Sliding Void

TRANSFERENCE STATION (Book two in the 'Sliding Void' series)

DESCRIPTION

Are things finally looking up for Captain Lana Fiveworlds? She's managed to reach what passes for civilisation in the wild border systems of the Edge - Transference Station - the largest trading hub in the free worlds. With her ramshackle starship, the Gravity Rose, safely docked, she's now desperately searching for a cargo to stave off bankruptcy.

Lana's crew needs paying - including the amorous barbarian prince she rescued from a failed colony world. But her crew have other priorities: the ship's android, Zeno, is distracted by terrible secrets from his past, while her alien navigator, Polter, runs into trouble indulging his religious fervour.

If that wasn't enough, there's a deal available... but only from the dodgiest broker in a thousand planets. With rival starship captains looking to sabotage Lana for good, and a dangerous mission to a mysterious planet which is far more than the lies she's been spun, things can only get worse from here on in.

Lana Fiveworlds and her crew of misfits are still sliding void, just, but for how much longer?

Sometimes, the brown stuff piles up so high you need antigravity thrusters to fly over it.

-----------------------------------

REVIEWS

Praise for Stephen Hunt's novels:

‘Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar wrappers.’
- TOM HOLT

‘All manner of bizarre and fantastical extravagance.’
- DAILY MAIL

‘Compulsive reading for all ages.’
- GUARDIAN

‘Studded with invention.’
-THE INDENDENT

‘To say this book is action packed is almost an understatement… a wonderful escapist yarn!’
- INTERZONE

‘Hunt has packed the story full of intriguing gimmicks… affecting and original.’
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘A rip-roaring Indiana Jones-style adventure.’
- RT BOOK REVIEWS

‘A curious part-future blend.’
- KIRKUS REVIEWS

‘An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels.’
- THE TIMES

‘Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension.’
- TIME OUT

‘A ripping yarn … the story pounds along… constant inventiveness keeps the reader hooked… the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers and surprise comebacks. Great fun.’
- SFX MAGAZINE

‘Put on your seatbelts for a frenetic cat and mouse encounter... an exciting tale.’
- SF REVU

-----------------------------------

FORMAT

Novella - part 2 of a continuing, linked series.

-----------------------------------

THE SERIES SO FAR...

Part 1 - Sliding Void
Part 2 - Transference Station
Part 3 is coming soon

-----------------------------------

AGE ADVISORY

Age 15+ - mild violence and language.

-----------------------------------

READ THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE THESE AUTHORS...

Douglas Adams
Neal Asher
Iain M. Banks
Jack Campbell
David Drake
Orson Scott Card
James S.A. Corey
Evan Currie
Peter F. Hamilton
Ric Locke
Dan Simmons
Charles Stross
David Weber

-----------------------------------

GENRES

Science fiction (space opera)
Adventure (scifi)

-----------------------------------

Book 1 of the Wanted Series.

Sergeant First Class Carl Waters left the army behind before the bomb went off in L.A. He lived off the grid, avoiding the fallout from the bombs and the Burnout Fever that ravaged the world. With the occasional trespasser to keep his skills sharp, life was smooth and settled and exactly how he wanted it. All that changed when three stragglers showed up that he didn't have the heart to turn away. Two children led by a shepherd who had lost her own way, Carl felt the sins of his past had finally come calling. Especially when it turned out the children had their own demons in pursuit. On the run once again, they must survive the North American badlands, an enemy with unlimited resources, and each other. Ultimately it will come down to Carl to decide just how much he is willing to sacrifice for the safety of his charges.

Look for the sequel: Ice Princess

The technology for interstellar flight exists through the power of Kinemet, but the key to unlocking its code lies in a thousand-year-old scroll left on Earth by an alien species.

When the ancient manual is stolen before a full translation is completed, Alex, Michael and Justine scramble to recover it.

Along the way, they stumble on an interplanetary conspiracy and uncover a secret that shatters their view of life and shakes the very foundations of our existence.

The Interstellar Age
Book 1 - Forbidden The Stars
Book 2 - Music of the Spheres
Book 3 - Worlds Away

Earth basked in the glow of a new interstellar age, saved from enslavement to the insectoid biofabs by the dramatic arrival of the Kronarin fleet. Laden with honors and riches, John Harrison, hero of the Biofab War, can finally live the good life--or can he?

Unknown to the Alliance, renegade biofabs escaped to an alternate universe where under their brilliant Tactics Master they're breeding back to strength, readying a counter-strike against the people of both universes.

Catapulted into a twisted image of his world, Harrison's must find the biofabs' nest and take it out before a new generation hatches. But it won't be easy--the biofabs have found deadly allies. And in this version of Earth, Harrison's a rebel on the run from the Fourth Reich. (2011 revision of the original Tor/Macmillan edition.)

About the Author
Stephen Ames Berry’s novels have been published by Ace/Berkley and Tor/Macmillan. His latest novel is the technothriller The Eldridge Conspiracy.

The Battle for Terra Two is one of four novels, The Biofab Quartet, which begin with a covert alien attempt to control Earth and end with the battered forces of Galactic humanity battling hopeless odds as an AI armada sweeps into our galaxy for its long-overdue reckoning with humanity. (AIs--Artificial Intelligences--cyborgs evolved over vast time from simpler machines to complex beings driven by the simple need to kill us all.) 

All the books follow the crew of the Kronarin Fleet dreadnought Implacable and their Terran allies from the discovery of biofabs on Earth through ever-growing confrontations and diabolical alien machinations to the final battle.  The plot line is akin to a nesting doll, each crisis spawning an even deadlier one.  The blaster fire never stops--save for the occasional soothing cup of t'ata from Implacable's dodgy beveragers. (Implacable's a resurrected Imperial warship that sometimes chaffs at having been awakened and pressed into the service of such rude hands.)

To be bested along the way are space pirates, Terra Two's last proconsul, mindslavers, various machine intelligences, a vile alternate Earth, the undying hand of the dead Kronarin Empire, a ubiquitous insectoid-blonde and, of course, biofabs.  All stirred into a rich bouillabaisse of an adventure that takes the reader on a far flung quest into the fantastic, but where in the end the old verities of valor and friendship trump all.

From The Battle for Terra Two:
"I have a theory about the Empire," said Bill as the decks flashed by. "More whimsy than theory.  It never died.  It's out there somewhere, manipulating us, the Kronarins, the Scotar, those killer machines--God only knows what else.  All for some esoteric and rotten end. It's cold, malevolent, immortal and hopelessly mad.  Evil."

This was worse, John thought, stumbling over a helmet.  Something out of Goya, those young dead tormented faces staring sightlessly, throats ripped out, necks broken, holes you could put your fist through.  And everywhere the stench of burnt flesh and clouds of flies come to feast.

GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION
Book One of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy

----

"A cast of interesting and believable characters and a plot that kept me turning the pages...I enjoyed the author's take on technology and the political landscape of the future. Definitely recommended!" - Michael R. Hicks, bestselling author of the In Her Name science fiction-adventure series and the bestselling thriller Season of the Harvest.

----

North American Federation Navy Commander Evan Gabriel was dishonorably discharged after a disastrous mission on a far off world called Eden. He's spent the last five years hiding from his past, from those responsible for the failed mission, from those responsible for running him out of the Navy, and from those originally responsible for making him into who he was - a highly-trained, physically and mentally augmented Special Forces soldier.

Two mysterious visitors appear unannounced at the door of a Gabriel's seedy hotel room in the slums of Jamaica. His past has finally caught up with him.

From the decaying Caribbean to politically-charged South America, from the back alleys of Mars to a tiny colony on a planet six hundred light years from Earth, Gabriel's Redemption is a near-future military science fiction story of a personal journey seen from the perspective of a soldier who has lost everything -- one who desperately needs to redeem himself not only in his government's eyes, but also his own.

Interstellar action and political intrigue mix with one-on-one battles on the surface of a frozen planet in Book One of the science fiction-adventure trilogy.

Also available: Gabriel's Return (Book 2), Gabriel's Revenge (Book 3), Gabriel's Journey (complete collection) Approximately 66,000 words.

* Second Round Qualifier in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest!

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION

~ "If John Scalzi and Tom Clancy got combined in a transporter accident a la The Fly....and I mean that in a good way."
~ "This series brings me back to the old days when Sci-Fi was about ass kicking, great friends, loyalty and action."
~ "If you enjoy a good dose of military hardware in your SF, well, wait'll you get a load of this book."
~ "Umstead has a way of putting you right into the scene, whether it be on a Jamaican beach, a rundown apartment or the icy surface of a distant planet."
~ "The detail of the world-building pulled me in and made everything utterly believable."
~ "Well-thought-out universe with a tightly woven history, timeline, and culture."
~ "The author's imagination is amazing...he has knowledge of combat tactics, both with squads and hand-to-hand."
~ "Umstead's writing is solid, as good as it gets, not only in the genre, but in general."
~ "Umstead deals with issues like honor, responsibility and human nature. While deep in thematic content the forward thrust of the story never stops. "
~ "The military fiction of Tom Clancy, the hardware of Heinlein's Starship Troopers, and the intrigue of Dan Brown."

"Character-rich story, non-stop adventure (think Jason Bourne travels the stars). Completely immersive read." - R.B. Wood, author of the urban fantasy The Prodigal's Foole

"The author weaves a futuristic action-adventure story full of twists and turns...rich in detail and full of advanced technology." - Debra Martin, author of the fantasy series Rule of Otharia

Blue Haired Alien Girlfriend is a stand alone short story.
Joshua is a manager at FishBurgers who walks home alone every evening. One night, he comes across an unusual young woman by the name of Mariella sitting on a bench. He's thrown for a loop when she tells him where she's from, but he doesn't mind. He doesn't mind the fact that she has blue hair either, in fact it makes her all that much more interesting.
The people around Joshua feel that he's a bit odd and know very little about him. Each comes to their own snap judgements about him.
Sometimes love can be a little quirky, sometimes it can be a lot quirky.

This is a short story.