C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Galactic Terror Book 1 by Michael Robertson

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Featured Sci-fi: Galactic Terror Book 1 by Michael Robertson

FREE as of January 18, 2024
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Get Galactic Terror Books 1 – 3 as part of the StoryExplorations Bundle: CLICK HERE

They say you can’t run from your past, and now she’s reached the other side of the galaxy, Sparks wonders if they’re right …

Living on a distant planet with a transient population for the past year, ducking in and out of spaceport dive bars, mixing with pirates, bounty hunters, and criminals, she’s become just another being in the crowd.

But she wasn’t born to eke out a living at the very fringes of society. Not with her powers.

So when a stranger makes her a tempting offer …

An adventure she’s been desperate to have …

She wonders if now’s the right time for her to step from the shadows?

To return to the planet-hopping, high-risk thrill-ride that used to be her life.

To take back control.

And if the next few months end up looking like the past twelve, then it’s not like she has anything to lose.

Galactic Terror is the first book in a series of space opera thrillers, where every page crackles with high-stakes action and interstellar intrigue.

Featured Sci-fi: Red Storm (Mars Series) By Frank Luna

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Featured Sci-fi: Red Storm (Mars Series) By Frank Luna

FREE as of January 16, 2024
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American Commander “Mac” MacTavish and his international team of scientists and engineers are wrapping up an eighteen-month mission at Mars Base.

Without warning, all communication with Earth is mysteriously lost.

Mac’s egotistical science chief discovers that a massive solar flare has impacted Earth, causing catastrophic damage and most likely political and social upheaval. Unsure if it is safe to return home, Mac decides to wait for the arrival of the Mars 3 spacecraft and the relief crew already en route from Earth.

After several weeks with no communication, Mars 3 lands nearby, showing no signs of life.

Expecting a grisly scene, Mac enters the lifeless lander, but he is stunned and horrified by what he discovers. Are Mac and his crew the sole survivors of a galactic solar catastrophe or something more sinister? Now it is up to him to discover the truth in the midst of this Red Storm.

Featured Sci-fi: Justice Keepers Saga by R.S. Penney Author

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Featured Sci-fi: Justice Keepers Saga by R.S. Penney Author

Start the Series FREE as of January 14, 2024
(Books 2 – 16 $2.99 Each)
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Thousands of years ago, the Overseers scattered humans across the galaxy. Now, one of them has found her way back home.

On a mission to recover an escaped alien life form, young Justice Keeper Anna Lenai pursues the felon into uncharted space, and accidentally finds the lost homeworld of her ancestors.

While Anna tries to adapt and survive in a strange, hostile environment, she accidentally uncovers a conspiracy that will shake their world to its foundations.

Praise:

★★★★★ – “Fresh take on sci-fi with wonderful characters that draw you in.”

★★★★★ – “Intelligent, articulate, witty and thought-provoking.”

Featured Sci-fi: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

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Featured Sci-fi: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

$2.99 as of January 14, 2024
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A masterpiece ahead of its time, a prescient rendering of a dark future, and the inspiration for the blockbuster film Blade Runner

By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and “retire” them. But when cornered, androids fight back—with lethal force.

Praise for Philip K. Dick

“The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world.”—John Brunner

“A kind of pulp-fiction Kafka, a prophet.”—The New York Times

“[Philip K. Dick] sees all the sparkling—and terrifying—possibilities . . . that other authors shy away from.”—Rolling Stone

Featured Sci-fi: Saving Mars (Saving Mars Series) by Cidney Swanson

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Saving Mars (Saving Mars Series Book 1) Kindle Edition by Cidney Swanson (Author)

FREE Book 1—Books 2 only 99¢, Book 3 only $1.99
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Some pilots follow orders. Others just wing it.

Grounded for her Top Gun attitude, a Mars colony pilot jumps at the chance to fly a covert mission to off-limits Earth and save her world from starvation. On Earth, the Chancellor keeps a dystopian peace through a competitive consciousness-transfer program, offering perfect bodies to those who toe the line. Pilot Jessamyn’s orders are simple: get the food and get out, minimizing contact. But when the pilot’s brilliant autistic brother is captured and charged with treason, all bets are off. Jess finds an ally in Pavel, the Chancellor’s rebel nephew, but now she’s got a choice to make: rescue her brother or save Mars?

“SCI-FI THAT SOARS.” -Kirkus, starred review

Saving Mars is a Sci-Fi series of colonization on Mars featuring interplanetary politics, adventure, and romance that’s perfect for fans of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising or Mary Robinette Kowal’s Lady Astronaut series.

Featured Sci-fi: Neon Nights (There’s no Murder in Paradise Book 1) by Anna Mocikat

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Featured Sci-fi: Neon Nights (There's no Murder in Paradise Book 1) by Anna Mocikat

FREE as of January 12, 2025
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There’s no murder in paradise.

Homicide detective Siro Ferreira-Nunes must solve his most challenging case.

More and more people end up dead in the “city of dreams,” an allegedly perfect society. The victims haven’t just been murdered; they’ve been also horribly mutilated and stripped of their neural implants and augmentations. This is not the work of a serial killer but the signature of crime syndicates who sell the costly augmentations on the black market.

A specialist in organized crime, detective Ferreira-Nunes is the right man for job. Partnered with the sharp-witted Kate Spader, they delve into the seedy underworld of Oldtown, the megacity’s most notorious district, where life is cheap and criminal masterminds know how to evade the all-controlling “perfect” society of Olympias.

One of the victims, a popular TV star provides a surprising clue: behind his shiny smile the actor hid a shocking double life in Oldtown’s infamous redlight district. Was the man really just a victim?

The investigation leads Siro and Kate from Oldtown’s gritty shadows to the opulent penthouses of the elite in the skyscrapers above. After the detectives barely survive an assassination attempt on their lives, the Guardian Angels, Olympias’ notorious elite cyborg enforcers enter the stage.

But can they be trusted or are they following their own agenda?

“Neon Nights” is a spin-off from the acclaimed “Behind Blue Eyes” series but can be read as a standalone—an exciting mix of cyber intrigue, sex, and danger.

For fans of “Altered Carbon” and noir detective stories!