The Galathea Chronicles
I’ve been overdosing on science fiction this week. As well as watching the new Star Trek series and Channel 4’s adaptations of Phillip K. Dick’s stories, Electric Dreams, I went to see Blade Runner 2049. I thought it was amazing – a little slow in parts, I admit – but Blade Runner was a hard act to follow and I thought the director did a sterling job.
I’ve been equally amazed that Blade Runner 2049 isn’t doing too well at the box office. I’ve read comments that have me scratching my head. I wonder if today’s sci-fi films are so action-oriented that a modern audience no longer has the patience to sit through a slower, deeper film?
What do you think? Have you noticed a change in scifi films over the years, or do you just think Blade Runner 2049 isn’t as good as the critics say it is? I posted the question on my Facebook page.
You probably know that Blade Runner was inspired by P.K. Dick’s novella, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The best scifi films start out as novels, in my opinion, and this week I have a couple of great examples of scifi literature. Check out Andrew Crusoe’s and Niel Bushnell’s first-in-series for two exciting reads.
The Truth Beyond the Sky
On the 12th anniversary of his mother’s disappearance, Zahn makes his annual trip up to an island summit — only to be awoken by a brilliant object thundering down from the sky, setting off a chain of events that takes him face to face with a living starship and its cryptic pilot.
For the first time, Zahn has the chance to learn the fate of his mother, but to do that, he must go to the galactic core where he encounters the Vakragha, a species bent on consuming entire stars.To Zahn’s horror, he learns that they’re heading toward his homeworld. Only the Tulari stone, which has been missing for aeons, can stop their all-consuming wormholes.
But saving his world from armageddon isn’t all he has to worry about. Just when Zahn lands on a moon stolen by the Vakragha, he makes a breakthrough, finally learning his mother’s true fate. Now he is faced with a heartbreaking decision that could either save his world or doom it forever.
Action-packed, with a scope as ambitious as Star Wars, THE TRUTH BEYOND THE SKY will leave you energized and hungry for more.
Join Zahn on his journey here.
Arkship Obsidian
“Dune meets Battlestar Galactica, with a pinch of Asimov thrown in for good measure.”
Earth has been destroyed, the entire solar system turned to dust by a cataclysmic event known as the Fracture. Now, the last survivors of humanity live on vast arkships drifting through the Cluster, doing what they can to survive in a hostile ever-changing environment.
When the arkship Obsidian is attacked, Wynn awakes in an escape pod fleeing from a huge space battle, unable to remember who he is. Hunted by a killer robot, the forces of a rival arkship, and the Church of the Infinite, Wynn must survive long enough to unlock his lost memories, discover who is behind the attack and take his revenge.
Arkship Obsidian is the first in an epic new series from acclaimed British writer Niel Bushnell.
Download your copy here.
What’s Coming Up?
It’s been wonderful to return to writing about Carrie Hatchett this week. I love that ditsy, warm-hearted, unintentionally smart woman so much. The first draft of A Very Carrie Christmas is nearly finished and I’m talking to the cover designer about the cover for the final book in the series. I hope to ask your opinion on it in early November.
Another piece of news is that Tales of the Void, the science fantasy anthology Chris Fox is putting together, is coming out in just a few days. More on that soon.
Happy reading!
P.S. You can read most of the first chapter of A Very Carrie Christmas here.