood. Read the complete series in this thrilling box set.

Featured Fantasy: The House on Tradd Street (Tradd Street Book 1) by Karen White

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$1.99 as of June 20, 2025
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Apple, Kobo, B & N, GooglePlay

The brilliant, chilling debut of Karen White’s New York Times bestselling Tradd Street series, featuring a Charleston real estate agent who loves old houses—and the secret histories inside them.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she’s going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he’s the smitten one…

It turns out Jack’s search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak—and even murder.

Featured Fantasy: Anchored (The Anchored Series) by Bridget E. Baker

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Featured Fantasy: Anchored (The Anchored Series) by Bridget E. Baker

FREE as of June 20, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia

Apple, Kobo, B & N, GooglePlay

Every time Alora goes to sleep, she wakes up on another world, a magical world, a world that’s about to collide with Earth in a very big way. Alora’s the only person with the power save them both, only, she’s not sure she should.

Alora’s life has been anything but magical. Since her parents died, she and her brother have been on the run from a creepy, doggedly determined social worker. In a few more months she turns eighteen, but until then, they’re stuck hiding. It’s hardly surprising that she dreams every single night of another world, Terra, where she possesses telekinetic powers.

What Alora can’t explain is how, when she breaks her arm in her dreams, she wakes up with the same (very real) injury on Earth. And if her dreams aren’t real, shouldn’t they be more fun? Since only men on Terra are supposed to be able to move things with their minds, Alora spends all her time there hiding her powers.

But when her best friend on Terra is threatened, Alora uses her powers to save him, inadvertently killing the attacker. The next day on Earth, the exact same man she killed on Terra walks into her workplace. . .and drops dead. Suddenly, she’s being hunted in both places. Alora must discover how Earth and Terra are connected and how far she’ll go to save a world that may not deserve to be saved.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Fallen (Archangel Book 1) by Rick Partlow

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Featured Sci-fi: Fallen (Archangel Book 1) by Rick Partlow

99¢ as of June 20, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom (Full-price: Canada, Germany, Australia)

A new military sci-fi series by Rick Partlow, bestselling author of Drop Trooper and Taken to the Stars.

They pissed off the wrong soldier…

Brent Parthet just wanted to be left alone.A deadly supercommando in the Southwind War, Brent had retired a hero to a wildlife preserve as far from civilization as possible to enjoy the simple life with his wife and young son.

But when one of the Southwind, the massive, genetically-engineered slaves who’d rebelled against their human masters, shows up at Brent’s door, asking for help from an old enemy, Brent will find out that the war isn’t really over. And he may have been fighting for the wrong side.

Don’t miss the start of a new military science fiction series by Rick Partlow, bestselling author of Drop Trooper and Taken to the Stars. Filled with explosive and realistic military action as well as heroes you can’t help but root for, this is military Sci-Fi the way it’s meant to be!