C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Blend (The Rogues of Teton Book 1) by Frank Kennedy

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Featured Sci-fi: Blend (The Rogues of Teton Book 1) by Frank Kennedy

New Release
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All legends begin somewhere.

Blue-skinned Arliss Dubai returns to planet Teton with mechanical enhancements and fury burning in his silver veins after wrongfully serving time in lunar prison. Stepping off the transport into the mile-high megacity Vandress, he faces a world that disregards enhanced humans like him, engineered to save a dying planet. Now, these Blends are lower-class citizens, marked for expulsion by zealots in a post-Collapse society forced to survive indoors.

Twelve-year-old Kip Dubai doesn’t recognize the stranger claiming to be his father. A rare hybrid known as a Patchie who bears the traits of two peoples, Kip found family elsewhere during his father’s imprisonment: In a gang of misfits who steal to survive in the steam-filled hidden spaces of the Servo District.

When Enforcement Q officers ambush Arliss in a dark alley, death seems certain – until mysterious, otherworldly figures intervene, leaving bodies and questions in their wake. These ethereal “friends” suggest cosmic forces are stirring within Vandress’s towering spires, and ancient powers are awakening.

A fractured family stands at the crossroads of revolution. Arliss must reconnect with his son before Vandress tears itself apart, or before whatever lurks in the shadows comes for them all.

If you’re into broken cities, fantastical mysteries, and characters who’ve been screwed over but refuse to stay down, BLEND hits different. The first book in The Rogues of Teton series smashes together gritty sci-fi action with fantastical “wait, did that just happen?” moments.

“A riveting opening series installment that introduces spirited characters and an unforgettable dystopian world.” – Kirkus Reviews

Featured Sci-fi: Ambush (Flight of the Intrepid Book 1) by Kevin McLaughlin

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Featured Sci-fi: Ambush (Flight of the Intrepid Book 1) by Kevin McLaughlin

New Release
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For fifty years, humanity has stood its ground against the Drechnai. Tyrants of the first order, these beings have wiped out over a dozen spacefaring races, and they’ve done everything in their power to make humanity the next.

But for those fifty years, humans have scraped out a desperate battle for survival, relying on determination, tenacity, and raw courage to overcome our foe’s impossible technological advantage. Fifty years of constant war has honed our species into a deadly blade.

Without warning, the enemy sued for peace. But Captain George Oliver doesn’t trust them at their word, believing that this is some new deceit. Despite his misgivings, Earth’s fleet goes to sign a peace accord with the Drechnai.

It’s a trap! The human fleet is attacked, leaving Oliver’s vessel the sole Star Carrier still intact and able to defend Earth against the strike Oliver knows is coming.

He’s not wrong. The Drechnai intend to finish humans off once and for all time, their master stroke dealing death blows to both the fleet and Earth itself.

But they failed to factor in the men and women of the Star Carrier Intrepid, who will pay whatever price is required for the human race to survive!

Featured Sci-fi: The City Below (A 2603 Novel Book 1) by Kory M. Shrum

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Featured Sci-fi: The City Below (A 2603 Novel Book 1) by Kory M. Shrum

FREE as of January 2, 2026
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 GooglePlay (Full-price: Apple, Nook, Kobo)

A new science fiction thriller from the bestselling author of the Shadows in the Water series.

In the meticulously controlled world of Zone 2, Commander Grace Buteo has dedicated her life to keeping citizens safe from cybercrime, terrorism, and threats from the outer zones. But when an IED meant for Grace kills her husband and son, her belief in the city she protects begins to fracture.

Desperate for purpose, Grace immerses herself in a high-profile investigation: the theft of twenty-six artificial organs from a powerful genetic engineering corporation. What begins as a routine case soon exposes cracks in the city’s perfect façade—and raises unsettling questions about the people closest to her.

For fans of Philip K. Dick’s provocative science fiction and J.D. Robb’s In Death series, The City Below is a gripping blend of mystery, technology, and moral suspense.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: End of Days by Sam J. Fires

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Featured Sci-fi: End of Days by Sam J. Fires

START THE SERIES FREE —
Books 2 – 6 only $2.99 Each
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From Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author…

No lights. No power. No help.

During the coldest winter on record, an EMP attack wipes out the nation’s power and cripples the country.

As the city spirals into lawless chaos, investigative journalist, twenty-six-year-old Cassandra Drews is forced onto the dangerous streets of Portland to begin the long walk to her parents’ home in Oregon.

But hypothermia and starvation aren’t the only dangers Cass and her rescue dog, Daisy, face on their perilous trek. Danger is stalking them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Help comes in the form of troubled ex-marine Isaac Winters, who slips back into soldier mode with the city’s collapse.

Now, the trio must work together in a fight for survival as they race to escape the city before violence, or the bitter wintry storm can claim them. Do they have what it takes to make it out alive? Or will they be crushed by the brutality of the unforgiving cold?

Featured Sci-fi: Ghosts (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

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Featured Sci-fi: Ghosts (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

99¢ as of January 1, 2025
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When an alien spacecraft four times the size of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier enters the solar system, tensions run hot within the UN, but the alien vessel doesn’t approach Earth. Instead, it sits off at L4, over a hundred million miles from Earth, baffling scientists from around the world. Chris ‘Crash’ Williams leads an international crew to investigate the appearance of this ghost ship, but he quickly learns that the spacecraft isn’t as dead as it seems.

Ghosts was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s 1973 novel Rendezvous with Rama, which went on to win the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Rendezvous with Rama is a classic. It examined a plausible, realistic alien encounter, considering not only the physics involved but also the inevitable politics and religious implications.

FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity’s first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This series is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they’re all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.

Featured Science Ficton: The Darkest Winter (Savage North Chronicles Book 1) by Lindsey Pogue

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Featured Science Ficton: The Darkest Winter (Savage North Chronicles Book 1) by Lindsey Pogue

FREE as of January 1, 2026
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Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay, Author’s Store

The Virus spread. Billions died. The Ending began.

A group of orphaned misfits. The wildlands of the last frontier. Superhuman abilities, harrowing adventures, and heartbreaking secrets.

Haunting shadows are nothing new to Elle St. James, she’s been running from them all her life. But since the outbreak spread from the lower forty-eight, new monsters lurk in the darkness. After Elle wakes from the fever, capable of horrific deeds, she fears she’s one of them. When she stumbles upon four orphans, Elle’s forced to discover what happens when her greatest fear becomes her darkest secret and her only hope of surviving.

After the world goes mad and takes his family with it, Jackson Mitchell tosses aside his badge and decides a bottle of bourbon and the depths of despair are preferable to any semblance of living. All of that changes, however, when a group of young survivors are in dire need of his help and Jackson sacrifices his blissful oblivion in order to keep them safe. As they trek further away from the collapsing cities, Jackson must rely on his knowledge of the backcountry and the traditions of his people, or succumb to the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness.

Brought together under the worst possible circumstances, Elle and Jackson must face the inexplicable realities of the new world. Their past lives are over, and the arctic isn’t all that’s savage anymore.