Weekend Reading

A while back, I posted up some links to a pair of novels written by my good friend and fellow gamer, Micah R. Sisk. Here are two more!

Born Into Shadows - Five posthumans working as a crew together for the first time are sent on a fact finding mission to a remote and seemingly uninteresting nebula. Their mission: investigate rumors of a large object hidden in the nebula, an object said not to be of modern posthuman design. Only one of the crew knows the identity of the expedition's mysterious backers and...what it is they fear.

Watching the Watcher - A frantic call from a space lane traffic controller is fielded by a helpline representative. Out in the main asteroid belt, stationed on a sophisticated three-kilometer long space habitat, why does the caller find himself utterly alone? Why can't he remember his time away from work? Why does he never leave his cubestation? And why does the helpline rep keep fielding exactly this type of call?

Both are science fiction short stories, both available for less than a buck. Check em out, and while you're there, if horror is more your thing, check out my own short story, Blink of the Light.

Reading is Fundamental

That's what this post is all about. One of my best friends and long-term gaming buddies (seriously, since high-school, and we're old), Micah R. Sisk, has published his first two ebooks in the science fiction genre. The listings on Amazon/Goodreads include a longer blurb, but here's the short and sweet:

NightBird Calling tells the tale of Y'Goth, privateer captain of the NightBird, and his cloned brothers. Their plan seemed a bit crazy: rob the human-on-a-bio-gaseous-computer Nesters. But as is always the case, things get complicated. NightBird Calling is a novella-length story, the first in a series of works exploring the history, cultures, and societies of the posthuman diaspora: the Posthuman Cycle.

NightBird Calling is available for Kindle via Amazon, and Goodreads.

PleshaCore is quest-for-identity, gender-bending action/ thriller set on the anything-goes pleasure planet, PleshaCore. Captain Jacobs finds himself in an unfamiliar body after being restored from his vessel's digital mind-locker. He, now she, also seems to have gotten married to his first mate. With the ship's A.I. on the accountancy warpath, and assorted kidnappers and assassins in pursuit, Jacobs must discover what's behind the web of conspiracy and obfuscation.

PleshaCore is also available for Kindle via Amazon, and Goodreads.

Go forth, and READ!

Kindle - Blink of the Light

I've finally managed to get something written that I like enough to publish. My first short story, Blink of the Light, is now available on Kindle! It's about Anne, a college student stressed by finals, a fight with her boyfriend, and a stalker-streetlight. One of my readers described it as "suburban Lovecraft," which is about what I was hoping for. Mission accomplished, I guess.

To get some eyes on it, I'm running a promotion for the remainder of the holiday weekend, so you can check it out for free May 26-27. Need a bedtime story? I hope you'll take a look!

• Blink of the Light on Amazon.com
• Blink of the Light on Amazon.co.uk

Also available in other Amazon stores.

An Author You Should Read

I just finished reading Michael Van Rooy's two novels, An Ordinary Decent Criminal and Your Friendly Neighborhood Criminal. If you like books of the action / crime genre, you owe it to yourself to read these two. I picked up the second book at the library on a whim, started reading, and finished it in a day. Then I went back for the other volume and did the same thing with that. Sadly there aren't any further novels forthcoming, since the author died suddenly in 2011.

Review: The Name of the Wind: Patrick Rothfuss

Have you read this? If not, you should. Yes it's the first book of a series that's not finished, something I absolutely hate recommending because of what I call the Martin Effect (if you read fantasy I'm sure you can guess what that is). I'll make an exception in this case though, for two reasons:

• Patrick Rothfuss actually seems to have a trilogy in mind, and claims that it's pretty much written. All that's left is the editing and revising.
• It's a very very very good book.