The Dim Zone - How far is too far?

Mercenary Yul Vrean is hired by billionaire CEO Mathias of Cybercore to bring back alien samples from a remote planet in the Dim Zone. It’s a region rife with murderous space pirates and slavers, the warlike Zikri and Mentera.

This alien technothriller is full of deadly space battles, extreme action, bio-mechanical fusion, killer aliens, a touch of the bizarre and fantastic… it will certainly intrigue fans of Alien, Predator and The Matrix.

In a race for mechnobot technology, genius Sigmund Hresh has engineered a prototype for what may be the holy grail of AI. The uses of such technology vary from the sinister to the saintly. Yul and his space thugs may be the only link preventing the next galactic war and saving the human colonies from hostile aliens.

The Making of The Dim Zone...

The booktrack audio component was based on many space classics with similar textures to Alien Covenant and Life. I created composite alien effects from mixes of digital samples and animals, using pitch effects and warping. All in all, an eerie backdrop to the alien planet Xeses, and later, the corridors inside the starship Orb of the Zikri hunters.

Enjoy The Dim Zone, the next book in The Timelost series:

Booktrack (free)

Amazon

The Jisil-ou-az-lar and other SFF

An exciting collection of SFF this week: space adventures, technothrillers, sword and sorcery, fantasy and mystery. First up is Niel Bushnell's space war saga!

Arkship Obsidian (The Arkship Saga Book 1)

Earth has been destroyed, the entire solar system turned to dust by a cataclysmic event known as the Fracture. Now, the last survivors of humanity live on vast arkships drifting through the Cluster, fighting for survival in this hostile, ever-changing environment...

Liberty
Struggling with newfound sentience and desperately trying to repair itself, The Indescribable Joy of Destruction is a ship trying to find a new home. In a galaxy torn apart by generations of civil war, that isn't an easy task. Tired of being used as a killing machine, it has a huge decision to make: hide and save itself, or help other artificial intelligences achieve freedom...

Breakers
Humanity has fallen from its once majestic place amongst the stars. Desperate for more resources and colonizable planets, humans wage xenocidal war on the peaceful Enthos...
Book III in the series releases May 4!
 

The Infinet
Imagine a few short years from now…
...a quantum computer more powerful than all other computers ever created...combined...a madman seeking to destroy civilization with a computer virus targeting the Internet of Things...a brilliant but reclusive geneticist determined to solve one of the great mysteries of all time...
Download 'The Infinet' free here:

Battle Beyond Earth: Resurrection
The first instalment in an epic new series that tells of humanity's desperate struggle to survive in an uncertain and war-torn future. Four centuries have passed since the end of the alien invasion that almost destroyed humanity. The surviving races, human and alien, now live in peace as allies. But when a terrifying new enemy cuts a path of destruction through the Alliance, there seems little hope of resistance...

The Tube Riders Trilogy Boxed Set
Beneath the dark streets of London they played a dangerous game with trains. Now it is their only chance for survival...
Britain in 2075 is a dangerous place. A man known only as the Governor rules the country with an iron hand, but within the towering perimeter walls of London Greater Urban Area anarchy spreads unchecked through the streets...

 

Storms of Fate & fury: An Anthology of Ten Epic Fantasy, Myths and Legends, and Sword & Sorcery Novel

Beware the storm that brings magic, for there is no magic more powerful than love…Storms of Fate and Fury is a unique multi-genre anthology that brings together the best of epic fantasy, fairy tales, mythology, and more. Let the winds of magic, legends, and shadows sweep you away to worlds where impossible quests clash with forbidden love. Destiny can be a dark gift when the fate of all that you love rests on a sword's edge and every choice is marked by sorrow or sacrifice...

I Dream of Fire
In a not-so-distant future, Dreams really do come true...
When the world ignores a warning of total destruction, it rebuilds itself around the Dreamers that can predict and prevent another catastrophe. Revered, rich, and powerful, Dreamers are protected from all the dangers this new world presents...

Ambassador Series:
The bundled edition of the first three books in the popular Ambassador series. This series will appeal to readers who like alien societies that are familiar and disturbingly different at the same time, dangerous political intrigue, edge-of-seat action and characters who are never entirely good or entirely bad...
Free with Audible trial...

The Jisil-ou-az-lar
In a far future earth of melted polar ice, cities are gone; continents are flooded and humankind must fend its way by sea.  Only a handful of individuals survive on ships, invariably in competition with each other.  Can one man make a difference to the lives of a few?

 Read it free with a soundtrack here. Full anthology on Amazon here.

For those of you who signed up for the ARC, The Dim Zone, many thanks! The story is finished. ARC's are available and the book will be released May 10th. Sign up for a free review copy here.

Don't miss May's giveaways. Scroll down and click the image links below:

April SF

A mix of genres this newsletter: supernatural, space aliens, paranormal romance, adventure....


Touch Sensitive: A Noir Supernatural Thriller
John Ballard is a PI with a condition. One in a million born with a sensitivity. He absorbs the memories of whatever or whoever he touches, whether he wants to or not...

Werewolf M.D.
His medical miracles are too good to be true. This aloof doctor's methods are less than conventional. What better way to save a patient, than by biting them?

 Earth To Centauri: Alien Hunt
The year is 2118. The first journey from Earth into interstellar space has been successful, but the explosive secret carried aboard the probe Voyager 1 will have grave consequences.

The Maker
Thirteen-year-old Nate Smith starts having visions—and drawing them. Strange creatures come for his work, launching him on a space adventure to learn the alien art of making. 

The Whisperer Gatherers
What if your last day at school turned out to be your first day as a rebel warrior?

 

Still Life
This collection of FREE short stories is about women negotiating their roles in family, love, and the world at large. A tense family dinner exposes cracks in a long marriage. Insecurity and secrets threaten a passionate new love affair. An unconventional beauty wrestles with the false message her work uniform is sending. It also includes an excerpt of the novel, Finding Charlie, in which a girl goes missing, prompting her family to examine what went wrong...
 

Femme Fatale
Flint Beck is a down-on-his-luck PI who has a chip on his shoulder. A disgraced cop, he's trying to serve justice in an unjustified world, but it's hard when no clients come to his office...

Her Keeper
The feud between Detective Rick Andrews and Sara Michaels is legendary and no one ever wants to stand in the line of fire when they go at it... Her Keeper has mature content that features a hot cop (two actually), a crazy, hot proposition and two people who are stubbornly in love.

ARC copies of The Dim Zone will be available for download May 1.
A mercenary’s mission to the far reaches of the galaxy entangles him in an industrialist’s dream of forging a new techno-empire...
Sign up here.

Kickstarter: A Visionary SF Anthology
I am pleased to announce the 1st BooksGoSocial Anthology Kickstarter project has just launched and I am one of the authors selected. Please support and Share the Kickstarter page too. Rewards are low cost and have real value. Thanks!

 

Follow me in the Booksprout app!

 
You can now hear about my new releases and deals in the Booksprout app. Just download the app, search for "Chris Turner" and click follow! Click the above icon, or get the free Booksprout app here.

Lastly, but not leastly, here are some April SFF giveaways. Scroll down and click the image link below. Enjoy!

The Tremblers - by Raquel Byrnes

I am pleased to host Raquel Byrnes' blog tour for her latest book in the Blackburn Chronicles, The Tremblers.

Over to you, Raquel...

Weapons of Light & Power 

 

"A soldier leaned out the window, taking aim at Charlotte. A frisson of energy pulsed from the weapon, barely missing her. She screamed, flailing. 

Ashton flipped the rocket ignition on the power cycle and the force of the thrust slammed him against the seat as he shot skyward toward the roof. Pulling his tracer gun, he fired blindly at the building. 
The soldier dove for the floor." ~Ashton Wells, The Tremblers

Creating the weapons for my YA Steampunk novel, The Tremblers took me on a fascinating path. The invention of destructive devices was vexing and addicting all at once.

Weapons of light -- Tracer Guns are the weapon of choice for the soldiers of the Peaceful Union. Powerful blasters that syphon the glowing purple energy from the massive Tesla Domes caging the city-states are feared by the average citizen. Constantly recalibrating to the dome's pulse, they are outlawed to everyone but the soldiers of the government.

Charlotte is a tinkerer and inventor. The daughter of a renowned soldier and chemist, her weapons needed finesse. I designed the metal spheres of her Shrieking Violet grenade to cluster together like a flower. Its shrill screech disables her enemies while a curtain of magenta gas shields her escape.

The outlaws and Lawmen of Outer City favor guns and pistols of the old world. Sheriff Sebastian Riley's revolver helped him to rise to power among the pirates and pioneers of the sky settlement.
 
Another daunting tool as the Lightning Stick. Capable of lashing whips of energy. Used by the ruthless Lawmen of the floating ports, Charlotte learns of its devastating effects while trying to flee with Ashton.
 
However, it is the power and might of the Peaceful Union Aero Squad that strikes fear into the heart of every citizen. Their searing lamps and concussion bombs send rioters scrambling. Creating airship battles and designing the infamous rebel ship, The Stygian, was great fun! Myself the daughter of a military man, I grew up visiting airshows and sitting at the controls of massive machines of war.  I wanted to bring that fascination and awe to the Blackburn Chronicles.
 
If you love mechanica, mayhem, and monsters, then check out The Tremblers and Wind Reapers available now wherever books are sold.

Far Future SF

Some far-future gems featured this week...

Outcast of Empire by Nicholas Woode-Smith, a 'few against the many' SF adventure. One pariah against a totalitarian alien regime. If you like getting immersed in alien cultures, heroism and revenge, then you will enjoy this book which has many aspects similar to my Timelost Series. Check it out!


















Also Phane, a far-future coming-of-age story, featuring Kolbe, a teen prodigy who chooses to walk a different path than his vandalistic friends...

Read the full anthology, including Phane, on Amazon here.

Finally, an April fantasy giveaway. Click the image link below. Enjoy!