Read: Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine

Title: Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti

Author: Genevieve Valentine

Release Date: May 2011

Genre: Steampunk 

Book Description: Come inside and take a seat; the show is about to begin . . .

Outside any city still standing, the Mechanical Circus Tresaulti sets up its tents. Crowds pack the benches to gawk at the brass-and-copper troupe and their impossible feats: Ayar the Strong Man, the acrobatic Grimaldi Brothers, fearless Elena and her aerialists who perform on living trapezes. War is everywhere, but while the Circus is performing, the world is magic.

That magic is no accident: Boss builds her circus from the bones out, molding a mechanical company that will survive the unforgiving landscape.

But even a careful ringmaster can make mistakes.

Two of Tresaulti’s performers are trapped in a secret standoff that threatens to tear the Circus apart, just as the war lands on their doorstep. Now they must fight a war on two fronts: one from the outside, and a more dangerous one from within . . .


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Genevieve Valentine has sold more than three dozen short stories; her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Journal of Mythic Arts, Fantasy Magazine, Lightspeed, and Apex, and in the anthologies Federations, The Living Dead 2, The Way of the Wizard, Running with the Pack, Teeth, and more. Her nonfiction has appeared in Lightspeed, Tor.com, and Fantasy Magazine, and she is the co-author of Geek Wisdom (out in Summer 2011 from Quirk Books). Her first novel, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, is forthcoming from Prime Books in May 2011. You can learn more about it at the Circus Tresualti website. Her appetite for bad movies is insatiable, a tragedy she tracks on her blog.

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Read: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Release Date: August 2011

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

ERNEST CLINE has worked as a short-order cook, fish gutter, plasma donor, elitist video store clerk, and tech support drone. His primary occupation, however, has always been geeking out, and he eventually threw aside those other promising career paths to express his love of pop culture fulltime as a spoken word artist and screenwriter. His 2009 film Fanboys, much to his surprise, became a cult phenomenon. These days Ernie lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, their daughter, and a large collection of classic video games. READY PLAYER ONE is his first novel.

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Read: God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles #4) by Frank Herbert

Title: God Emperor of Dune

Series: Dune Chronicles #4

Author: Frank Herbert

Release Date: 1981

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: More than three thousand years have passed since the first events recorded in DUNE. Only one link survives with those tumultuous times: the grotesque figure of Leto Atreides, son of the prophet Paul Muad'Dib, and now the virtually immortal God Emperor of Dune. He alone understands the future, and he knows with a terrible certainty that the evolution of his race is at an end unless he can breed new qualities into his species. But to achieve his final victory, Leto Atreides must also bring about his own downfall...


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer.  

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of science fiction.

Author Links:
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Valentine's Day Ebook Giveaway 2014

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Cover Reveal: The Edge of Hope (Bad Blood I) by Alina Popescu

Title: The Edge of Hope

Series:  Bad Blood I

Author: Alina Popescu

Release Date:  April 3, 2014

Genre: Fantasy romance

Book Description: When tall, dark, and gorgeous shows up on your self-prescribed emotional recovery vacation, some would call it fate smiling down on you. If he also happens to be interested in your work and ready to make all the room you need in his life, it starts to sound too good to be true. Alexa skips the doubts and jumps right in, only to be thrown into the mysterious world of vampires. 

The secrets of their origin and their very existence are far more important than her life to some of her new acquaintances. They are ancient, they are powerful, they have unlimited resources, and they are keen on controlling what the world knows of their kind. As Alexa discovers their complicated, blood feud bound world, she tries to better understand herself, heal old wounds and give love chance after chance. Will she survive the journey?

Author Bio:

Writer, traveler, and coffee addict; Alina Popescu has been in love with books all her life. She started writing when she was ten and even won awards in local competitions. She has always been drawn to sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural realm, which explains her deep love for vampires and is also to blame for this trilogy.

Author Links:
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Blog Tour: April 15 - April 30

If you want to be part of the tour, sign up here.
All you need is a blog and a passion for books.

Read: Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh

Title: Soft Apocalypse

Author: Will McIntosh

Release Date:  April 2011

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America's previously stable society apart, the "New Normal" is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang. New social structures and tribal connections spring up across America, as the previous social structures begin to dissolve. Locus Award finalist and John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalist Soft Apocalypse follows the journey across the Southeast of a tribe of formerly middle class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Will McIntosh is a Hugo Award -winning science fiction author. He has published dozens of short stories in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, and Interzone. His stories are also frequently reprinted in different "Year's Best" anthologies.

McIntosh's first novel, Soft Apocalypse, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, a Locus Award, and the Compton Crook award. His latest novel is Love Minus Eighty. Will lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is the father of twins.

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Read: Abaddon's Gate (Expanse #3) by James S.A. Corey

Title: Abaddon's Gate

Series: Expanse #3

Author: James S.A. Corey

Release Date: June 2013

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: For generations, the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt - was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has now appeared in Uranus's orbit, where it has built a massive gate that leads to a starless space beyond. 

Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships charged with studying the artifact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with Holden's destruction at its core. As the emissaries of the human race try to decide whether the gate is an opportunity or a threat, the greatest danger is the one they brought with them. 

ABADDON'S GATE is the explosive third novel in the acclaimed Expanse series, following the Hugo-nominated Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War.



Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

James S. A. Corey is a convenient fiction, the pseudonym of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. He began when Daniel and Ty set out to write a book together based on work Ty had done creating the solar system that became The Expanse.

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Blog Tour: The Running Game by L E Fitzpatrick + Giveaway

Title: The Running Game

Author: L E Fitzpatrick

Release Date:  2013

Genre:  Paranormal thriller

Book Description: Her father called it the running game. Count the exits, calculate the routes. Always be ready to run because they'll always be coming for you. Whatever happens, they'll always be coming for you. 

Rachel had let her guard down and they had found her. She could run now, leave the city and try her luck beyond the borders, but with no money and a dark secret to hide her chances of survival are slim. 

But then she meets two brothers with a dangerous past and secrets of their own. Can they help her turn the game around? 

This is the first installment of the Reacher series. Set in a grim and not too distant future, this urban thriller will keep you hooked until the last page.


Buy Link: Amazon US * Amazon UK * Smashwords * B&N * Kobo

Author Bio:

L E Fitzpatrick was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, but now lives in West Wales, with her family plus lots of dogs and cats. She manages an office, volunteers as a room steward for the National Trust and also supports independent authors as a proofreader and beta reader. She obviously has no spare time because of this, but if she did it would probably be invested in walking in the countryside and enjoying the peace and quiet.

L E Fitzpatrick published her first series Dark Waters in 2011 and is currently working on her Reacher series.

Author Links:
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Read: Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles #3) by Frank Herbert

Title: Children of Dune

Series: Dune Chronicles #3

Author: Frank Herbert

Release Date: 1976

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: The sand-blasted world of Arrakis has become green, watered and fertile. Old Paul Atreides, who led the desert Fremen to political and religious domination of the galaxy, is gone. But for the children of Dune, the very blossoming of their land contains the seeds of its own destruction. The altered climate is destroying the giant sandworms, and this in turn is disastrous for the planet's economy. Leto and Ghanima, Paul Atreides's twin children and his heirs, can see possible solutions - but fanatics begin to challenge the rule of the all-powerful Atreides empire, and more than economic disaster threatens . . .


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer.  

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of science fiction.

Author Links:
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Read: Lexicon by Max Barry

Title: Lexicon

Author: Max Barry

Release Date:  2013

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: Two years ago, something terrible was unleashed in an Australian mining town called Broken Hill. Thousands died. 

Few people know what really happened. 

Emily Ruff is one of them. She belongs to an elite organisation of 'poets': masters of manipulation who use language to warp others to their will. She was one of their most promising recruits until she made a catastrophic mistake: she fell in love. 

Wil Parke knows the truth too, only he doesn't remember it. And he doesn't know why he's immune to the poets' powers. But he knows he needs to run. 

As their stories converge, the past is revealed, and the race is on for a deadly weapon: a word. 

Because the poets know that words can kill...


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Max Barry (1973-) is the author of five novels, including "Lexicon," the New York Times Notable Book "Jennifer Government," and "Syrup," now a film starring Amber Heard. He is the creator of the online political simulation game "NationStates," for which he is far more famous among high school students and poli-sci majors than his novels. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and two daughters.

Author Links:
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Read: Caliban's War (Expanse #2) by James S.A. Corey

Title: Caliban's War

Series: Expanse #2

Author: James S.A. Corey

Release Date: June 2012

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: We are not alone. The alien protomolecule is clear evidence of an intelligence beyond human reckoning. No one knows what exactly is being built on Venus, but whatever it is, it is vast, powerful, and terrifying. 

When a creature of unknown origin and seemingly impossible physiology attacks soldiers on Ganymede, the fragile balance of power in the Solar System shatters. Now, the race is on to discover if the protomolecule has escaped Venus, or if someone is building an army of super-soldiers. 

Jim Holden is the center of it all. In spite of everything, he’s still the best man for the job to find out what happened on Ganymede. Either way, the protomolecule is loose and Holden must find a way to stop it before war engulfs the entire system. 

CALIBAN’S WAR is an action-packed space adventure following in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed Leviathan Wakes.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

James S. A. Corey is a convenient fiction, the pseudonym of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. He began when Daniel and Ty set out to write a book together based on work Ty had done creating the solar system that became The Expanse.

Author Links:
Website

Read: Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles #2) by Frank Herbert

Title: Dune Messiah

Series: Dune Chronicles #2

Author: Frank Herbert

Release Date: 1969

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known - and feared - as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremen, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne - and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul is directed against his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer.  

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of science fiction.

Author Links:
Website

Cover Reveal: Tricks (Take It Off) by Cambria Hebert

Title: Tricks

Series: Take It Off

Author: Cambria Hebert

Release Date:  February 16, 2014

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance (18+)

Book Description: ***This is a new adult contemporary novel and contains sexual content and graphic language. It is not intended for young adult readers.*** 

Love can play tricks on your heart… 

After serving several years in the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Tucker Patton decides to hang up his uniform and go to work at a private investigative firm owned by his buddy. His boxes are packed and he’s got one foot out the door when a phone call changes everything. 

Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy. 

Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead. 

Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer. 

Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world. 

So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn’t read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy. 

Until it isn’t. 

Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire. 

But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.

Author Bio:

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

Author Links:
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Read: The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian

Author: Andy Weir

Release Date:  2012

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there. 

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him-and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive-and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first. 

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills-and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit-he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

ANDY WEIR was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age fifteen and has been working as a software engineer ever since. He is also a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is his first novel.

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Read: Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

Title: Leviathan Wakes

Series: Expanse #1

Author: James S.A. Corey

Release Date: June 2011

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond. 

Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

James S. A. Corey is a convenient fiction, the pseudonym of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. He began when Daniel and Ty set out to write a book together based on work Ty had done creating the solar system that became The Expanse.

Author Links:
Website

Read: Dune (Dune Chronicles #1) by Frank Herbert

Title: Dune

Series: Dune Chronicles #1

Author: Frank Herbert

Release Date: 1965

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the "spice" melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe. The story explores the complex and multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis and its "spice". 

First published in 1965, It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is frequently cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository

Author Bio:

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer.  

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of science fiction.

Author Links:
Website

Read: Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie

Title: Ancillary Justice

Series: Imperial Radch #1

Author: Ann Leckie

Release Date: October 2013

Genre: Science fiction 

Book Description: On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose--to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch.

From debut author Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice is a stunning space opera that asks what it means to be human in a universe guided by artificial intelligence.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository


Author Bio:

Ann Leckie has published short stories in Subterranean Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Realms of Fantasy. Her story “Hesperia and Glory” was reprinted in Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition edited by Rich Horton.

Ann has worked as a waitress, a receptionist, a rodman on a land-surveying crew, and a recording engineer. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, children, and cats.

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Read: Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

Title: Wool Omnibus

Author: Hugh Howey

Release Date: January 2012

Genre: Science fiction

Book Description: This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.


Buy Link: Amazon * Bookdepository


Author Bio:

Hugh Howey is the author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling WOOL series. The WOOL OMNIBUS won Kindle Book Review's 2012 Indie Book of the Year Award -- it has been as high as #1 in the Kindle store -- and 17 countries have picked up the work for translation. Look for WOOL in hardback in 2013 from Random House UK and keep your fingers crossed that Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian will do something exciting with the film rights!
Hugh lives in Jupiter, FL with his wife Amber and their dog Bella. When he isn't writing, he's reading or taking a photograph.

Author Links:
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