Tag: sci-fi

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Afua – Karl Drinkwater & Christoffer Petersen

ramblingmads


Afua is a promising acolyte of the Shanta Order, on the densely forested planet of Nuafri.

She volunteers to educate orphans – her lively ophanti – every ninth day. When one of her wards goes missing in a dangerous area full of sinkholes and deadly fauna, Afua knows the authorities won’t do anything about a single lost child.
Luckily for the orphan, Afua will.

She is armed only with her knowledge of wildlife, and implanted augmentations that can sometimes deter attacks. But she is not alone. The sentient, insect-like Dooga she has bonded with, named Akalie, will follow her anywhere, despite being heavily pregnant.

An unforgettable Amazofuturist adventure about compassion, courage, and finding your way in life.

Books2Read The Great British Bookshop 

Top: Karl, Bottom: Christoffer

About Karl Drinkwater

Karl Drinkwater writes dystopian space opera, dark suspense and diverse social fiction. If you want compelling stories and characters worth caring about, then you’re in the right place.
Karl lives in Scotland and owns two kilts. He has degrees in librarianship, literature and classics, but also studied astronomy and philosophy. Dolly the cat helps him finish books by sleeping on his lap so
he can’t leave the desk. When he isn’t writing he loves music, nature, games and vegan cake.

Website / Newsletter / BlueSky

About Christoffer Petersen

Christoffer Petersen lives in a small forest in Jutland, in southern Denmark. He hasn’t always been Danish; in fact, he borrowed his pseudonym surname from his Danish wife, Jane. Chris writes all kinds of stories in different genres, but is best known for his crime books and thrillers set in Greenland.
While living in Greenland, Chris studied for a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Falmouth University. Chris graduated with a distinction in 2015. He has been writing full-time since January
2018.

Website / Newsletter

My thoughts: Set in the same universe as Karl’s Lost Solace books (which I’m a big fan of) Afua is responsible for a group of young orphans. When one goes missing, despite the dangers of the forest, she sets off with only her insect-like Dooga, Akalie, to help.

Chased by a monstrous creature, the duo follow the scent of the missing child into a hole in the ground, finding a mysterious object buried and forgotten. Could it be one of the strange Lost Ships Afua has heard of? What she’s discovered will change her entire life.

While this fits into the Lost Solace stories very nicely, with references to some of the other stories (indeed Afua is mentioned in at least one!) I think it can easily be read as a standalone novella about living on a future world and the way humans have adapted to survive. Although I also recommend diving into the Lost Solace series.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Neon is the Colour of Vengeance – Elanor Miller

ramblingmads

We’re celebration the release of Neon is the Colour of Vengeance: A Tragic and Spicy MM Mafia Romance by Elanor Miller!

Anyone who is a fan of this era and aesthetic will love the prequel companion novel in Elanor Miller’s Flappers & False Gods series.

Neon is the Colour of Vengeance : A Tragic and Spicy MM Mafia Romance (Flappers and False Gods)

Publication Date: November 5, 2024

✨MM Mafia Romance❤️‍🔥
✨Enemies to lovers 🔪
✨Spicy🌶️🥵
✨Tragic💔
✨Reveņge plot🩸
✨Set in a futuristic Gatsby era🍸
✨John Wick/Peaky Blinders vibes🔫

He loved. He lost. He killed.

The year is 2423, and the Jazz Age is in full swing—again.

Hugo Ford is the most dangerous man in Tenebrium City. A mafia hitman with a singular focus, born and raised to do one thing—and he does it very well. He completes every mission. He cashes every chit. He never misses and he never fails…that is, until he’s tasked with killing Evan Carter.

Inexplicably drawn to the man, Hugo finds himself unable to kill him. Never before in his life has he disobeyed one of his boss’s orders, but there is just something about Evan Carter. Forced to form an uneasy alliance, the pair strike a deal to save Evan’s life and cover up Hugo’s failings hoping to deliver them both from a grisly fate at the hands of Tenebrium’s mafia and Hugo’s own family.

Enemies at first, unsure of who to trust and where to turn, it isn’t long before they have to confront their feeling for one another. On the streets rival families war as the pair fall irrevocably, desperately, in love. But their secret won’t stay secret forever.

Far too soon all is laid bare with deadly consequences and Hugo must ask himself: how far is he willing to go for revenge?
Beware this is a tale of love, death, grief and vengeance with no happy ending.

By night or neon light, he will have his revenge…

Neon is the Colour of Vengeance is set in the same futuristic Gatsby era as my Flappers & False Gods series and can be read as a standalone or prequel companion novel as it features entirely new characters.

Lovers of John Wick and Peaky Blinders will find a home in Tenebrium City’s dark underworld.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Trigger warnings on the author’s website. This book is written in British English.

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

books

Book Blitz: Strangers in Our Hearts – Bri Eberhart

ramblingmads

Happy publication day to author Bri Eberhart, and congratulations on the release of Strangers in Our Hearts!

Strangers in Our Hearts

Release date: October 22, 2024

Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy/YA Science Fantasy

Audience: Upper YA 16+

  • Discovering special powers
  • Found family
  • Power and technology
  • Pre-dystopian setting
  • Social and political turmoil

Theo Goodwin is used to running, while Gemma Roberts wants nothing more than to find somewhere to call home—someplace to belong. With the threat of the Authorities looming, despite their strange connection and a shared desire to protect their family, a compromise between fight or flight is no easy feat. As they traverse a new shared life together, they must learn to understand one another for the survival of not only themselves but also those they hold dear.

When a new group swoops in with their own unique powers and motivations that threaten to ruin everything Theo and Gemma have worked toward, the invitation into their broader community has its appeals but equal drawbacks. Tension simmers within their crew, testing their bonds and questioning their unity. As they navigate this delicate balance, they’ll discover the world isn’t what it seems and finally put a word to what they are—mutants. More are found every day, with abilities far beyond what they thought possible. And the Authorities are doing more than hunting them down.

With mutants on the precipice of war with the government, will they decide to join the cause and fight or continue to run and hide?

AVAILABLE HERE

  • Content Warnings:
  • Death (including on page and off and mentions of previous deaths regarding parent and sibling)
  • Fire/fire injury
  • Hostages/kidnapping (off-page)
  • Grief
  • Panic attacks/disorders
  • Profanity
  • Violence
  • Warfare

BOOK BLITZ ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Journey to 2125 – Gary F. Bengier

ramblingmads

Welcome to the ARC tour for Journey to 2125 by Gary F. Bengier. Read on for more details!

Journey to 2125

Expected Publication Date: September 30, 2024

Genre: Sci-Fi/ Dystopian

The story of a family facing our future

It’s 2125 when a long-separated grandson suddenly arrives on his doorstep looking for answers. Max MacGyver retells their family story and secrets, revealing a century of challenges that they’ve faced. Journey to 2125 is one family’s touching story, across generations, of adventure, rivalry, loss, survival, and resilience.

This is the story of a family facing our future. A small boy escapes war in Asia. A young woman flees catastrophe driven by climate change in Africa. Some family members build technology companies, while others deal with the trauma of jobs lost to automation. A young couple fight for privacy and democracy. Lives are positively transformed by biomedical science and threatened by it.

At its heart, Journey to 2125 is the story, told over a single day, of a young boy and his grandfather. Why did his parents decide to move to the Commune? What family secrets will his grandfather share?

Parts political drama, family saga, and hard-science speculative fiction, Journey to 2125 is the story of how humankind might collectively weather the tragedy and chaos that we can expect from accelerating change. What will it feel like to live during these next one hundred years? Take this journey with Max MacGyver and his grandson, as they reveal their family history, and the road ahead for you and yours.

“One family’s consequential journey through the trials and triumphs…A must read for those who seek to understand how technology and humanity will shape the coming century.”

GARY F. BENGIER

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Ravage – A.L. Rook

ramblingmads

This week, we’re celebrating the release of Ravage! The first book in Raegan of Ruin series by A.L. Rook!

Ravage (Raegan of Ruin Book 1)

Publication Date: September 1, 2024

  • Strong heroine
  • Found family
  • He falls first
  • Enemies to lovers (childhood friends > enemies > lovers)
  • Touch her and d!3
  • Stalker MMC
  • Possessive MMCs
  • Morally gray MCs

We promised to stick together. And then they betrayed me.

In a world where more children are being born with special abilities, we were six of the ones kidnapped and hidden away for testing and training.

We banded together and became a family…until one of us was killed.

The others turned on me and left me for dead.

Five years later, and I’m on a hunt for vengeance against the organization that’s still stealing and brainwashing gifted kids in secret. It’s all I have left; to rid the world of this evil. Until I realize that they are in this city with the same goal.

Aiden. Kellan. Jackson. Dane.

Now I need to decide. Do I work with the ones who abandoned me five years ago, or walk away from this city and finish the war by myself?

But once they discover I’m here, I learn they have their own plans for me.

Ravage is a full length why choose dark paranormal romance novel that ends on a cliffhanger. It is book 1 in the Raegan of Ruin series that will be completed in 2025. If you like plot, banter, steam, a strong heroine, and multiple alpha-holes that you don’t have to choose between, then this is for you. It is recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations.

GET IT ON AMAZON

Triggers included but not limited to:

  • Explicit sex
  • Violence
  • Frequent language
  • Mention of prior physical/mental abuse (age 16)
  • Mention of prior SA (not on page)
  • Physical / mental /emotional abuse (not by MCs) in future books in the series

Other Notes:

  • Paranormal romance (gifted humans)
  • Why choose (4 MMCs)
  • Medium burn (varies by MMC)
  • Dark themes
  • Multi POV (primarily FMC)
  • Cliffhanger in Book 1 (not terrible)
  • No MM
  • Plot-heavy storyline
  • Banter

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Book Blitz: Secrets of the Unborn – CH Lyn

ramblingmads

Secrets of the Unborn: The Leader & the Rebel Duology by CH Lyn & Tracey Barski is now available!

Secrets of the Unborn: The Leader & the Rebel Duology by CH Lyn & Tracey Barski

War of the Unborn by C.H. Lyn
They were created to end the decades-long war. But what happens when the war is over?

Tropes:

  • One-bed
  • Nightmares
  • Revenge arc
  • Found family.
  • Animosity to lovers
  • Badass FMC
  • Second-chance romance

The war is over.

Decades of strife and ruin brought to a close through the use of Unborn—super soldiers created with more strength and stamina than the average man could fathom.
For Jamie, life after the war is mundane: fight nights in the evenings bloodying her knuckles against the jaws of fellow Unborn, and construction work during the day clearing out ruined sections of a once-great city.

There’s not much to complain about. She has a roof over her head, a sister by her side, and sometimes enough food to fill her belly.
So when Oliver, an old flame and a fellow Unborn, arrives with devastating news about their people, Jamie is reluctant to get involved. This darkness, this plague of horror affecting the engineered soldiers, has nothing to do with her.

Until it does.

Jamie has always known loss, but not like this.
With a shadow looming over her people, and her sister’s life on the line, she joins Oliver on a trek across a crumbling country that neither trusts them as people nor accepts them as citizens.

The clock is ticking, the secret behind the darkness is unfolding, and Jamie’s staunch refusal to care about Oliver again is put to the test.

Unborn Rising by Tracey Barski

They were created to end the decades-long war. But what happens when the war is over?

Tropes:

  • Grumpy/grumpy
  • Slow-burn romance
  • Man vs machine
  • Animosity to lovers
  • Kick ass FMC
  • Found family

Victoria has only ever been one thing: a warrior. Scientifically designed to be perfect in every way, she was enhanced for optimal precision in war, the model Silver—a leader until the end.
But after the war, Vic and her people, the Unborn, return to a society that’s in shambles, and the last thing the worn-out population wants is more mouths to feed.

As tensions and prejudices mount, the effort to carve out a life for themselves becomes a fight for survival when Vic’s entire village is annihilated and she’s the only one to make it out.
She seeks shelter from an old war buddy, discovering that trust is hard-won among the group of Unborn and Organics she finds—for her and her new community. Especially with the safe haven’s enigmatic leader. Feelings surface despite their mutual suspicion, putting Vic’s staunch adherence to protocol on shaky ground.

When she learns a secret that changes everything about who she is and what is happening to her people, she and her new allies work to find the key to freeing her fellow Unborn before they become victims to their programming.

Corruption is revealed, lives are put in danger, and everything comes down to one question: what does it mean to be human?

AVAILABLE HERE

BOOK BLITZ ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Secrets of the Unborn – C.H. Lyn

ramblingmads

We are thrilled to share thrilled to share The Leader of the Unborn duology with you this week! Both books will be released on September 6th!
.

Unborn Rising by Tracey Barski


They were created to end the decades-long war. But what happens when the war is over?
Victoria has only ever been one thing: a warrior. Scientifically designed to be perfect in every way, she was enhanced for optimal precision in war, the model Silver—a leader until the end.
But after the war, Vic and her people, the Unborn, return to a society that’s in shambles, and the last thing the worn-out population wants is more mouths to feed.
As tensions and prejudices mount, the effort to carve out a life for themselves becomes a fight for survival when Vic’s entire village is annihilated and she’s the only one to make it out.
She seeks shelter from an old war buddy, discovering that trust is hard-won among the group of Unborn and Organics she finds—for her and her new community. Especially with the safe haven’s enigmatic leader. Feelings surface despite their mutual suspicion, putting Vic’s staunch adherence to protocol on shaky ground.
When she learns a secret that changes everything about who she is and what is happening to her people, she and her new allies work to find the key to freeing her fellow Unborn before they become victims to their programming.
Corruption is revealed, lives are put in danger, and everything comes down to one question: what does it mean to be human?


War of the Unborn by C.H. Lyn

The war is over.
Decades of strife and ruin brought to a close through the use of Unborn—super soldiers created with more strength and stamina than the average man could fathom.
For Jamie, life after the war is mundane: fight nights in the evenings bloodying her knuckles against the jaws of fellow Unborn, and construction work during the day clearing out ruined sections of a once-great city.
There’s not much to complain about. She has a roof over her head, a sister by her side, and sometimes enough food to fill her belly.
So when Oliver, an old flame and a fellow Unborn, arrives with devastating news about their people, Jamie is reluctant to get involved. This darkness, this plague of horror affecting the engineered soldiers, has nothing to do with her.
Until it does.
Jamie has always known loss, but not like this.
With a shadow looming over her people, and her sister’s life on the line, she joins Oliver on a trek across a crumbling country that neither trusts them as people nor accepts them as citizens.
The clock is ticking, the secret behind the darkness is unfolding, and Jamie’s staunch refusal to care about Oliver again is put to the test.

PRE-ORDER LINKS
BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:
R&R BOOK TOURS

books

Book Blitz: Rise Tomorrow Girl – Cara Martin

ramblingmads

This one ticks all the boxes for readers who love dystopian tales about cryogenics, killer viruses, and radical invaders! Check out Rise, Tomorrow Girl by Cara Martin!

Rise, Tomorrow Girl

Genre: Science Fiction/ Dystopian

Publication Date: June 21, 2024

In the near future seventeen-year-old Canadian Leanne Khoury watches a second twenty-first century global pandemic—this one highly fatal in young adults—steal the life of her best friend. When Leanne is stricken ill too her affluent parents have her cryogenically frozen in a facility performing experimental procedures. Reanimated and cured of virus years later, Leanne isn’t the same. Her awareness intermittently ‘disconnects’, stalling her body and mind. But it’s more than that. Snatches of memories from evolutionary ancestors bleed through her consciousness, leaving her feeling as unnatural as Frankenstein’s monster on the inside.

Over a billion people perished during the pandemic, decimating a generation, and when Leanne’s released from the cryo facility she struggles to integrate into a Canada and world that has technologically and socially moved on without her. Although the virus is no longer a threat, Leanne is far from safe. In the United States organized extremists threaten legitimate government, regularly committing attacks on U.S. soil. Then radical American expansionist soldiers invade parts of Canada and Leanne, along with others not accepted by the radical invaders, must fight for her survival.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON & OTHER FINE RETAILERS

About the Author

Cara Martin is the author of several acclaimed novels for young people published under the name C. K. Kelly Martin, including a middle grade sci-fi, multiple contemporary YAs, a sci-fi duology set in 2063 and the 1980s, and an emotionally-charged ghost story. Four of these books received starred reviews and two were shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Book Award. Her young adult horror, Shantallow, published under the name Cara Martin, was long-listed for the 2020 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic and was an Ottawa Book Awards fiction finalist. Booklist described Shantallow as “serious, literary and very scary” and Kirkus called it “gut-wrenching on various levels.”

A graduate of the Film Studies program at York University, Cara has lived in the Greater Toronto Area and Dublin, Ireland. Within the space of 3500 miles she’s worked a collection of quirky jobs at multiple pubs and video stores, an electricity company, a division of the Irish post office, a London toyshop, and an advertising analytics company. She’s also been an image editor for a dot-com startup that didn’t survive the 90s, and a credit note clerk for Canada’s largest national distributor of General Merchandise.

These days Cara’s busy writing fiction about malicious hauntings and the mysterious future, wondering what if . . . She currently resides in Ottawa with her husband and is still afraid of the Child Catcher from the film adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

CARA MARTIN

BOOK BLITZ ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Full Speed to a Crash Landing – Beth Revis

ramblingmads

We’re celebrating the release of Full Speed to a Crash Landing this week! Read on for more details!

Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1)

Publication Date: August 6, 2024

Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance

A high octane sexy space heist from New York Times-bestselling author Beth Revis, the first in a novella trilogy

Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…

A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

GET IT HERE

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

books

Cover Reveal: Strangers in Our Hearts – Bri Eberhart

ramblingmads

We’re thrilled to present the cover for Strangers in Our Hearts by Bri Eberhart! Make sure to add this one to Goodreads!

For Fans Of:

The Darkest Minds
Cute Mutants
The Young Elites
X-Men
Heroes

Strangers in Our Hearts

Release date: October 22, 2024

Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy/YA Science Fantasy

Audience: Upper YA 16+

  • Discovering special powers
  • Found family
  • Power and technology
  • Pre-dystopian setting
  • Social and political turmoil

Theo Goodwin is used to running, while Gemma Roberts wants nothing more than to find somewhere to call home—someplace to belong. With the threat of the Authorities looming, despite their strange connection and a shared desire to protect their family, a compromise between fight or flight is no easy feat. As they traverse a new shared life together, they must learn to understand one another for the survival of not only themselves but also those they hold dear.

When a new group swoops in with their own unique powers and motivations that threaten to ruin everything Theo and Gemma have worked toward, the invitation into their broader community has its appeals but equal drawbacks. Tension simmers within their crew, testing their bonds and questioning their unity. As they navigate this delicate balance, they’ll discover the world isn’t what it seems and finally put a word to what they are—mutants. More are found every day, with abilities far beyond what they thought possible. And the Authorities are doing more than hunting them down.

With mutants on the precipice of war with the government, will they decide to join the cause and fight or continue to run and hide?

Add to Goodreads

  • Content Warnings:
  • Death (including on page and off and mentions of previous deaths regarding parent and sibling)
  • Fire/fire injury
  • Hostages/kidnapping (off-page)
  • Grief
  • Panic attacks/disorders
  • Profanity
  • Violence
  • Warfare

Cover Reveal Organized By:

R&R Book Tours