Michael R. Hicks's Blog, page 34

Cyberdrome, by Joseph and David Rhea

If you enjoy techno-thrillers, Cyberdrome is a book you definitely should check out! From the book description:

As a deadly plague ravages humanity…the survivors use an experimental technology to escape into a virtual world, hoping to unravel a mystery that could be the key to their salvation. But when programmer Alek Grey's ex-fiancee becomes trapped in the very technology that is supposed to save her, how far will he go to rescue the woman he still loves?

I thought this book was a great read, and hats off to Joseph and David Rhea for coming up with an interesting twist on the perils of letting technology get out of hand. It had some elements hearkening back to Tron, with the good guys battling it out with the bad guys in a digital universe, but it was a lot more than that. The Rheas' depiction of entire digital worlds in simulation to test different scenarios for possible solutions to the plague of nano-machines that threatened humanity's survival was very well-done and quite captivating. If I had any major quibble with the plot, it would be that I would have liked to know more about the story of the plague itself – maybe in a sequel?

Now, one caveat I'll give is that if you hate computers or if a cell phone is the pinnacle of technology in your house, some aspects of this book might leave you a bit baffled. The Rheas don't over-indulge in technobabble, but the nature of the story calls for a fair bit of tech indulgence. But even a complete technophobe can still enjoy the story, because the focus is solidly on the characters and their struggles: the technology is only a framework.

So, give Cyberdrome a good look!

Support Your Local Indie Author!

As I sit here munching on some dark chocolate kisses (my muse insists on those, and if she doesn't get them she gets awfully cranky!), I thought I'd tell you, if you don't already know, just a bit about a fascinating subspecies of humanity known as the "indie author."

Indiana Jones, Not Necessarily To Be Confused With Indie Authors

"Indie," of course, is short for "independent," as opposed to Indiana, as in Indiana Jones (and if you're wondering who Indiana Jones is, click here!), or the lesser-known state of the same name. A number of indie authors may fancy they have a great deal in common with the famous hero, but most aren't nearly as good looking, can't crack a whip worth a damn, and look silly wearing Jones's trademark hat (I manage all three, of course, but I don't want to brag).

What they can do, however is write. I bring this fact to your attention because there is a huge literary domain out there that you may have never been aware of, a largely unexplored realm beyond the plot-line sausage factories of the major publishers.

So just what is an "indie author," you may ask? An indie is someone who has, for whatever reason, chosen to brave the perilous path to publishing his or her work…alone. The indie not only puts the story into words, but shapes and forms it through a grueling series of edits (often with the help of joyfully sadistic friends), properly formats it for print and the growing variety of ebook formats, and – in many cases – the author even does the cover art.

In the past, indie authors were generally derided in the larger publishing world as not being "real" authors because they hadn't found a Golden Ticket from Willy Wonka and been picked up by a publisher. But that stigma is gradually dissipating as the reading public gets more of a taste of what some of these pirates of prose (sorry, we just watched Pirates Of The Caribbean movies the other night and I had to say that) have to offer.

"Okay," says you in your best pirate-y voice, "what do these indie scalawags have to offer?"

In short, indie authors offer you the complete freedom of their imaginations, unbound by the rigid marketing principles of the big publishers. They are, truly, artists unchained, and you can find stories of every kind imaginable, and many wonderful works that don't fit the narrow bounds of the big publishers, but are awesome to read. To be fair, not all indies are an undiscovered Stephen King or J.K. Rowling: just as in the traditional publishing world, quality runs the full gamut from hurl-in-the-garbage awful to spellbound-into-the-wee-hours fantastic.

The nice thing is, though, with new technology like the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook (among others), you don't have to take a chance on an indie author before you plunk down your hard-earned gold: you can sample their work! And if you prefer print books, many authors, such as myself, offer free samples on their sites, or would be happy to email you sample chapters if you request them (heck, some authors even offer an entire book for free!). Remember, they wrote their story just for readers like you: they want you to read their work! Indie books also tend to be much less expensive than many of the books from the big houses, which is another nice thing, especially if you're a voracious reader.

So give an indie author a try today. How do you know if an author's an indie? Well, they don't carry badges (although I should suggest that at the next Indie Author Indiana Jones Lookalike Contest), but they're not hard to find. Google for them on the web, or search for them on Facebook or Twitter. They're out there.

And, because I'm both a reader and an author, I'll be posting reviews on my favorite indie books and authors that hopefully will help guide you to ones that you'll enjoy. So keep a weather eye out for posts in the Indie Reviews section (or sign up for my newsletter), and enjoy your journey of reading discovery!

In Her Name: Empire Snags 5-Stars From Independent Reviewer

It's always nice to get pleasant surprises (unlike the other kind!), and that's indeed what I got when I checked out Red Adept's Kindle Book Review Blog to see how her review of fared. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it fared pretty darn well!

Empire is the first of the three books contained in the original omnibus version of In Her Name, and begins the story of Reza Gard and his trials and tribulations in living between the human Confederation and the alien Kreelan Empire.

Red Adept (a.k.a. Lynn) happened to buy my book and let me know that she would be reviewing it. If you look at her reviews, she doesn't hand out stars like candy. Clearly, like any reviewer, she has her likes and dislikes, but Empire fortunately fell deep into the "like" category. Here's an excerpt from her review:

This is one of the hardest types of reviews for me to write. It's much easier to write a review of a "good, mediocre, or bad" book. It's not that I enjoy being so critical, just that it's easier to explain flaws than it is to explain why a book has achieved 'greatness'. I can sit here and type all of the words: compelling, interesting, wonderful, intriguing, etc., but none of them do it justice. They don't really explain how a book speaks to the reader, how it draws the reader in and echoes in the mind long after it is finished.

This book grabs the reader with the opening scene and rarely relaxes its grip. With a wonderful mix of science fiction and fantasy, the plot is vastly different from most science fiction books I have read. Sure, you have your hero, your war, your deadly aliens. However, this story takes you in a different direction.

So, check out her review and the reader reviews on Amazon and see if Empire appeals to you – it may just open up an entirely new universe of entertainment (and you can get a free ebook copy here)!

Of Love and War, by Margaret Lake

[image error]I don't normally read romance stories (my genres are more in the sci-fi and thriller categories), but I needed something different and took Of Love and War by Margaret Lake for a spin.

From the author's description:

July 4, 1943 – John Jameson is home from the war. The Fourth of July has always been his favorite holiday, but now he finds himself alone on the boardwalk in his New Jersey hometown. It seems like everyone he knew is either off to war or working in the factories producing the armaments of war. Along comes Julie to offer him a cold drink. Happy to have someone to spend the day with, especially one so young and beautiful, he accepts her invitation for a backyard picnic.

He has no idea what is behind Julie's seemingly innocent invitation. He has no idea that the afternoon will force him to face what he has lost and find his heart at last.

The story's not long, so if you're a voracious reader who zips through 500-page books in a day, this probably isn't for you – it's called a "novelette" for a reason. But if you're after a nice character study set against the homefront during the years during WWII (and I'm a sucker for just about anything in that period) or would like to sample a story in the romance genre without diving into an outright bodice-ripper, this is a great afternoon treat. It has enough sensuality and erotic tension to speed up your pulse, but the sexual aspects complement the story without overwhelming it: the focus remains firmly on the characters.

So, if you need a romantic afternoon escape, you should definitely add this to your reading list!

Was Thomas Jefferson an Alien, Or Quadruplets?

This may be a strange topic for the inaugural post of my blog on this new site, but I figured it was appropriate, since most of my writing to this point has involved aliens, although no quadruplets. So far.

So, you're probably wondering what's with the goofy title? Well, Jan (my wife) and I went down to Madison, Virginia over Thanksgiving and took the opportunity to visit Jefferson's home at Monticello while we were making our merry way through some of the awesome wineries in the area. Needless to say, if you're ever out that way, seeing Jefferson's estate there is  a must. The man, like a number of his peers like Benjamin Franklin, was simply amazing.

Which is why I think he must have been an alien, or wasn't really a single man, but one of a group of quadruplets (at least). At a minimum he was a human gerbil on speed. I am led to this inevitable conclusion by the evidence that he simply got far too much done for a single mere human being:

Authored the Declaration of Independence, a minor world-changing literary feat. I can imagine his response when he was chosen by the Continental Congress to draft it: "Sure, dudes, I can knock something out. Give me a weekend. Hey, Hancock, pass me a quill, will you?"
Taught himself how to be an architect, and when he wasn't off doing some other amazing thing, busied himself with designing, building, redesigning, and rebuilding Monticello (see where the whole quadruplets thing starts coming into play?). I was able to build a pretty nifty cabin with Lincoln Logs, but somehow that doesn't quite compare.
Rose through a succession of offices to become the third President of the United States. Okay, maybe nowadays that's not so remarkable considering some of the candidates we see on the ballot. Never mind.
Learned half a dozen languages in his copious free time, while he was gathering a library of over six thousand volumes (actually, that apparently was his second out of three libraries) that he gave over to the fledgeling U.S. Government to form the core of what was to become the Library of Congress. By contrast, all I would have to turn over is a couple of boxes of paperbacks I've kept and my Amazon Kindle, which has all my other thousands of books (really…trust me!). And I can barely read and write in English.
Founded the University of Virginia. When was the last time anybody you knew founded a university? In his copious free time, of course!
When he was president, he also founded the United States Military Academy (West Point). Probably another part-time effort over a few weekends.
Was America's "first distinguished viticulturist." It's okay, I didn't know what that meant either when I first saw it, but basically he liked wine. A lot. And when he wasn't trying to grow wine or enjoying it with his friends and family, he was out in the garden growing some truly amazing vegetables, some of which could be featured in sci-fi flicks, or could be presidential candidates.

And those were just the high points. How can anyone get all that done in a single lifetime? The answer: you can't. So he must've been an alien, or had identical brothers so they could get so many things done. Had to be.

All kidding aside, Jefferson was an amazing man who did many amazing things. He had his failings, which made him human (and is the one thing that sort of torpedoes my alien theory, although I'm not entirely willing to give up on it), but I like to think that all of us have at least a spark of the potential shown by him and the other amazing people our world has been blessed with over time. So look into releasing your inner Jefferson, to toss away your self-imposed limits and see what you can accomplish in life. Or at least make sure that your tentacles are always tucked away so no one suspects your true nature.

Lotsa Blog Posts – Coming Soon!

You no doubt popped in here to my blog to, well, check out my blog posts. However, since this is a brand new site, I'm still working on cranking out a bunch of goodies to add in here. So stay tuned, sign up for the RSS feed or, better yet, join my newsletter (and get a free ebook copy of !). There'll be a lot more coming soon!

Hey, Look! A New Web Site!

I thought it fitting that the first "event" I posted about for this site should be…well, about this site. Why did I make a new one, you may ask?

Well, when I set up my original author site at kreelanwarrior.com, I really had no clue about what I was doing. Not in terms of the technical part of setting up a web site (I've done that lots of times), but from the angle of "being an author" on the web. While it began as a promotion venue for my first book, the , it turned into a crazy mish-mash of things that, I think, left many visitors stumped. On top of that, anyone who hadn't read the In Her Name (or "IHN") novels would be stumped by the domain name: what the heck is a "kreelan warrior," anyway? [Subtle hint: read the books and you'll find out!]

The other thing that made me decide to crank up a new site is that my writing has taken me beyond the universe of the original series. The book I'm currently working on, Season Of The Harvest, is a modern-day sci-fi/techno-thriller, for lack of a better term, and kreelanwarrior.com just doesn't…quite…fit. While I plan to write at least another four books in the IHN universe, I've also got some other projects (beyond Harvest) planned that have nothing to do with military science fiction or space opera. That includes a historical romance set in the unlikely venue of the Eastern Front during World War Two, along with another historical romance with a sci-fi twist, bridging the gap between that war and today. Oh, and did I mention an outline for a vampire novel that I suspect is probably completely unlike any of the others out there?

With all that going on, I decided that it was time for a little reinvention, and it made sense to start with my presence here on the web. The fun part is that  you can get a copy of In Her Name: Empire, the first novel in the IHN series, in your favorite ebook format…free! Just sign up for my newsletter, and I'll send you an email with links for the most popular ebook formats. And I'll periodically also offer special discounts and other goodies that will only be available to my fans.

So what are you waiting for? Join me and let's go get some reading done!

Season Of The Harvest

What if the genetically modified crops that we're being forced to depend on for food weren't really created by man? What if they had a far more sinister purpose?

FBI Special Agent Jack Dawson investigates the gruesome murder of his best friend and fellow agent who had been pursuing a group of eco-terrorists. The group's leader, Naomi Perrault, is a beautiful geneticist who Jack believes conspired to kill his friend, and is claiming that a major international conglomerate developing genetically engineered crops is plotting a sinister transformation of our world that will lead humanity to extinction. As Jack is drawn into a quietly raging war that suddenly explodes onto the front pages of the news, he discovers that her claims may not be so outrageous after all. Together, the two of them must battle a horror Jack could never have imagined, with the fate of all life on Earth hanging in the balance…

A non-stop action thriller, Season Of The Harvest is slated for release in February 2011 for all the major ebook formats, and will be available in print by March 2011.

Read a Free Sample >>

In Her Name: Legend Of The Sword

Six months have passed since the events that took place in In Her Name: First Contact. Earth and other human worlds band together to form the Confederation of Humanity to provide a mutual defense against the alien invaders.

Unfortunately, not all human worlds want to join the Confederation. Some, like Saint Petersburg, would rather see it destroyed. With a powerful navy built secretly and armed with nuclear weapons, Saint Petersburg is preparing their own offensive against the Confederation when the Kreelans attack.

Led by Tesh-Dar, an enigmatic Kreelan warrior priestess, the Kreelans have begun their quest to find the One, an alien who can reverse an ages-old curse upon their race that will leave their species extinct in only a few more generations.

With many of the characters returning from In Her Name: First Contact, Legend Of The Sword is another fast-paced installment of the In Her Name saga!

Buy In Her Name: Legend Of The Sword on Amazon.com >>

Buy It Now!

The suggested reading order for the In Her Name series is , , , In Her Name: First Contact, and . The contains the full text of Empire, Confederation, and Final Battle.

Book Details

Publication Date: February 2010
Publisher: Imperial Guard Publishing
Format: Kindle (paperback and other ebook formats coming soon)
ISBN-13: Not yet assigned