C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: BEYOND (BEYOND Series Book 1) by Maureen A. Miller

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Featured Sci-fi: BEYOND (BEYOND Series Book 1) by Maureen A. Miller

FREE as of May 18, 2025
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From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen A. Miller comes this exciting young adult adventure.

The day after Aimee Patterson’s high school graduation, her dreams of college and becoming an engineer are interrupted. On an early evening walk, her cocker spaniel charges into the woods, and Aimee follows. In the stillness of the forest, the unthinkable happens. She becomes paralyzed and watches in horror as her hands vanish before her eyes.

She wakes to find she’s been kidnapped and is now far from home. A group of human-like aliens fleeing an epidemic travels the galaxies seeking an antidote, and Aimee is mistakenly taken during one of their missions.

Now, Aimee must navigate the advances of an awkward young scientist who seems intent on dissecting her as her own fascination turns to the exotic young warrior, Zak. Having fallen in love with Zak, she faces a difficult choice: return to Earth or live beyond the stars.

Featured Sci-fi: Star Kingdom Books 1 – 3 by Lindsay Buroker

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99¢ as of May 15, 2025
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★★★★★ “…endearing characters you can’t help but root for!”

It is a time of treachery, terrorism, and tyranny in the Star Kingdom. The king cannot be trusted, the galaxy is on the brink of war, and a notorious mercenary is destroying everything—and everyone—in his path on his quest for vengeance.

The Star Kingdom is in dire need of heroes.

What it gets is a band of misfits and underdogs:

• A washed-up bounty hunter struggling to make ends meet.
• A genetically engineered cat woman on the run from her makers.
• A robotics professor who gets space sick before leaving orbit.
• A brilliant scientist who’s better at punching people than talking to them.

As unlikely as it seems, this motley crew is the best hope for bringing peace to the galaxy. But they have troubles of their own, and they’ll have to fly fast to avoid being hunted down and killed.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Star League Assasins by Jaxon Reed

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Featured Sci-fi: Star League Assasins by Jaxon Reed

FREE Books 1 – 3 + Books 4 – 10 Only 99¢ Each in US & UK
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The Republic’s AI controls a clone on one planet. The League controls a bot on another . . .

Jade Thrall is the League’s Tetrarch but she holds a secret even she does not realize. She is a highly advanced droid, formerly known as Miriam.

Few military assets are available to Jade in her effort to wrest back League planets lost during the war. But one potent tool remains in her arsenal: assassins . . .

Join this rip-roaring, action-packed space opera adventure! Featuring space marines, rotten villains, fist fights, gun battles and sharp political intrigue, Digital Death kicks off a brand new series by veteran science fiction and fantasy author Jaxon Reed set in the Milky Way Universe.

Featured Sci-fi: The Departure (G581 Book 1) by Christine D. Shuck

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Featured Sci-fi: The Departure (G581 Book 1) by Christine D. Shuck

FREE as of May 14, 2025
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Their mission was to build a second home for humanity – but who knows if humanity will survive long enough to reach it? Setting forth on a six-year journey to Gliese 581g – Zarmina’s World – Daniel Medry and a crew of fellow scientists planned to explore a brand-new world potentially ripe for colonisation – but when a man-made virus wipes out most of Earth’s population and leaves the rest infertile, their exploration mission becomes humanity’s only hope for survival.

Alone in deep space, a series of equipment malfunctions occur that might not be accidental – and as the crew struggles for survival, some suspect that one of their own intends to keep them from making planetfall. With time running out, Daniel must stop the saboteur before humanity’s last hope for survival is snuffed out in the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space.

Gliese 581: The Departure is an exhilarating sci-fi thriller. If you like dystopian future worlds, second-chance heroes, and suspenseful mysteries, then you’ll love Christine Shuck’s gripping intergalactic thrill-ride.

Featured Sci-fi: Red Thunder by John Varley

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FREE as of May 11, 2025:
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“The heart-pounding space race is on . . . in this riveting SF thriller” from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of Red Lightning and Rolling Thunder (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
 
As Chinese and US spacecraft compete to be the first to land on Mars, a former astronaut, his cousin, and four teens from Florida decide to take matters into their own hands. If they can quickly build their own space-worthy ship using scrap metal, appliances, and power tools, they have a chance to come from behind—thanks to an inventive new power source that can propel them to the Red Planet within three days. No guts, no glory . . .
 
“Varley’s great strength is in his characterizations, but in Red Thunder he also shows a strong sense of place. . . . If you are willing to simply fantasize about fleeing your office cubicle and becoming a heroic space explorer, this novel will fulfill your wishes.” —The Washington Post
 
“Fast paced . . . Engaging characters.” —Rocky Mountain News
 
“Full of little gems of wit and intelligence.” —Booklist
 
“[A] fun-filled adventure. Varley matches a serious literary style with an outrageous plot, and he’s one of the few writers in the field who could make it work.” —Chronicle

Featured Sci-fi: Three Grams of Elsewhere by Andy Giesler

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Featured Sci-fi: Three Grams of Elsewhere by Andy Giesler

99¢ as of May 11, 2025
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“[A] stunningly well-crafted science fiction novel…” —The BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly (10 out of 10)

A reclusive empath confronts his role in the war that shattered the United States.

Fifty years ago, civil war fractured the United States into a mosaic of polarized nations. Ever since, Harmony “Bibi” Cain has isolated himself: from society, from technology, from family. A powerful empath weary from the constant intrusion of others’ emotions, he’s cloistered in his rural Wisconsin retirement community where he hopes to find, if not peace, then at least a little quiet.

But when four impossible assassinations shake North America, Bibi is forced into an investigation he wants nothing to do with. The victims were killed by drones that only an empath can control—and decades ago, Bibi was part of the wartime program that created them: the program that weaponized empathy.

“[A] story written so well that, no matter how perfect, surprising, and complete the ending, readers will want to return in search of even more. It’s just that good.” —BlueInk Review in Booklist (Starred Review)

“Giesler pushes readers to think deeply about how we connect to each other…” —The BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly (10 out of 10)

“A brainy near-future SF novel of exploited neurons and expanding consciousness.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Provocative, empathetic dystopian SF with a sense of narrative playfulness.” —BookLife Reviews by Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)

“Wow. Wow wow wow…this was a captivating, entertaining, and enlightening read.” —Judge, 31st Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards