Tag Archives: Science fiction

by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | November 3, 2020 · 5:00 am

A Holo World Tour

Book 2, Hiding Can’t Save You Series

Science Fiction, Dystopian, Cyberpunk, Robotics, Genetic Engineering,
YA

Date Published: A Holo World: 10/13/20

Invisible illusions are John’s first inclination that things are not
quite as they seem in Amber City.

Following the aftermath of the destruction to the city caused by the
criminal mastermind named Crofar, John’s world flips upside down. Not
only does John have to hunt down Crofar, but he also has to figure out his
own problems. Everything around John glitches out of existence and reappears
as if it never left. Simultaneously, John’s visions of the future
start fading away which may signify his death.

A team of soldiers called the Renegades, John’s best friend Chase,
and a feisty girl named Hazel are not experiencing what John is going
through. In a sudden change of events, John’s surroundings vaporize
and all that is left is darkness and the voices of his dead parents.

A small glimpse allows John to see the hand of his mother, injecting his
neck with a serum that allows her to control him like a robot. The rest of
John’s future is now out of his control and there is nothing he can do
to change that. It’s time for fate to take the wheel, or maybe this
was all part of a plan.

The Uncontrolled: 9/18/20

Tracking Devices, Mind Control, and Visions of the Future

An action-packed adventure set against the loss of free will that comes
from a mind-control serum.

The robotic way people smile is John’s first inclination that things
are not quite as they seem in Amber City.

At the age of fourteen, everyone is “vaccinated” with a
biological implant that makes people controllable. John is supposed to get
his shot the very next day, until he and his parents find out about the
mind-controlling chip requiring his family to devise a plan to put a stop to
this once and for all, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

Along with his friend Chase, and an irrepressible girl named Hazel, the
three of them find themselves in the world of the controlled, where they
must try to escape the notice of this powerful society and its leader,
Crofar. As the trio of teenagers attempt to defeat Crofar on their own, they
stumble upon the Renegades, a formidable group of “the
uncontrolled,” led by Maximus.

Warily forming an alliance with the teenagers, the numbers are not in their
favor, and the uncontrolled are barely holding their own. Until that is,
they realize they have a secret weapon. John starts to have regular visions
of the future, which can change in interesting ways when certain variables
are adjusted.

While John has visions they can use to win the war against Crofar, things
become complicated because Crofar has visions too. With two adversaries who
can see the future, only one can outsmart the other.

The Uncontrolled is an adventurous, sci-fi book written by award-winning
teen author Zachary Astrowsky.

Available from Amazon HERE

EXCERPT

C HAPTER 1

“Everyone get up and search for Crofar now!” I watched as the veins nearly popped out of the neck of a soldier barking orders to all of the Renegades surrounding me. I had seen this man before during the battle against Crofar. His intimidating appearance made it apparent why he was selected to join the Renegades and made saving the world possible. After his voice filled the room with words dominant enough to persuade all of the soldiers around me to holster their weapons and put on their bulky and torn vests, people started to file out of the data room in order to explore deeper into the remains of the emptied base. Everyone besides Chase, Hazel, and me rummaged through gear and prepared to search for the criminal mastermind who had somehow slid through our fingers like beef juice on Taco Tuesday. Some soldiers nervously fumbled with their equipment while the rest casually geared-up. The frantic bustle reminded me of the most hectic day of my entire life, the last day of school. Like me, most students apathetically walked to the buses while others screamed as they sprinted across the entire school yard just so that they could get home faster. Although I tried fighting my controversial opinion, I was excited to see what school would be like now that the world was uncontrolled. However, that regular lifestyle would have to wait until we either found Crofar or confirmed his death.

About the Author

Zachary is a 16-year-old high school student. His debut novel, The
Uncontrolled, was originally published in March of 2018. The book was
re-launched in September of 2020 with a new sci-fi cover. The sequel, A Holo
World, is expected to be released October 13, 2020.

Aside from writing, Zachary loved science and playing lacrosse for his
school’s varsity team and a club team.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook: Zachary.Astrowsky

Twitter: @ZachAstrowsky

Goodreads

Instagram: @Zachary.astrowsky

Purchase Link

Amazon

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Tagged as A Holo World, Cyberpunk, dystopian, Genetic Engineering, Robotics, Science fiction, YA, Zachary Astrowsky

by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | October 29, 2020 · 5:00 am

Wasting Time Tour

Book 2 in the Physics, Lust and Greed Series

Science Fiction

Date Published: October 1, 2020

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

When time travelers fail test after test to significantly alter the past,
most financial backers abandon the Global Research Consortium leaving
veteran traveler Marta Hamilton to administer a vastly scaled-down project.
She must protect the past from a greedy future, fend off political meddling,
and foil a murder plot originating in a parallel universe. She presides over
a conspiracy to hide the truth of her best friend’s death while coping
with a confusing and discomforting romantic entanglement involving fellow
traveler Marshall Grissom.

Marta, who has by professional necessity always distanced herself from
emotional commitment, lapsed by allowing herself the luxury of friendship
with Sheila Schuler and a night of wild sex with Marshall. Now, Sheila is
probably dead, and—according to a genius physicists’
theory—Marshall soon will be. As she assumes her role as administrator
of the time travel program, Marta must choose between the risks of loving
someone, or the lonely safety of emotional solitude.

(No cats were harmed in the telling of this story.)

EXCERPT

“So, if someone is killed in the past of another universe,” Marta asked Elvin, “what does that portend for the future counterpart?”

“When left alone,” Elvin said, “quantum theory holds that the histories of parallel universes tend to be, well, parallel. Theoretically, the visit of a time traveler from the future skews that parallelism and the historical paths diverge. How much or how little is anybody’s guess. But I think there would have to be a helluva divergence for a major historical figure to escape his fate. I think once you’re toast in one universe, as soon as it can get around to it, history will catch up to you everywhere else, too.”

Like Marshall, Marta had clung to a skeptical hope that Elvin was wrong, until history caught up with Carla O’Neill. Carla fell off a stool while drinking at the Time Warp and hit her head on the bar.

In one of Marta’s first bureaucratic confrontations as program administrator, she had used Elvin’s theories to successfully argue that Carla’s death was work-related.

Secret or not, federally funded and supervised programs must meet federal guidelines, of which there are, Marta now realized, roughly about a gazillion. And someone must be sure all those guidelines were met. So while the number of people occupying the secret underground chambers of the Global Research Consortium had been drastically reduced as it evolved into the Historical Research Initiative, a healthy contingent of bureaucrats still scurried about in the big office building upstairs, auditing and accounting their little hearts out.

The bureaucrats wanted to write off Carla’s death as a fluke accident, having nothing whatsoever to do with time travel. As the new administrator, Marta knew she couldn’t display weakness. She wanted Carla’s death to be declared work-related so her family would be appropriately compensated.

Citing Elvin’s theories, she won that battle only to find she had waded into a quagmire when she received the auditor’s official findings. His report declared Marshall Grissom’s death to be work-related, as well.

Marta had taken the elevator to the surface, stomped into the chief auditor’s office and said, “You can’t do this. Marshall isn’t dead.”

“According to your Mr. Detwyler,” the auditor parried, “he surely will be, and sooner rather than later.”

“Don’t you think you should at least wait until . . . until it’s official?”

“We are thinking of the political ramifications,” the auditor said.

“The . . . what?”

The auditor leaned back in his chair and shook his head, as if he could not believe the poor naïve creature before him.

“We must file a report every quarter regarding workplace death and injury. The congressional oversight subcommittee tends to become alarmed at death and injury, as does OSHA. We had several mishaps during the construction and testing phase of the project. We expressed these events as the rate of person/days lost, divided by incidents of fatal accidents or maiming injuries on the GRC site. By doing it that way, because the GRC staff at that point was so large, we could present a number that appeared to be very low. And every day that passed without further casualties, the number got lower.”

The auditor stood and adjusted the window blinds to cut the glare of the sun streaming into his office. Since Marta’s office was underground and she didn’t have any sunshine, she thought the twit was just showing off.

“Now, however,” he continued with an elaborate stretch of his back, “there aren’t very many of you. So, the ratio will be much higher. With the death of Ms. Schuler and Ms. O’Neill within the same six-month period, well, that will draw a lot of attention. Thus, Mr. Grissom’s impending death is not a simple matter. The question was, should we just let it occur in its own good time and create the appearance of an ongoing problem, or should we arbitrarily include it with this quarters’ report, and argue that, while we had a bad few months, we’re doing better as the year progresses.”

He sat.

“We decided the latter would be the more politically defensible position.”

Marta’s first instinct was to return to her apartment, get her gun and add another work-related fatality to the report. She was an administrator now, though. She needed to refrain from shooting the auditors.

“Well . . .” she said after a long moment, “what if he doesn’t die?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What if Marshall doesn’t die?”

“Ms. Hamilton, you can’t have it both ways, now can you? We can’t call Ms. O’Neill’s death a work-related incident and then treat Mr. Grissom differently.”

“That wasn’t my question. My question was, what if he doesn’t die?”

“Everybody dies.” The auditor smiled.

“I mean not any time soon!”

“Well,” he said, in a smug show of victory, “I would certainly advise him to retain an attorney when the time comes to apply for social security benefits. That will be an argument I would dearly love to hear, because as far as the federal government is concerned, Marshall Grissom is dead.”

About the Author

Mike Murphey is a native of New Mexico and spent almost thirty years as an
award-winning newspaper journalist in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
Following his retirement, he enjoyed a seventeen-year partnership with the
late Dave Henderson, all-star Major League outfielder. Their company
produced the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners adult baseball Fantasy
Camps. Wasting Time is his fourth novel. Mike loves fiction, cats, baseball
and sailing. He splits his time between Spokane, Washington, and Phoenix,
Arizona.

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by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | October 28, 2020 · 5:00 am

REMEMBER Blitz

A Prelude Novella to The Existence Series

Science Fiction

Date Published: October 2020

Publisher: Patella Publishing

One invention and two men hoping to change the way humans connect—through memory exchanges—but days before it’s released, one man realizes it may do more harm than good.

Foster Grady pleads with doctors to give his dying wife a moment of reprieve. He wants her to experience his creation: the ability to relive their life together through his memories. But when doctors refuse, terminal patient, Ashyr Harmon, convinces Foster to give him the chance instead.

The exchange becomes Ashyr’s lifeline and the two form a friendship and business deal which ignites dangerous consequences.

BEYOND THE END, BOOK 1 of THE EXISTENCE SERIES – Coming Nov 2020

Other Books In The Existence Series:

Beyond the End

The Existence Series, Book One

Publisher : Patella Publishing

Release Date: November 20, 2020

Nothing else exists—at least that’s what she’s been told.

Strong-willed teenager Leilani Grady is suffocating on her family’s island. She wants off, but her parents say the rest of Earth is destroyed.

When a stranger shows up, Leilani realizes her parents have fed her a life of lies.

Ashyr Harmon shares a complicated history with her parents—and now he wants Leilani’s help with saving his society. It’s her chance to escape the only place she knows. But Leilani must decide who she trusts: her flesh and blood or this man who promises to fulfill her dream.

Amazon

Excerpt

Both men pressed shoulder-to-shoulder to look down at the resume, neither commenting on the fact Mariana had emailed it to at least one of them earlier in the week.

Regardless, while they looked, she looked too. Past the pizza boxes, down a long table against the east wall. She slid a foot back toward the table and, with a lean of her head, read physiology handwritten across a banker box. Then a slide of the foot to the right to see the scribble in permanent marker mind vs the brain across a journal cover, and then to a loose sheet of paper with a sketch of a glove with the word pressable next to circles which lined the palm.

Her feet had shifted ninety degrees when she heard Ashyr say, “We want to hire you.”

She looked behind her back, a grin spilling over her face. “Just like that?”

He shrugged. “I almost died before I discovered this…this…”

“Em-Path” Folsom added, standing directly next to Ashyr as if the two spoke as one.

“It saved my life. And showed me what to live—”

“And we don’t have time to waste,” Folsom inserted.

Ashyr twisted to face Folsom, nodding his head, as if Folsom had said the key words. “Yeah. It’s about timing. And you seem like an excellent fit.”

Mariana turned her focus back to scanning the details of the room. On the north wall, a table presented itself as a technology graveyard with broken tablets, game consoles, power cables, remote control boxes, and all sorts of other things she didn’t recognize. She felt awkward, her back toward these men who had just offered her a job. But an urgent curiosity kept drawing her forward, her feet moving toward a dark room, only partially visible, tucked in the far corner between the back table and the west wall, which was lined with a lab sink, a long counter, and a fridge. The room’s door was ajar. Taped to the center of the door, she read the handwritten note.

Please Do Not Disturb—Memory Exchange in Progress.

She drew her head back and turned around to face her interviewers. Her breath caught in her throat, the question ready now. “What’s the pay?” As long as it was higher than minimum wage, she would have to take the job.

Ashyr stood taller. “What do you want it to be?”

Folsom released a sharp cough. “Within reason.” He gave her an apologetic grin. “We don’t have much to offer yet, but with your help finding the support we need, we will soon.”

Ashyr stepped closer toward her. His clear blue eyes pulling her in again. “We are committed to making this work. We’re investing everything we have into this. In other words, we’re super, absolutely, insanely committed to this. And we want to make this a win for you too.”

Mariana nodded slowly, unsure of what exactly she was agreeing to.

“Help secure us a sponsor in—what—?” He twisted looks from Folsom to Mariana, “Two? Three months? In three months. You secure us a sponsor in three months and…” his voice turned soft, dipping into a whisper, “we’ll make you a partner with us.” Then he flung back to face Folsom. “Right? She helps get us a sponsor and she has partial ownership, with you, me, and Brody. It’ll be the four of us.” He looked again, back and forth between the two of them. “A percentage.” He started waving his hands around as if a number wasn’t within his mental reach. “We draft up all that legal stuff. We’ll figure it out. Together, we all make this dream come alive.” He whirled back to face her with a grin. With a lopsided tilt of the head, he said, “It’ll be worth it for all of us.”

Folsom stepped forward, the three of them forming a triangle.

Ashyr straightened. His clear blue eyes met hers. From him to Folsom’s rich blue eyes, Mariana looked at both of them, a nod growing inside her, just as Ashyr said, “So, you in?”

About the Author

TARA C. ALLRED is an award-winning author, instructional designer, and educator. She has been recognized as a California Scholar of the Arts for Creative Writing and is a recipient of the Howey Awards for Best Adult Book and Best Adult Author. She lives in Utah with her husband.

Her published works include REMEMBER (The Existence Series), SANDERS’ STARFISH and UNAUTHORED LETTERS (John Sanders Series), HELPING HELPER and THE OTHER SIDE OF QUIET, a 2015 Kindle Book Award Finalist and Whitney Award Winner.

Through online coaching, she helps other writers unleash their creative stories.

To learn more about the author, visit www.taracallred.net.

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Tagged as REMEMBER, Science fiction, Tara c. Allred

by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | October 26, 2020 · 1:59 pm

Crazy Rich Aliens – Blitz

Science Fiction

Date Published: August 2020

Penda is heiress to one of the richest families in southeast Asia. Her dream is to create a startup that will commercialize space travel to Mars. To go her own way will ruin her relationship with her family, which is already strained from her being openly gay. Paul, her twin brother, wants to maintain family traditions and is angry with Penda for turning her back on them. Worse, Penda’s business partner is Paul’s ex-fiancée.

At an elaborate costume ball, Penda and Paul meet Luke, a gorgeous stranger wearing an alien “costume”. They join him on an exotic yacht and after a night of partying, wake up on Tauran, a planet of gender-neutral beings. After their initial shock, Paul comes to view the trip as a business opportunity, while Penda prefers to learn about Tauran culture.

Penda soon falls for the amiable Timbor (Luke), heir to the richest fortune in the galaxy. Then the warm welcome to Tauran evaporates. Terrorists abduct Penda. She escapes but is relentlessly hunted. She must now evade government agents, xenophobes, and Timbor’s jealous suitor on a strange planet, while foiling a plot to invade Earth, and defending her new friend, an alien.

Praise for Crazy Rich Aliens:

“Crazy Rich Aliens is more than a parody.” —New York Times bestselling author Andrew Shaffer

“A rip-roaring tale with Cannon’s trademark engagingly quirky aliens.” —Hugo Award-winner Morgan Gendel

“JC Canon’s strengths are on full display in Crazy Rich Aliens. The complex characters and detailed world-building will keep you coming back for every last bit of this fun and engrossing tale!” —J.D. Sanderson, author of AROUND THE DARK DIAL

Excerpt

Excerpt from Crazy Rich Aliens, Chapter 11

“Join our rebellion. The group here, representatives of their species, gathers information, collects supplies, and creates distractions to cover for more aggressive and disruptive acts by our fighters. They are hiding in caves outside of town where the magnetic properties of the hills keep them hidden from Tauran scans. We could use your help.”

“I’ll try to speak with Timbor. What else can we do?”

Chato reached between the workers at the table and picked out what looked like small pellets and showed them to Paul and Su-Yee. “Place one of these into Timbor, Kandra, and Murta’s pockets. Don’t worry if you can’t do all of them. They will aid our friends in the field to track and kidnap them and force the release of our people. We just want to go home.” Chato placed a hand on Paul’s chest, its eyes pleading.

Paul slid the hand away and shook his head. “Won’t they just recapture you from your planet?”

“They took us by surprise in the initial attack. Our defenses will keep it from happening again.”

“It wouldn’t be right to betray people who have shown us nothing but kindness.”

“So, you asked to be brought to Tauran?”

“No, but—”

“You haven’t asked to return?”

“Yes, but—”

“And you are free to walk around anywhere you like?”

“I have concerns over our treatment and their real intentions,” said Su-Yee. “I’m willing to speak to Timbor, but if the Taurans are as vicious and conniving as you say they are, I’m afraid we would put our own lives in peril.”

One of the larger aliens at the table stood and took a swat at Chato, knocking it back and yelling something. Chato responded and the alien abruptly stood and continued the shouting while stealing glances at Paul and Su-Yee.

Paul edged into the doorway, now filled with onlookers, pulling Su-Yee with him.

Chato shoved the alien back to its seat. “They don’t trust you. Run!” An alien across the table fired a weapon at Chato, slamming its body into the wall.

Paul grabbed Su-Yee’s hand and pulled her down the narrow corridor, dodging bodies as they went. They heard yelling behind them, but they didn’t turn to look. It must have been a call to arms, as the aliens in the corridor attacked them. Their weakened states and smaller frames made it easy for Paul to shove past them. He even tossed a couple at their pursuers.

They reached the storage room and closed the door behind them. Paul wedged a shelf against it. “It won’t hold long.”

“What do you suggest?”

Paul responded by lifting the grate from the floor and glancing at Su-Yee for approval.

Su-Yee shook her head. “There’s alien sewage and dead bodies down there.”

Paul nodded, then jumped into the darkness. Su-Yee shrieked, stamped her feet, and pounded her fists against her sides. As the door gave way, she jumped down after him.

About the Author

Jay Cannon (JC) grew up in the projects of western Michigan. After high school, he joined the Navy where he worked on the flight deck of aircraft carriers. After leaving the Navy, JC spent twenty years as a computer programmer, mostly at startups, in the United States, England, France and Sweden. After working at Microsoft for sixteen years, he retired and moved to DC where he joined Congress as a technical fellow. At the end of the fellowship, he and his wife moved to Richmond, Virginia and joined the James River Writers where he writes. He has written two technical manuals, five science fiction novels and a poetry book.

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