C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: They Will Be Coming for Us (The Jovian Universe Book 1) by Kim Catanzarite

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Featured Sci-fi: They Will Be Coming for Us (The Jovian Universe Book 1) by Kim Catanzarite

FREE as of February 15, 2023
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“A deftly written novel with a strong plot, an intriguing portrait of a wealthy family, and a phenomenal conflict. There couldn’t be a better opening for this series.”—The Book Commentary

“Fans of science fiction mixed with romance and mystery will enjoy this genre-crossing novel.”—BookLife Review

In this gripping sci-fi thriller, Svetlana Peterman has met her soul mate in Andrew Jovian, a young astronomer who works for Starbright International, the aerospace company his wealthy parents own. Once married, they make a home in Kirksberg, Pennsylvania, a small town famous for a UFO sighting that occurred in the 1960s. Svetlana is, for once, truly happy, except that Andrew’s family is strange, and not in a normal-strange kind of way.

Preoccupied with only two things—the night sky and carrying on their family lineage—the Jovians lack social skills and often pry into Svetlana’s personal life. Her intimidating mother-in-law demands she get busy fulfilling her reproductive duty to the family, and Andrew’s eccentric uncle seems to be able to read her mind.

Feeling bullied and wanting a career before motherhood, Svetlana takes precautions but ends up pregnant anyway. But that’s the least of her worries when she discovers the Jovians have a monumental secret that will change her fate (and that of her child’s) forever—a secret so powerful, it could alter the course of mankind.

Buy They Will Be Coming for Us today and experience this mind-bending tale of love, loss, and the mysteries of the night sky.

“An irresistible story…”—BlueInk Review (starred review)

Featured Sci-fi: Gravity Girl (Gravity Shattered Book 1) by V.R. Friesen

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Featured Sci-fi: Gravity Girl (Gravity Shattered Book 1) by V.R. Friesen

99¢ as of February 10, 2023
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When you know your life has a deadline, why play it safe?

Grav-walker Jasper Pine ekes out a risky livelihood as a scavenger in a city full of treacherous and unpredictable gravity zones. But she has a secret, an alien infection that will soon shatter gravity again. This time it could endanger the whole planet.

Without a workable cure, Jasper’s only plan is to die before her infection matures. She lives her life fast, wild, and reckless, with no hope for her future. Until one day she meets a feral boy with a secret that might save her. But even if the boy trusted her—which he doesn’t—he’s been captured by a ruthless military cult. In desperation Jasper turns to Ryan Latrans for help, a charming ex-soldier whose mission threatens her life and freedom. She should definitely avoid him. But if she’s not careful, he might end up reminding her of why life is worth fighting for.

In the zones, trust can be as deadly as hope, but Jasper’s time is running out. What will she risk for a chance to live?

A dystopian adventure perfect for fans of strong female protagonists, slow burn romance, found family, and whimsical sci-fi.

Featured Sci-Fi: Exile Sky (Parse Galaxy Book 4) by Kate Sheeran Swed

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Featured Sci-Fi: Exile Sky (Parse Galaxy Book 4) by Kate Sheeran Swed

New Release
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Sloane might not relish the situation that’s got her tangled in a web of Galactic Fleet and Trade Federation politics – but she’s knee-deep in it now. And she’s finished with dead ends.

When she finally cracks the clue her uncle left behind, it points directly to the worst spot in the galaxy: a barren wasteland of a moon (if it counts as a moon when the planet it was orbiting has been blown into bits) where her toes are guaranteed to freeze solid in about thirty seconds.

Between the bandits, the blizzards, and the cybernetic wolves, her hands are full. Not that she’s complaining… much.
Sloane only hopes she can escape the trek with all her toes intact – and the evidence she needs to save the galaxy from imperial rule.

No pressure.

Featured Sci-fi: Steamborn the Complete Trilogy by Eric R. Asher

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Featured Sci-fi: Steamborn the Complete Trilogy by Eric R. Asher

99¢ as of February 6, 2023
Available at: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Amazon DE

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A supernatural swarm. A treacherous scheme. A tinker’s apprentice may be the village’s only hope…

Jacob has yet to meet a gadget he couldn’t fix or an adventure he could resist. With trade routes to his remote Lowlands town cut off, Jacob must exchange his boyhood adventures for petty theft. After all, his wages at the tinker shop aren’t enough to pay for his father’s medicine

But it soon becomes clear why few merchants brave the nearby roads as a plague of terrifying creatures descends upon the town. With the Lowlands under siege, Jacob and his friend have no choice but to run for their lives. When their escape uncovers a terrible secret, Jacob learns there are those who’ll stop at nothing to make sure the teen takes the scandal to his grave…

See all the Box Set List Featured Fantasy | See All Featured Sci-Fi

Featured Sci-fi: Primary Inversion (Saga of The Skolian Empire Book 1) by Catherine Asaro

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Featured Sci-fi: Primary Inversion (Saga of The Skolian Empire Book 1) by Catherine Asaro

$1.99 as of February 2, 2023
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The first book in the Skolian Empire saga by the Nebula Award–winning author. “Fast, smart, speculative . . . another stellar debut.” —Los Angeles Daily News

Soz Valdoria, a bioengineered fighter pilot—and first in line for the military command of her people—has found refuge with her squad on the sanctuary planet of Delos. It offers a respite from the war that rages between her Skolian people and their enemies, the Traders. Looking for rest and relaxation, they must still be on their guard for the Trader soldiers who also visit the sanctuary.

In a bar, they confront the worst of the worst: an Aristo from the Trader ruling caste, seemingly on the prowl for a “provider” he can use for his barbaric impulses. His presence takes Soz back to her days as a prisoner of war, when she became the plaything of a sadistic and soulless Aristo.

And yet something is off about this Aristo. Unable to ignore her instincts, Soz searches the city until she finds him in a secured mansion. Breaching its fortifications and eluding its guards, she discovers a devastating truth: this man is no true Aristo. He is a genetic anomaly like Soz, one of the few people who can handle the massive neurological demands of the psibernet, the technological marvel that gives the Skolians their only advantage over the Traders. This false Aristo, this sheep in a wolf’s clothing, is heir to the Trader throne. The emperor created him for one reason—to take control of the Skolian network and conquer Soz’s people.

But Soz has never felt such a connection as she does to this Trader heir. It may prove her—and the universe’s—undoing . . .

“This is one of the best SF first novels in years.” —Booklist

Featured Science Fiction: The Bohr Maker (The Nanotech Sucession Book 1) by Linda Nagata

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Featured Science Fiction: The Bohr Maker (The Nanotech Sucession Book 1) by Linda Nagata

$4.99 as of January 30, 2023
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Editor’s Note: I loved this novel. It has believable characters, adventure, action, strange new worlds, and a message that resonates.

“…phenomenal….This one is a winner—grab it when you see it…” —Analog Science Fiction & Fact

An award-winning novel of nanotechnology, adventure, and high-tech revolution.
Nikko is the first “post human” genetically engineered to survive in the airless void of space. But the research permit that allows his existence is about to expire. His body has begun an insidious, pre-programmed failure that will end in his death—unless he can cancel his own expiration date. His hopes ride on an illegal and extremely powerful nanotech device known as the Bohr Maker—but his attempt to steal it soon goes awry. The device escapes to infect a young woman named Phousita who lives on Earth, in an impoverished slum, where nanotechnology runs amok, regulated only by the black market. Nikko and Phousita are from different worlds, but their convergence sets off a domino effect of unforeseeable events that threaten to change the definition of “human” for all time.

A brilliantly original, fast-paced biotech thriller, The Bohr Maker won the Locus Award for Best First Novel.

The Nanotech Succession is a collection of stand-alone novels exploring the rise of nanotechnology and the strange and fascinating future that follows.