ZZ Adams's Blog

Cover Reveal: Anthropoid – A Starborn King Prequel!

Hey everyone,

We’ve been keeping something special under wraps, and today we’re excited to finally share it with you! Check out the official cover for Anthropoid, our upcoming novella in the Starborn King universe!

This isn’t just any adventure—Anthropoid is a prequel novella that dives deep into the origins of Elion, a human-like “anthropoid” with an AI companion. Set against the backdrop of a galaxy on the brink, this story is packed with action, mystery, and the rich world-building you’ve come to expect from us.

For those of you who have been following along with our journey, you know how much this project means to us. Now that we’re in the editing stage, we couldn’t be more excited to give you a sneak peek at what’s coming. And here’s the best part: we’re giving Anthropoid away for FREE to all our newsletter subscribers. That’s right—all you need to do is subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and this action-packed novella will be yours.

This is just the beginning of what’s shaping up to be an epic journey in the Starborn King series. Keep an eye on this space for more updates, including pre-order information for the first full novel in the series.

Get ready to embark on a journey beyond the stars.

Stay tuned, ZZ Adams

We were featured on Savage Planets

We were featured on Savage Planets! A big shout out to Keith with apologies for not responding quickly enough to do more. That’s on us. It’s a big honor to be featured on Savage Planets. You can check it out the article here.

If you don’t know Savage Planets (you should!), it is a quarterly sci-fi publication “bringing together the best of science fiction stories, speculative poetry, and multimedia, reviews”. And it does all that while looking visually stunning.

When I get some time later this week I will consider writing a response to the piece. That could be fun!

We’ve been featured on eBookDaily.com

“Wunderkind” have been featured on eBookDaily.com on 24th Nov!!

It was surprising news for us but we’re so greateful about this.

This is the page you can find the book. Check it out!

Wunderkind is free until Monday, so if you have not read it or want to know what happened to set the Zero-Point Awakening universe going, this is a great chance!

eBookDaily emails you the best 1-day $0 Kindle book freebies, personalized for you every day. Each ebook is free for 1 day only.

Stanley

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New Novella Release — Stanley: Intelligence Unleashed

From lab to battlefield. Intelligence Unleashed

When Stanley, an intelligent orangutan, is thrust into a battle for his own survival, he uncovers a deadly conspiracy at the heart of the corporation that created him. In a future where genetic experimentation has led to the creation of uplifted animals, Stanley finds himself at the center of a dangerous experiment by the powerful Hellinix Corporation. As his mind and body are pushed to the limits, Stanley must navigate a world of politics, greed, and betrayal as he fights for not only his freedom, but for his very survival.

With action-packed thrills and thought-provoking commentary on the ethics of genetic manipulation, this science fiction novella will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you’re looking for an exciting sci-fi story with a powerful message, don’t miss Stanley.

Take the journey and discover a future you won’t soon forget. Pick up your copy today!

Super Time Tokyo Zombie Party (an excerpt)

I’m releasing this first chapter of the story into the wild for you to enjoy. Please let us know what you think. If you’d like the rest of it, let us know.

NB: This is an unpublished first draft of the first chapter of Super Time Tokyo Zombie Party, a novella (or a novel?) in the Zero-Point Awakening series. This story comes after Counterpunch (Book 5) and before Beach Head (Book 6) in the reading order.

This is unedited draft, so you are reading it at your own risk. 🙂

Chapter One – Rina

The missile struck Shimbashi on a Thursday. Rina Jin had just clambered onto a stool to perform her spinning owl dance for a couple of dour-looking forty-somethings in matching salmon pink sports jackets, when a light bright enough to pierce the edges of the hoarding over the front window stunned her into silence. A few heartbeats later, the room rocked like it was a level three earthquake.

“Why are you stopping? Come on, we’re paying for this.” The guy had a greasy mustache. Rina knew the type. She’d never date them, but they paid well. Neither man seemed concerned by the flash of light or by the shaking. A light swung slowly back and forth above the table. Shadows spread and retreated, advanced and retreated.

“I’m so sorry,” said Rina. “I lost my concentration. Please let me start over.”

The other man waved a hand. “Let her alone. Just get on with it. If we’re late for the presentation the customer is going to hate us.” He checked his watch, frowned, then reached below the table where he’d placed a portable dog kennel. Even through the black cloth that covered it, and the wooden table, the growl of the animal within was unmistakable. It creeped Rina out. By rights she should be asking them to take the dog out of the store. It was owls only in here, after all. But it was in a cage and there were few enough customers as it was. And he was a paying customer. And that was that. If Sasaki-san fired her, she’d never afford her own apartment.

Rina bowed to the customers, low and deep, eyes pointing directly at the table top. Even after she straightened, she kept her head tilted down, the picture of demur obedience and innocence. This she had perfected after two years of working in the Sugar Owl Cafe, a seedy maid joint on a poorly-traveled back road of Akihabara. It wasn’t even Akihabara proper; it was closer to Okachimachi, but you’d never know that from the signs on all the buildings around it. All of them were proud to claim the Akihabara title despite being over fifteen minutes from the station. The place was squeezed into the gap between two far newer buildings and looked ready for demolition. It reeked of old cigarette smoke and stale food. It was really a wonder anyone came in at all.

“Well, go on girl. Let’s see the dance.”

She was about to recommence, she’d even positioned her hands just right—it had taken her hours to perfect the proper angle of her arms to approximate the spread of an owl’s wings—but then the sirens blared and a series of police patrol cars and fire engines screamed by on the main road. She stopped. “Please forgive me, but I really should check to see what that is.” All the hairs on the back of her neck were standing to attention. She backed away and raced to the back room where Sasaki-san had his head down, an excel spreadsheet on the screen of his grimy laptop.

“What do you think that was?” she asked.

“Huh? Aren’t you supposed to be hitting those two up? Come on. Get some more drinks out of them at least. They haven’t ordered a caramel Owl Pachino, have they? You were supposed to sell at least one today.” His eyes didn’t lift from the screen. His fingers hovered languidly over a dirt-encrusted mouse.

“There were sirens. And a flash. Something’s happened.”

“None of our business.” Sasaki looked up. His hair was a grimy mess of bedraggled curls, and a fringe so long it was hard to see his eyes. His cheeks were pock-marked and his mouth seemed to curve to one side so that he always had a skeptical expression. “You need to get back out there. Go on. Go!”

“Yes. Of course. Sorry.” Rina turned and fled. She was prepared not to show how flustered she was when she made it back to the table but there was a different siren, the one reserved for emergencies. An announcement followed. It was almost impossible to make out the words but she heard enough. It was the local ward office emergency center. They were being told to evacuate. Immediately vacate to the closest evacuation center, had been the order.

 Her customers were already standing, making their way towards the door.

“I want a discount,” one of them said. “We never got that dance.”

“Go. Go,” said the other. “It’s an evacuation. No need to pay.”

The two barely looked at her as they left. Rina stood silently long after the door had stopped swinging, listening to the sound of the panic outside. Sasaki-san didn’t appear to be worried, but then he never seemed to worry about anything. If it were her, she’d never get any sleep thinking about how they could make their monthly rent repayments. She’d once heard a rumor that Sasaki’s grandmother owned the building. Nothing else made much sense. They certainly didn’t have enough custom in the cafe to pay for other staff.

A deep growl came from beneath the table.

“Oh,” she said. They’d forgotten their dog. She bent and scooped up the cage by the handle on its top. It was surprisingly heavy. “I’ll just get you to your owners.” There was one final soft growl, then the animal quietened. “Sasaki-san!” she called. “Those customers left something behind. I’m going after them.” She did not expect a response and did not receive one. Instead, she headed out onto the street with the cage in hand.

Outside, the sky was tinted a dirty orange. The sun was already mostly hidden behind patchy rain clouds, but it was high enough that light was still flooding between the buildings like incorporeal reaching fingers clawing through the dusty air. More police cars roared past. Someone shouted. There were people on the streets as there always were but few of them seemed concerned. Old ladies made their way along the footpath. Touts handed out brochures and tissue packets. The two men with their awful jackets were nowhere to be seen.

An announcement blared out from loudspeakers. “Please move to the nearest evacuation point. This is not a drill.”

Rina looked back at the grime-coated grey walls of their building. It was five floors of ancient, poorly engineered earthquake fodder as far as she was concerned. She didn’t want to go back there and have it fall on her head, especially not with the customer’s pet. Sasaki-san would yell at her for that. The thought of actually evacuating to a shelter was alien. She shuddered at the thought of all those stinky salarymen huddling with wide, panicked eyes while octogenarians handed out out-of-date bottled water and packets they probably didn’t realize contained space blankets. The apartment she shared with her mother was within walking distance. She could go home. She was pretty sure their lease didn’t allow animals but her mother—she was supposed to call her by name, so Junko—probably wouldn’t notice until later and by then she would have figured out a solution. Junko had never been a particularly perceptive person even when she wasn’t wiped out from a night hostessing at the club. Rina held up the cage and whispered to it. “What do you think? Home?”

The answering growl was barely audible, but it was enough. Rina turned her back on the cafe and the deepening yellow glow in the sky and began to walk.

Splice: A Must-Read Military Sci-Fi Novel for Fans of Action and Intrigue

Splice now just 0.99c!

Some great news! Splice (book one of the Zero-Point Awakening series) is now 0.99c, less than the cost of my replacement worry beads. In case you don’t know the story: A corrupt corporation has secretly harnessed alien technology, leading to an invasion that threatens to wipe out humanity. Enter our two unlikely heroes: Elliot, a wunderkind assassin, and Arthur, a D-list celebrity struggling with unexpected genetic modifications. As they join forces to save the Earth from total annihilation, can they navigate their personal demons and overcome their differences or will they allow corporate greed and the aliens to prevail? Don’t miss this thrilling, action-packed military sci-fi novel–remember, it’s now just 0.99c! Get your copy, help me validate my existence as an author and join the fight to save the planet!

Shop Now

Get it now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

Hunter gets a facelift

One of the first stories we wrote as ZZ, Hunter is a dark supernatural thriller story (YA) which is a prequel to the His Storm Blows Out the Light series (which begins with book one, Mindstorm). This story is available to you when you subscribe to our newsletter (along with two others). Definitely check them out if you have not already.

This is the brand new cover

This YA dystopian science fiction story, tells the story of a group of scrappy super-teens with psychic powers who are thrown together to fight against the shadowy Athena and the organization that is moving against them.

This is also one of the first covers Andrew tried to create. Here’s the original attempt for comparison.

The new cover is definitely easier to look at… And in case you did not know, there’s a brand new novel in this series coming soon! (It is currently going through the editing process, but we will update you when it is ready). The new book is called Psychclone and it continues on from Mindstorm.

Let us know what you think of the cover and if you’d like to see more from the Mindstorm world, then let us know that too.

ZPA Box set is Ready for you!

The full box set of the Zero-Point Awakening series is ready for you to read! Featuring all eight books in this fan-favorite series. 1700+ pages—8 full novels—of alien invasion, assassins, scoundrels, and explosive military sci-fi action.

If you prefer to read complete series, then this one is for you. If you like stories about unlikely heroes thrown together by fate to defend the Earth from an impending alien invasion, hyper-intelligent orangutans and secret societies of assassins and high-tech weaponry, then you will love this series.

sci-fi e-book cover design by Bonobo Book Covers