Book of the Week: STARBLUE

"By the void," Danil snarled.

Blue turned to look where he and Keegan were both staring.

Neona knelt on a softly undulating, murky black surface, surrounded by a swirling cloud of that same odd blue-but-not-blue. She smiled, looking perfectly at ease. As Keegan continued to shout, struggling to move forward, reaching for her, Neona tipped her head back, looking up at the sky, and laughed. The not-blue cloud thickened. A thin stream of sparks tinged blackish green, the color that Blue had always imagined pain would be, shot out from the center of that cloud.

Keegan choked and went to his knees. The sparks became a semi-transparent cable. As it rippled, struggling like a live thing, it grew more opaque, filling with sparks of that blackish green, and stretched out... to attach to Keegan.

"Danil, do you see--"

"It's their bond." Danil shifted his grip on Keegan and pushed him forward, toward the cloud enfolding Neona. She continued to laugh, her mouth open and shoulders shaking, though now they couldn't hear her.

Blue saw the cord between the twins growing thinner, even as the blackish green sparks thickened, turning almost completely black. She joined in pushing Keegan toward his sister. Maybe if he touched the cloud surrounding Neona, he could break through to her.

"Neona!" Keegan convulsed as the cord vanished in an explosion of black sparks that shot through Blue's chest like a fishing spear.

She grabbed hold of him, even as he twisted and fell, and for a moment they were almost nose-to-nose. Keegan's eyes widened and she knew he saw her. Blue sparks wrapped around them, then he convulsed again and vanished from her grip.

Book of the Week: STARBLUE

Excerpt:

"How long a delay?" Keegan asked. He glanced at Blue before meeting Loris' gaze.

"No telling until they start mop-up operations."

"Then I say we evacuate." His voice was calm, thin, almost unfeeling.

Blue caught her breath. Not from the shock of hearing him so easily decide to abandon his sister -- because it wasn't easy. The force of the pain and fury that swept through him hit her in the chest with near-physical intensity. She reached for Keegan's hand under the table. His fingers wrapped around hers tight enough to make her bones ache.

"Fifteen of them -- but fifteen Shades controlling them, possibly accessing all their knowledge of Rover weaponry and equipment and tactics." Loris sighed and nodded slowly. "And security codes. Communication codes. Everything they need to infiltrate... but if we abandon them, set up an interdiction so no one can land and give them a way off the planet, maybe keep their creators from coming back for them, what can they do? Both ships have been running full-array sensor scans of the planet's surface and surrounding space, and there is nothing anywhere within hailing distance, nothing hidden underground. The Shades are effectively stranded here, once we leave."

"What happens to our people when the Shades realize they're stuck here?" Katha said.

"Do they even want to get off the planet?" Aryl said.

"Wouldn't you?" Keegan's voice said he didn't care. Blue could feel how much he cared, the battle in his heart, just through his tight grip on her hand.

"It makes sense that their next step after taking over our people is to get off this planet, move through the galaxy... but they haven't done anything yet."

"Everything changed when Danil and his team left," Blue said. "They were all resistant to whatever the Shades might have been trying to do to them. It took the arrival of less experienced Rovers, younger minds, and..." She shivered, feeling she had come close to understanding, but unable to put it into words

Book of the Week: STARBLUE, SF Romance

This week's Book of the Week is the sequel to last week's: BLUE FIRE.

It's the story of Rhianni and Petroc's daughter, Starblue, who helped to save their starspanning civilization from aliens long before she was born. So she has a lot of expectations to live up to.

STARBLUE

Published by Desert Breeze Publishing.

Starblue Ash swore never to do two things: join the Rovers and

leave Mallachrom. Commander Day of the Rover Corps didn't care -- she was the last of their family and her heritage was the Rovers. 

When Rover Pilot Neona Creed needed rescuing from creatures that mimicked the Shadows of Mallachrom, Blue's psionic bond with Neona and her twin brother, Keegan, was their best chance of breaking her free. Blue teamed with Keegan and a ship full of Rovers to chase the kidnappers across the galaxy. 

The long journey deepened their bonds and changed their friendship to love. If they survived this crisis, they might change the universe.

Book of the Week: BLUE FIRE

Two days later, Rhianni landed at the spaceport on the edge of Core, the main city of the colony, in a Rover Corps shuttle. The official story said she was on medical leave from the Rovers.

It was the truth. Just not the whole truth. Her father had died ridding a Gen-Tek operation on the other side of the galactic axis. As a Rover, Rhianni was entitled to one Standard year of rest and recuperation leave.

That didn't mean the Corps would let her take it.

She accepted this job for her father's sake. He had lived for years believing he had abandoned Mallachrom when his adopted home needed him most. Military documentation said otherwise, but as her father would say, when did bureaucracy override the heart?

"Is it possible to borrow a two‑man sled for the morning?" Rhianni asked the field security team that met her at the shuttle hatch.

"No, Captain. The sleds are for official business only. Sorry," the leader of the team hurried to add, with a nod of deference to the Rover Corps knife-and-flame emblem, scarlet and black on her green fatigues jacket.

"Oh. Could I send a message, then?"

"Until you clear security, no private communications. Verbal?" The leader held out a recording wand.

Rhianni nodded and frowned to fight a grin. She refused to let these brainless drones know they had aided her strategy. She nodded for the man to press the recording button.

"To Mistress Shoreel of the Council," she said, speaking slowly and louder than necessary. "Grandmother, this is Rhianni. The Colonel -- my Dad -- is dead. I'm home on medical leave. When I've completed an errand, I would like to visit you. I should be back in Core by this afternoon."

Silence. The field team barely hid their panic. They had said no to the granddaughter of a Council member -- forget her status as a Rover Corps medic. 

Book of the Week: BLUE FIRE

Today starts a new "feature" on the blog.

Each week, you'll get the cover art and some excerpts of one of my published books.

When a NEW book is out, the book will be featured 2 weeks, plus the weeks beforehand will be a lead-in featuring other books either from the same series, or similar. For instance, when a new romance book is released, you'll get samples from other romances. When a new Commonwealth book is released, you'll get some samples from previous Commonwealth books.

So here we go!

BLUE FIRE
Published by Desert Breeze Publishing

Rover captain Rhianni Day returns to Mallachrom, burdened with her father's guilt over abandoning the colony decades ago. She intends to find out the truth about the Taken, survivors of an alien invasion, leave, and never return. Mallachrom is no longer home.

Petroc Ash leads the Taken. His responsibilities to the Taken and their secrets are too great to risk, even for Rhianni. Loving her will bind her to Mallachrom forever -- and could kill her.

The quest to solve the mystery of the Talroqi invasion and protect the Taken from destruction pushes them together, shattering secrets and the barriers around their hearts. As time runs out, they take the risk of love, and become a weapon that has waited generations for completion.

Book Trailer: STAR BLUE FIRE

For the SF romance novels, BLUE FIRE, and STARBLUE.

Off the Bookshelf: WIND AND SHADOW, by Kathy Tyers

Whew! Done. Book 1 of the one-book-a-week commitment for the year. I even went so far this year to list the first 10 books or so of what I plan to read on Goodreads, so you can hold me accountable.

What's nice is that it's a book I've wanted to read for a long time. Honestly, I've had this and the next book in the series sitting on my nightstand for at least 2 years, giving me the evil eye, whining in my sleep, demanding to know when I'll get to them. It's a rough life, having so many books waiting to be read that the riches turn into a burden.

I'm only partially joking.

WIND AND SHADOW is the 4th book in the series Kathy Tyers started many years ago with her landmark novel, FIREBIRD. The first three books have gone through quite a few shifts and changes and publishing houses, and now she's written two more books, following through on the promises and prophecies mentioned in the previous three. This series is set in a far future where conflicts familiar in recent movies are prevalent -- basically the tension between ordinary Humans and augmented Humans with talents. Can the changed Humans be trusted? Can the unchanged Humans be trusted? Who is going to make the first strike against the other? In the middle of all this are the gifted Sentinels with their Code, their devotion to the prophecies and to the guardian of their souls, and the Caldwell family, with their gifts and problems and the heavy burden of figuring in those prophecies .......

I think the sign of a really good series is that even with a break of at least 10 years since reading the last book, it didn't take long to pick up on who is who, what's going on, and remember the events of the previous books and what's at stake. If you're lucky (or maybe not so, because why did you wait so long?) you're on the verge of starting the series, with the waiting thrill of discovery and being drawn into the universe of Firebird and Brennan Caldwell and now, their descendants. ENJOY!

Off the Bookshelf: OXYGEN

Ever feel like you're jumping on the bandwagon so late, you almost missed and ended up face-down in the dust?

People have been talking about OXYGEN by John B. Olson and Randy Ingermanson on various Christian writing loops for what seems like YEARS. When the book was re-packaged and re-released by Marcher Lord  some time ago (don't ask me how long, but it was near the bottom of the list on my iPad Kindle reader, meaning it was one of the first books I got) I decided to get it.

Wish I had read it sooner! Yeah, I sometimes had a hard time with all the astronaut lingo and acronyms (occupational hazard when dealing with the government/military/sciences) and wondered when the promised romance would gain speed (the tagline proclaims it a science fiction romantic suspense), but the book kept me reading. Even when I should have been doing something else, like meeting deadlines for my own publishers!

The story: A manned mission to Mars (say that ten times fast!), all the prep work, personalities involved, politics, paranoia, and all the soul-searching and struggle for survival that takes place when things go very, very wrong with life support, when there's no chance of turning back or help reaching them in time.

What can I say? Wow. Thoroughly thought through, grabbing at your emotions, and threatening to give you a sore throat from holding back vocal arguments with or warnings to the main characters while reading in public. I'm just not into the space program -- I prefer my stories where we're already "out there" -- but this held my attention and interest. Good job, guys.

Interesting side note: At the back of the book is lots of bonus material, talking about how the book was written and sold, the collaboration between the two authors, and how they came up with the sequel. I haven't read all that material, but from everything I've heard about Ingermanson and Olson, definitely something a serious writer should read, just to learn from them.

Should you read OXYGEN? You better believe it.