Today, I’m thrilled to kick off a series of showcase posts that focus on self published science fiction novels and their authors! A couple of months ago on Twitter, I put the call out for self-published authors who had written science fiction books and would be interested in having their books featured during #SciFiMonth. I was excited by the response I received, and now I’m happy to present this month long series. Over the next four Saturdays, I’ll be featuring a wide range of self-published sci-fi authors and their books, so if you see something you like, please support these hard working authors. Join me in welcoming today’s featured books and authors:
E.L. BATES
From the Shadows
When young widow Riss Waldon wakes up aboard the voyaging spaceship “Caledonia,” 510 years in her future, she has no idea how or why she got there. As friendships develop with the crew, she wonders if it is possible to begin a new life here. Her quest to find a place for herself comes to a head when the fate of the entire crew rests on her shoulders alone. Can Riss step out of the shadows of her past life in order to save her new friends? All she can do is try … ” Bonus short story included at the end of the book
Buy the book: Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
E.L. BATES is the author of the mystery-fantasy series Whitney & Davies as well as From the Shadows and its forthcoming sequel. She lives in beautiful New England with her husband and two daughters. In between her day job as a freelance editor and writing, she enjoys knitting, quilting, exploring the local beaches and hiking trails with her family, and always, always reading. She is most often found with a cup of tea in hand and dark chocolate close by. You can find out more about her at StarDance Press.
ANNA MOCIKAT
Behind Blue Eyes
Welcome to the year 2095.
Society has become perfect — so perfect that it needs killer cyborgs to hunt down anyone who disagrees with it.
Nephilim isn’t just any elite death squad member, she is the best. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced, she and others like her strike terror wherever they go. Knowing nothing besides this lifestyle, Nephilim believes that she’s part of a righteous cause.
But everything changes for her after a hostile EMP attack. She suffers a severe system glitch. Disconnected from the grid, for the first time in her life, she begins doubting the system.
Shortly after the attack, she meets Jake, a 100% biological human. He helps her discover that everything she had believed in was a lie.
But who is Jake really? Can he be trusted, or does he play his own game? Nephilim discovers that there is no walking away from the “perfect” system, and soon finds herself hunted by members of her own death squad…
Buy the book: Amazon
ANNA MOCIKAT is the award-nominated, internationally published author of “Behind Blue Eyes”, the “Tales of the Shadow City” series and the “MUC” series. Before becoming a novelist, she graduated from Film School and worked as a screenwriter and game writer for over a decade. Anna Mocikat lives in Greenville, South Carolina.
Find Anna: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
MATTHEW SAMUELS
Parasites
Buy the book: Amazon UK | Amazon US
MATTHEW SAMUELS is a science fiction and fantasy writer based in London, UK. Despite having scribbled, written and generally not finished writing books since he was old enough to hold a pencil, Parasites, an end-of-the-universe exploration novel, is his first published book, to be followed shortly by Wild Court, an urban fantasy take on ‘boy meets witch’.
Find Matthew: Website | Twitter | Instagram
MELINDA M. SNODGRASS
The High Ground – Imperials: Book One
As humanity progresses through the stars in some ways it has regressed. The Solar League under the control of its aristocracy has conquered many races it has encountered placing such aliens on the bottom rung of a social order with class and marriage being all important.
As the Emperor’s daughter, Mercedes becomes the first woman to join the Solar Leagues Elite military training center, the High Ground. She has everything she could dream of, except a say in her life.
However, Mercedes along with Tracy, a common born son of a tailor will see the specter of civil war, political intrigue, interstellar war, and their own desires test them in ways they never thought possible.
Buy the book: Amazon
MELINDA SNODGRASS studied opera at the Conservatory of Vienna in Austria, graduated from U.N.M. with a degree in history, and went on to Law School. She practiced for three years, and discovered that while she loved the law she hated lawyers so she began writing science fiction novels.
In 1988 she accepted a job on Star Trek: TNG, and began her Hollywood career where she has worked on staff on numerous shows — Reasonable Doubts, Profiler, and has written numerous television pilots and feature films. Presently she is the Executive Producer on the upcoming Wild Cards TV series. She is also the co-editor and writes for the Wild Cards series with George R.R. Martin.
In the prose world she has finished the fourth book in her five book Space Opera series The Imperials in association the Prince of Cats Literary Productions and is working on book 4.
The three books in the Carolingian series which explore the war between science and rationality and superstition and religion — THE EDGE OF REASON, THE EDGE OF DARKNESS and THE EDGE OF DAWN are also being released through Prince of Cats Literary Productions.
For fun she rides her dressage horses, plays video games and spends a lot of time in the gym.
Find Melinda: Twitter | Facebook | Prince of Cats Literary Website | Prince of Cats Twitter
KRISTIN WARD
After the Green Withered (After the Green Withered #1)
They tell me the country looked different back then.
They talk of open borders and flowing rivers.
They say the world was green.
But drought swept across the globe and the United States of the past disappeared under a burning sky.
Enora Byrnes lives in the aftermath, a barren world where water has become the global currency. In a life dominated by duty to family and community, Enora is offered a role within an entity that controls everything from water credits to borders. But it becomes clear that not all is as it seems. From the wasted confines of her small town to the bowels of a hidden city, Enora will uncover buried secrets that hide an unthinkable reality.
As truth reveals the brutal face of what she has become, she must ask herself: how far will she go to retain her humanity?
2018 Best Indie Book Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction!
Buy the book: Amazon | Other retailers
Burden of Truth (After the Green Withered #2)
I thought I understood the truth.
I thought I knew the whole story.
But no one really did.
In a country defined by scarcity and control, Enora Byrnes leaves the watchful eyes and secret agendas of the powerful and enters a society living on the fringes. Life beneath the surface brings her face to face with a world struggling to survive. Armed with knowledge and honed into a weapon for the resistance, she fights alongside those whom society deems rebels and uses her skills to steal a secret kept hidden from humanity. Enora becomes what she has hunted: a traitor.
As Enora embarks on a fateful quest, will she find the one thing that could give her world hope or a truth that is far worse than she ever imagined?
Buy the book: Amazon | Other retailers
KRISTIN WARD is an award-winning author from Connecticut. She embraces her inner nerd regularly, geeking out with SciFi flicks or quoting 80s movies while expecting those around her to chime in with appropriate rejoinders. As a nature freak, she can be found wandering the woods – she may be lost, so please stop and ask if you see her – or chilling in her yard with all manner of furry and feathered friends. Often referred to as a unicorn by colleagues, in reality, the horn was removed years ago, leaving only a mild imprint that can be seen if she tilts her head just right. A lifelong lover of books and writing, she dreamed of becoming an author for thirty years but lazed about and didn’t publish anything until 2018. Her debut novel, After the Green Withered, is the first of other stuff you should probably read.
These all sound pretty good. I’m going to have to add them to my tbr. Thanks for introducing me!
Thanks for visiting, Lauren:-)
Very interesting! Particularly the concept of the Big Crunch in “Parasites” sounds quite intriguing, and I like that cover, no matter how bleak it is… 🙂
That cover stood out for me too:-)
Great feature. It’s nice to see a sampling of some of the talent out there outside the big publishing houses.
There are a lot of hard working authors out there and these definitely look like they have potential:-)
What a fabulous feature, Tammy. And I can testify to the sheer awesomeness of The High Ground – and the other books in The Imperials series, which I absolutely loved! I’m intrigued by Parasites and Behind Blue Eyes, too:))
I love that you’ve read one of these!
I do wish I had more time to read more self-published! But with the amount that’s out there and only a few that stand out, I’m glad you’re vetting some of it for me!
I wish I had more time too!
Great to see these, I hadn’t heard of any of them, but Parasites sounds interesting!
That’s why I wanted to do this. Many self published books go unknown, I’d like to give SF especially a bit more of a chance.
A really cool initiative, Tammy!
Thanks Ola!
You had an amazing idea!! Tha KS for sharing with us!!!
Thanks Susy!
What a great feature!
Thanks Barb!
I love that you’re showcasing some self published books! I haven’t heard of any of these yet so I’ll have to look into them!
I love this feature and Parasites immediately jumps out at me (no pun intended).
Lynn