C Gockel Writes

Featured Science Fiction: Ghost Pirate Gambit (Nanshe Chronicles 1) by Jessie Kwak

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Featured Science Fiction: Ghost Pirate Gambit (Nanshe Chronicles 1) by Jessie Kwak

99¢ as of November 27, 2022
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Haunted space stations? Puzzling totems? Cursed relics? No job’s too bizarre for the crew of the Nanshe.

Lasadi doesn’t like strangers on her ship, but she’ll need a bigger crew if she’s going to steal a mysterious artifact from a dead pirate’s long-lost space station. She takes a chance on a charming grifter named Raj, along with a skilled hacker and her genius little brother. And it’s . . . nice? If Lasadi isn’t careful, she’s going to start enjoying having a crew aboard.

Raj’s last bit of luck capsized right before he ran into Lasadi, and this job could finally get his life back on track — as long as Lasadi never learns the truth about his past. Raj isn’t the only one on this crew with secrets, though, and Auburn Station holds more than long-dead ghosts. Unless this fledgling crew can learn to trust each other, none of them are getting off this station alive.

Ghost Pirate Gambit is the first book in the Nanshe Chronicles, a series of fast-paced sci-fi capers full of lovable misfits, non-stop action, and just plain fun. Perfect for fans of Cowboy Bebop, Firefly, and Leverage.

Featured Science Fiction: Changing Fate (Ambassador 3) by Patty Jansen

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Featured Science Fiction: Changing Fate (Ambassador 3) by Patty Jansen

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Fifty thousand years ago, a meteorite hit the planet Asto, giving its Aghyrian inhabitants mere days of notice. Three ships escaped the Armageddon. Two went to the neighbouring planet. The third, a massive generation ship, refused to take on refugees, and then vanished without a trace.

It’s coming back.

Its initial burst of communication caused the outage of the Exchange, the FTL network for transport and communication, but since then the ship has been silent. It jumps about at random, using wormholes it generates with a drive the likes of which no one has seen before.

Meanwhile at the gamra assembly, people jostle to be in the best positions when it inevitably turns up in inhabited space. What the ship wants or whether there is anyone on board no one knows, but diplomat Cory Wilson knows one thing: when it turns up, he must avoid a conflict at all cost.

If only gamra presented a united viewpoint. If only Asto’s army wasn’t keen to get involved. If only the Aghyrians at gamra didn’t do what they do best: manipulate and play games with everyone. While the ship approaches, the delegates bicker, and the time for negotiating is fast running out.

Featured Science Fiction: Raising Hell (Ambassador 2) by Patty Jansen

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Featured Science Fiction: Raising Hell (Ambassador 2) by Patty Jansen

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The second-quickest way to get yourself killed when dealing with Coldi people of the planet Asto is to look a superior in the eye. The Coldi people possess an instinct that demands the formation of hierarchical networks in which every person has a prescribed place. These networks provide stability. They also place one person at the top.

Ezhya Palayi is that person.

After having been released by his previous employers, Cory Wilson not only depends on Ezhya Palayi for his income, but he has developed an unusually friendly relationship with this man whom people on Earth would call an absolute dictator, but whose reign is benign.

The third-quickest way to get yourself killed when dealing with Coldi people is when the leader you depended on for support is suddenly no longer there, as when he goes missing because the system society relies on for interstellar travel goes down.

In a highly-strung hierarchical society, it won’t be long before someone else tries to claim the top spot, someone less benign, someone aggressive who is likely to destabilise peace between Asto and other worlds.

But by far the quickest way to get yourself killed is, as a non-Coldi outsider, to visit Asto and try to interfere in their hierarchical system, to mess with instincts you don’t feel yourself, and people who are much stronger than you.

Oh, and did you know that the average daytime temperature is well over 50 degrees C?

Featured Science Fiction: From a Changeling Star (Starstream Novels Book 1) by Jeffrey A. Carver

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Featured Science Fiction: From a Changeling Star (Starstream Novels Book 1) by Jeffrey A. Carver

FREE as of November 16, 2022
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Into a dying star!

Beneath the roiling surface of Betelgeuse, scientists anxiously await the one man essential to the success of Starmuse, the greatest engineering project in human history. But on Kantano’s World, Willard Ruskin battles invisible agents for control of his life, his physical form, and even his memories. Drawn into a conflict from which not even death will free him, Ruskin must find a way to reach Betelgeuse before his enemies sabotage Starmuse—and humanity’s future among the stars. A harrowing journey from inside the human cell… to the mind of a dying star.

A stunning blend of hard science fiction with moving characterization, both human and otherwise. Introduces the robot Jeaves, familiar to readers of The Chaos Chronicles. From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End.

Original print publication by Bantam Spectra. A Locus bestseller.

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Featured Science Fiction: The Blind Spot (Neon Horizon Book One) by Michael Robertson

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Featured Science Fiction: The Blind Spot (New Horizon Book One) by Michael Robertson

FREE as of November 16, 2022
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COULD YOU BETRAY EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT TO PREVENT A WAR?

The Blind Spot exists in defiance of Scala City’s dystopian big brother regime. It occupies a small sector in the city, and those who live there believe in their right to privacy. Scala City believe if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide. But the Blind Spot have hackers that could bring the larger city to its knees. This is why it’s never spilled over into all-out war. Until now …

A terrorist attack on Scala City’s main plaza has tipped the delicate balance. There is only one person who can halt the conflict before it begins …

Marcie Hugo, daughter of the Blind Spot’s leader, and the district’s best kept secret. Cybernetically enhanced, she’s faster, stronger, and smarter than most. But more importantly, she’s invisible. Protected and hidden away by her father for the majority of her life, she’s in the unique position to move between the Blind Spot and Scala City unnoticed.

With the best hacker in the city on her side, and while the rest of the Blind Spot prepares for a bloody war, Marcie gets to work …

To avoid total annihilation, she will have to betray everyone she loves, starting with her father …

And even then, her chances of success are slim …

Join Marcie in a race against time as she turns over every neon-lit inch of Scala City and The Blind Spot in a quest to discover who’s trying to destroy her home and why. And even if she is successful, with the number of ties she’s severed, how much of a life will she have left to return to?

The Blind Spot: Neon Horizon book one is a fast-paced science fiction thriller. If you like dazzling neon dystopian landscapes, where entertainment, credits, and the latest street drugs are all worth more than human life, then you’ll love this hard-hitting grimy glimpse into the hyper-cities of the future.

Featured Science Fiction: The Mages of Starsea (The Starsea Cycle Book 1)

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Featured Science Fiction: The Mages of Starsea (The Starsea Cycle Book 1)

FREE as of November 15, 2022
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A mage’s fate is worse than death…

Lucian dreams of a new life outside the cesspool of Earth. Unfortunately, his wish comes true when the government identifies him as a mage.

No one knows why the mages are being born. No one knows why their powers lead to madness and death in a terrifying disease known as “the fraying”. The only solution is to quarantine the mages in academies.

When Lucian is exiled from Earth, he must travel to the distant world of Volsung to receive training. During the long passage, he meets a mysterious mage. She prophesies Lucian is marked by the Manifold, the reality that is the source of all magic. It is a destiny that requires Lucian to master abilities he never imagined he possessed.

But that’s the last thing Lucian wants. He faces a terrible choice. To accept his new reality as a mage. Or, to try and outrun destiny…