C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Independent Flight by T.M. Baumgartner

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Featured Sci-fi: Independent Flight by T.M. Baumgartner

New(ish) Release
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Rose piloted spaceships… until she crossed the wrong owner. Now she’s stuck in the Oligarchy with her cat, working in a salvage yard while trying to fix her ship — though without a cardinal crystal, the hyperspace drives are useless.

When she finds an outlaw AI who claims to have a synthetic crystal, Rose promises to smuggle the AI back to the Independent Federation for a reward.

It’s the perfect solution! If the synthetic crystal works. If her second-hand (possibly stolen) ship doesn’t fall apart. And if they can escape all the people chasing them.

Space opera has never been more fun! Download Independent Flight and start your adventure today!

Featured Sci-fi: A Dead Ship in the Deep Black (Dominion Chronicles The Lyra Cycle Episode 1) by Rene Astle

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FREE as of February 28, 2026
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Rule number 1: Whatever you do, don’t open the box.

Well, that’s rule number two actually. Rule number one is don’t take salvage jobs from people who’ve tried to sell you to an Antillian bug salesman.

Neara “Tink” Bell is used to a life of odd jobs and even odder crewmates, working as the engineer and all-around fixer on the cargo ship Lyra. But when the ship picks up two new crew members and a salvage job on a third-rate space station, things go sideways in a cosmic way.

Alek Wa is on the run. And he’s pretty sure he can hide amongst the motley crew of Lyra. But that’s not the only reason he’s on-board. He has a mission. If only his minders had told him what it was.

Captain Rebeka Mino just wants to retire with a whiskey and a steamy novel. She’d even let the ship’s cat sit on her lap, provided he keeps his claws to himself. Too bad the ship keeps getting shot at.

And when they arrive at the coordinates for the salvage job, they’re confronted by a dead ship in the deep black.

Can Tink keep the Lyra running despite unexplained accidents? Can Alek outrun the people hunting him? Can Rebeka prevent their pursuers from blowing them up? Most importantly, can they keep their curiosity in check and not look in the box?

Find out now in this rollercoaster ride of a sci-fi adventure!

Featured Sci-fi: Shipwrecked Far From Home the Complete Series by John Walker

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Featured Sci-fi: Shipwrecked Far From Home the Complete Series by John Walker

99¢ as of February 12, 2025
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Seth Levy thought civilian life would be the easy part. He was wrong.

When a freak accident strands the retired Marine on a brutal alien prison planet, he discovers a galactic conspiracy, a corrupt empire, and an underground rebellion fighting for survival. Forced to navigate a universe of hostile empires, zealot warlords, and bioengineered monstrosities.

Seth is thrust into a conflict that could determine the fate of entire civilizations.

Alongside a misfit crew of rebels, former enemies, and AI allies, he must face mercenaries, monsters, and military forces as they fight to uncover buried truths and ignite a revolution.

The galaxy doesn’t need another hero. But it’s about to get one anyway.

If you like war-hardened protagonists, sprawling space operas, and relentless action, then you’ll love Shipwrecked, the explosive sci-fi adventure series that proves no one cages a Marine for long.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: The Snow Queen Book 1 by Joan D. Vinge

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Featured Sci-fi: The Snow Queen Book 1 by Joan D. Vinge

$1.99 as of February 25, 2026
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This reissue of a modern classic of science fiction, the Hugo and Locus Award-winning and Nebula-nominated The Snow Queen, marks the first time the book has been reprinted in fifteen years.

The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years, deriving wealth from the slaughter of the sea mers. But soon the galactic stargate will close, isolating Tiamat, and the 150-year reign of the Summer primitives will begin. Their only chance at surviving the change is if Arienrhod, the ageless, corrupt Snow Queen, can destroy destiny with an act of genocide. Arienrhod is not without competition as Moon, a young Summer-tribe sibyl, and the nemesis of the Snow Queen, battles to break a conspiracy that spans space.

Interstellar politics, a millennia-long secret conspiracy, and a civilization whose hidden machineries might still control the fate of worlds all form the background to this spectacular hard science fiction novel from Joan D. Vinge.

Featured Sci-fi: Conscript the Complete Series by John Walker

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Featured Sci-fi: Conscript the Complete Series by John Walker

99¢ as of February 12, 2025
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Sam Levine thought scraping by on Mars would get easier with time.
It hasn’t.

Once full of promise, he now survives as a freelance operator in the Empire’s shadow—taking jobs no one wants just to stay afloat. It’s not the life he imagined, but it’s predictable. And predictability keeps him alive.

Until a high-risk offer lands in his lap. One job. One payout. A chance to finally break free. Against his better judgment, Sam takes the risk.

He has no idea what he’s stepped into.

As the Empire fractures and an alien threat presses at its borders, his gamble becomes tangled in forces that could decide the fate of entire worlds.

Sam never wanted to matter on a galactic scale.
But the galaxy may not care what he wants.

Featured Sci-fi: Baldwin’s Legacy the Complete Collection (Books 1 – 6) by Nathan Hystad

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Featured Sci-fi: Baldwin's Legacy the Complete Collection (Books 1 - 6) by Nathan Hystad

99¢ as of February 22, 2026
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A brand-new collection featuring all 6 Baldwin’s Legacy novels. Over 1800 pages of space battles, starship exploration, betrayals, and redemption. Get your copy today!

Thomas Baldwin has been appointed captain of the state-of-the-art flagship Constantine, named after his heroic grandfather. The Statu war was won, and the Concord has enjoyed fifty years of relative peace.

When Baldwin’s first mission turns deadly, he fears the worst. The Statu have returned.

Included inside:

Confrontation (Baldwin’s Legacy Book One)
Unification (Baldwin’s Legacy Book Two)
Culmination (Baldwin’s Legacy Book Three)
Hierarchy (Baldwin’s Legacy Book Four)
Lineage (Baldwin’s Legacy Book Five)
Legacy (Baldwin’s Legacy Book Six)