Thursday, December 31, 2020

Signal Boost: "Jinjang" by Iris Paustien

Tender One lost her beloved brother and now someone seems to want Tender One dead. If she can overcome her culture shock maybe she will be able to discover what is going on before more harm is done.

Nub is fascinated by Tender One and her people, but he is also a prime suspect.

As cultures clash, friendships are formed in Jinjang.

This is a Young Adult novel brought to my attention thanks to the folks at SuperversiveSF. While YA isn't my thing, it may be yours or what someone else in your household prefers, so I'm spreading the word for all you YA fans out there looking for something new from someone new.

Click on the image to go to the Amazon page to get your copy.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Signal Boost: "The Second Sojourn", by Alexander Hellene

The Second Sojourn is the follow-up to The Last Ancestor, so you're in for another fantastic Planentary Romance adventure in the tradition of A Princess of Mars and Pirates of Venus.

Terror strikes the heart of Pysh!

The Global Union has tracked the Canaanites across the galaxy, hellbent on finishing the job of extermination. But first they need to recover a secret, one that will explain everything.

A distress signal from the East brings Garrett, Ghryxa, and their friends closer to the answers about what happened on Earth. The lost ship survives! But to find it they must cross the Waran Steppes, and an endless swamp filled with ancient, deadly creatures.

Pursued by assassins, Garrett must make the hard choices and be a hero like his late father. Escaping the High Lord was just the beginning.

That sounds like a good time. Click on the image above to go to the Amazon store listing. Only available for Kindle as of this post.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Admin: There Shall Be Delays

Last night I got home from another stay in the hospital. According to my discharge papers, I went in for a severe bacterial infection in my bloodstream coupled with an abcess on my backside. Less than a week inside, but I'm not done yet. Now I'm on outpatient care, including home antibiotics via a pick line in my arm, for at least a month or so. I don't know exactly how it's going to mess up my workflow, but it has and will do so for the duration.

Long-story-short: "Hounds" is delayed to next year. I'll get it done and out as soon as I can, but I'd rather not repeat my previous experience with the medical system, so things will be slowed to accomodate my treatments.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Star Knight Lore: St. Simon's Cross, A Relic Of The Church

St. Simon's Cross

Description: A handmade crucifix crafted from two iron nails jammed into a plastic toy drill bit, worn about the neck via leather thong.

The Legend: This relic became famous at the conclusion of the crusade against The Necromancer. Based out of what was once Minnapolis, the mastermind wielding all the undead as if they were his thralls now faced a frontal assault at the very necropolis he erected. His horde melted under the might of the crusaders' powered armor. They began breaking through his outer rings of defense.

In response, he reshaped flesh and bone on a titanic scale, consuming uncounted thralls and massive ruins to form an armored titan easily seen from over a mile away. The Necromancer personally controlled it. He came forth and fell upon the crusaders, smashing many lifeless and adding their mass to his own. The crusaders regrouped, changed tactics, but could not do harm to the titan. Seeing the threat, and their impotence, they withdrew.

But not their leader, Pope Simon I- The Miner's Son.

His Holiness was at the front. He gave the command to withdraw. He was at the controls of a much taller robot, with a face that matched his movements and amplified his voice but even this miraculos machine made in The City of God was dwarfed by The Necromancer's titanic abomination.

His Holiness used all that the machine offered to him, but it too was not enough.

But machines are but vessels for the men that drive them, and men for the will of their Father in Heaven, something that the The Necromancer in his hubris openely mocked Pope Simon for.

It is said that Pope Simon's response was "Then I shall explain it to you."

It is at this moment that the crufix and drill were united. He took on the former and jammed it into the latter, saying "Faith is like than a drill."

The people, including those far in the rear, heard him as if there were in the pews on Sunday. Thunder peeled across the sky, and a woman was overcome such that she began to sing "Dies Ire">

A copy of the relic, scaled up to Pope Simon's machine, now appeared in its hands.

"A drill turns as it moves, sometimes slowly, sometimesly fast. But it nonetheless turns."

"What sorcery is this?"

"Keeping turning the drill and you can defeat any obstacle before you. It doesn't matter if you alone can't do it, so long as those that follow after you keep turning the drill. Victory is inevitable; it's all a matter of time."

"What are you talking about?"

The drill now pointed upward and grew in size to meet the titan. "Though Him we can do the impossible. Through Him we can see the invisible."

The titan took a step back, as if recoiled by the awe before him.

"Through Him we can touch the untouchable. Through Him we can break the unbreakable!"

The titanic drill now began to spin, and Pope Simon's machine lifted into the air.

"You cannot stop the faithful! This is our inevitable victory! We are the Children of God, we shall execute His will!"

Leading with the drill, he attacked The Necromancer's titan and the drill began boring through it without difficulty.

"And you, monster, shall face His' Wrath- Gigant! Terebro! Ruptor!"

Pope Simon bored through the titan, going through-and-through, landing behind the beast some distance away. It exploded.

The relic would be used a handful of times over the course of the 21st Century after that, but the final time was on December 21st 2100. The enemy seized Hailey's Comet and warped it into a planet-killing missile the size of the moon. Pope Simon I, now an old man, went forth alone in his personal ship with only his pilot. He used the relic, and he did not return. His remains were never found; only the relic remained, recovered by his pilot. It has not been used since, but remains with the Vatican where other relics of the faith are stored.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

A Conversation With The Grandest Master of Science Fiction, John C. Wright

Jon del Arroz talked with John C. Wright. Lots of literary tales told, and commentary made.