Teaser Tuesday/Sci-Fi Month!! Refugee, by Piers Anthony

Welcome to "Teaser Tuesday"!!


This meme is hosted by  Ambrosia @ The Purple Booker every week, and the rules are very simple.

RULES

* Grab you current read.

*Open to a random page.

*Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere

on that page.

*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

(Make sure that what you share doesn't

give too much away! You don't want

to ruin the book for others!)

*Share the title and author, too, so that other

TT participants can add the book to their

TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


Note
Since I'm a slow reader, I don't have a new book
started every week. I am therefore going
 to bend the rules a little.....
I'll be featuring books I want to read,
that are currently sitting on my shelves. 
I've also made the teasers a bit longer
than stated in the rules above. I think I will
also include, from time to time,  books 
I would like to re-read.

Today I'm also linking up to 
Sci-Fi Month!!  
This is an exciting event, hosted by 

Lisa @ Dear Geek Place 

and imyril @ onemore.org!!

For more information, and to 
join in, please refer 
to my Announcement Post
for this event!!

Here are my teasers!

There have been many biographies of the so-called Tyrant of Jupiter, and countless analyses of the supposed virtues and vices of his character. He was, after all, the most remarkable figure of his generation, as even his enemies concede, and will no doubt be ranked with the other prime movers or disturbers of history, such as Alexander Caesar, Attila, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, and the like.   

-- Editorial Preface, page 1

We had to wait till evening for the atmosphere to freeze out so that a bubble could safely float across the dangerous landscape of Io. By day, a chance volcano could sweep it right out of space.

-- Chapter 15: When Will It End?, page 219

Refugee

(Bio of a Space Tyrant, Book 1)
Piers Anthony

Mass Market Paperback, 312 pages
Avon Books

October, 1983
Fantasy, Science Fiction, 
Space Opera

Though he was later accused of every crime and sexual perversion in the galaxy, Hope Hubris began as an innocent. Because he defended his older sister against the violent lusts of a wealthy scion, Hope and his peasant family were forced to flee Callisto, one of the moons of Jupiter. Pursued by the bloodthirsty scions across the airless desert, they barely escaped with their lives. The illegal space bubble was overcrowded with refugees, all hoping to reach Jupiter for asylum.

But the space travelers had not reckoned on the terrible threat of high space -- the pirates, barbaric men who rape, rob, and murder, with no thought but to satisfy their bestial appetites. It will take all Hope's ingenuity to survive, but the atrocities he witnesses will never die. There is only one way he can be rid of them . . . 

I actually read this book, as well as others in this series, quite a while back, and would like to read it again. I don't remember much of the plot of any of these books, but do remember that I greatly enjoyed the flow of the narrative, even though there were parts of it that were not altogether pleasant. However, Anthony does have a way of totally immersing a reader in his story, and the settings he describes are fascinating! So yes, I'd totally like to pick this one up again sometime in the near future. 

What do you think of my teasers?

Are you interested in this book?

Please leave a comment, 

along with the link

to your own "Teaser Tuesday" post, 

and let me know!

Shelf Candy Saturday No. 243: Into the Fire, by Elizabeth Moon

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!

*Late Edition*

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful covers!

It also provides information, 
if available, on their 
very talented creators!

Here's my choice for this week!

Into the Fire
(Vatta's Peace, Book 2)
Elizabeth Moon
Trade Paperback, 400  pages
Orbit
February 6, 2018
Science Fiction, Space Opera,
Military SF, Thrillers

  

My Thoughts About This Cover

I first came across this absolutely STUNNING cover on one of my favorite blogs, Brainfluff, created by British SF writer S.J. Higbee. You can check out the post featuring this book HERE. It's an EXCELLENT review of the Kindle Edition of the novel! (Of course, I would be interested in acquiring the paperback edition instead!)

This cover makes me want to catch the next starship heading out of the solar system! I would LOVE to do some exploring of the planet so beautifully depicted on this cover!  I wish that I were the one standing on that hill, looking out over this beautiful valley, while various kinds of spaceships whizz by....

I don't think it's a coincidence that the author's last name, Moon, is placed almost directly over the moon rising on this alien planet. It might strike some viewers as too contrived, but I would have to disagree. I think it's quite effective. And I like the simple font used, too, as it does not distract the eye from roaming over the whole scene.

Of course, I LOVE the main color scheme here. It's such a gorgeous shade of blue-green! And the mist over the valley gives the scene a very lush, romantic feeling, too. I'm using the word "romantic" in the sense of the 19th-century literary movement -- Romanticism. This cover brings to mind the novels dealing with John Carter's adventures on Mars, in the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This is a type of SF that's highly adventurous and fantastical. This particular novel, though, is classified as "space opera", as well as "military science fiction".

The cover artist has also captured a great sense of atmospheric as well as actual perspective. The hills and mountains in the distance do look as if they're farther away. Furthermore, the young woman staring out at the valley gives the viewer a sense of the scale of the various objects depicted. 

I also love the contrast between the detailed parts of the illustration, and the misty areas that are not so highly detailed. This, along with the other aspects of the cover I've already mentioned, gives the reader the feeling that they're actually looking out a window -- perhaps in one of those spaceships whizzing by -- and seeing this scene. Thus, this brilliant cover artist skillfully places the potential reader of this book right in the middle of the action!

I wish I could include some information about whoever created this incredibly AWESOME cover, but I have been unable to find out anything at all..... The Amazon preview was no help in this case, either. When I clicked on this cover in order to access the book's copyright page, the cover of the hardback edition of the book appeared instead. I tried again, this time with the Kindle edition, and the same thing happened..... Very frustrating, to say the least! We will have to content ourselves with simply admiring this beautiful cover, if only for now. When I buy this book, as I probably will, then I can come back and put in some information about the artist. (Or perhaps S.J., if she visits, can give me that information, which I will then immediately add.)

What do you think of 
this week's cover?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!

Blog Tour: Slipspace: Harbinger, by P.C. Haring

Welcome to the 

Slipspace: Harbinger Blog Tour,

sponsored by 

Bewitching Book Tours!!

For my stop, I'm featuring 
an excerpt with mini-review!!

Slipspace: Harbinger

P.C. Haring

Trade Paperback, 336 pages

CreateSpace Independent Publishing 

Platform

April 21, 2017

Kindle Edition, 337 pages

Off The Deep End Multimedia, LLC

May 1, 2017

Science Fiction, Space Opera

A fringe colony world has gone dark, and Captain Cody Amado and the crew of the ISPA’s newest battle cruiser, Mjöllnir, must respond and investigate.

No one is prepared for the destruction that awaits them.

Agendas collide as the bonds of duty, loyalty, and family are tested, and the major governments position themselves to prepare for what is to come next.

With interstellar tensions rising, the crew of the Mjöllnir race to discover the connection between the colony’s destruction, an alien society so reclusive it has only been rumored about, and an enemy that disappeared a decade prior.

Is this merely an isolated incident, or is this a harbinger of much darker things still to come?

The minute I saw this cover, I KNEW I had to feature this novel! I LOVE SF covers with spaceships on them! I know, this is a bit of a cliché, but I happen to ADORE spaceships, for some reason. 
Then I read the synopsis, and, after that, the excerpt, and found something else to delight me: this novel has a definite Star Trek vibe. Of course, I'm a DIEHARD Trekkie!! While the plot has original elements in it, plus what is obviously great world-building, there is that bit of wonderful ST influence, so I'm definitely sold on this novel! Oh, and I'm also intrigued by all the tech terms that I would like to learn more about! I KNOW this is one SF book I'll enjoy and treasure!
(Besides, I also like that there's 
a married couple working on the same ship!)

October 13, 2832

06:30

Mjöllnir - Captain's Quarters

Morning came too soon for the Amados, much to Nira’s chagrin.  Together, she and Cody made their way through the endless corridors.  With the Mjöllnir just a few minutes out from Artez, the decks were buzzing with activity as the crew prepared for as many contingencies as could be planned. 

They exchanged a brief kiss before going their separate ways- Nira towards the Med-deck and Cody  to OpCom as Cassie’s voice echoed through the ship’s public address system, announcing their pending arrival and setting the ship at condition two.  He stepped through the hatch and found the ship’s command center no exception to the activity about the rest of the ship.  The traffic on deck paused to give the Captain room to move to his station and log in. 

“Give me a sit-rep,” The Captain ordered.

Cassie stepped to the opposite side of the central station.  She betrayed no anger or frustration.  Any animosity she had towards him lay buried behind as much professionalism as she could muster.

“We can’t find an exit aperture. According to navigational charts, we’re well within range of the outer guide-buoys, but there’s no sign of them.  We’ve also tried to raise the gate on comms, but no luck.”

“Deploy a replacement buoy,” he spoke to Cassie.  “We’ll have to make a blind exit.  Hopefully it won’t be in the middle of an engagement.” 

He paused and reviewed the data.  “Still, best be prepared.” 

He stepped away from the console and turned to the deck.  “Sound General Quarters!  Set condition one throughout the ship!”

The order relayed through the chain of command.  The Mjöllnir’s klaxon rang out only seconds later and the already busy decks burst into further action.  Two minutes later, Cassie turned from her console. 

“All rail positions are manned and armed.  Main cannons are charging.  ECM is charging and calibrated full negative; frequency coverage at ninety seven percent.  Replacement nav-com buoy has been deployed.  ETA to Artez...,” she paused to check her watch. “Three minutes.”

“Good work.”

“Captain, we’re close enough to pick up preliminary data,” the navigator reported.  “Without the buoy, we’re without detail, but I’m detecting over one hundred separate energy signatures.  The data is too obscure to plot an exit trajectory.”

The display in front of Cody updated, a wave of distortion sweeping out from center, erasing old information and leaving new data in its wake. 

“There go my hopes of not walking into a fight,” Cody muttered.  “Pilot, overshoot the combat area!  Tear us an exit to normal space and double back!”

“Aye, Skipper!”

The deck rumbled as the ship tore itself into normal space.  Without the aid of a functioning gate, the transition came with far more violence.  The ship shuddered and bucked, throwing both Amados off balance, and a few crewmen to the deck.  Cody and Melor exchanged looks of tepid relief.  He noted that even as an emergency maneuver, one within the ship’s tolerances, the blind exit always carried dangerous risk. 

Power transitioned to the Mjöllnir’s sub light engines as the pilots brought her about and proceeded on course at flank speed. 

As they approached the edge of the zone, the first signs of debris floated past the ship.  The pilot and navigator avoided it with ease but soon found the ship surrounded by hull fragments from broken fighters.  This was no surprise, as fighter wings always took high casualties.

“ECM to full, activate all fixed weapon positions and roll the Gryphons onto the tarmac,” Cassie ordered. 

Cody continued to study the out-of-focus holograms on the central display.  The objects still showed as general spheres, indicating the sensor’s inability to obtain a full resolution scan.

“Can we clear up this interference any time soon?” Cassie asked.

In response, Melor turned to a secondary console.  “I’m trying, Commander.  There are a lot of cross signals out there preventing us from getting a full resolution scan on the area.”  She transferred a data module from one console to another.  The device whirred to life as she accessed its programming.  “However,” she muttered as she worked, “I have a couple of algorithms up my sleeve.  I’m bringing them online right...”

At the same time, all screens and displays showing the battle zone refreshed to show its data at full resolution.  Melor, Aler, and both Amados looked to the center and watched. 

“My God,” Cassie muttered.

No one responded.  Everyone’s eyes locked on the displays and the sensor returns.  Op-Com fell silent save for the humming of the ship’s engines and the beeping of the computers.  No one moved, as they stood locked in a trance of awe and horror.  The Mjöllnir’s engines powered down as they arrived at the coordinates.  What should have been a fully functional slipgate was little more than a field of burning hulk and slag. 

“The station...it’s just gone,” Cassie said, to no one in particular.

After what seemed like an eternity, Melor turned back to her console.  “Sensors are detecting no weapon signatures, no power signatures...”

“This isn’t a battle zone,” Cody stated. “It’s a graveyard.”

Purchase Links

Amazon US/Amazon UK

Amazon CA

A fan of Science Fiction from an early age, P.C. Haring has always been one of those who looked up at the night sky and wondered “what if…”

P.C. Haring made his debut as a writer and podcast novelist on 01/01/10 with Cybrosis. This production met with a strongly favorable response that propelled it to number four on the Podiobooks.com Top Ten list when it was re-launched there that October. His audio fiction can also be heard in Scott Sigler’s The Crypt: Book 1 — The Crew and in Philippa Ballantine’s Chronicles of the Order anthology. His contribution for Tales from the Archives, co-produced by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris, won him the 2012 Parsec Award for Best Short Story. This momentum propelled P.C. Haring into publishing Cybrosis, as well as his latest project, Slipspace: Harbinger, independently.

When he isn’t developing new projects for podcast and publication, P.C. Haring works as a corporate accountant in the Chicagoland area and as a husband to his beautiful wife.

Website/Facebook/Twitter

Facebook Fan Page

Goodreads/Amazon

To access the complete tour schedule, just click on the button below!!

Waiting On Wednesday #92: Space Opera, edited by Rich Horton

This is a weekly event hosted by

Jill @ Breaking the Spine!!

It showcases future releases which

we book bloggers

are eagerly anticipating!!

Here's my choice for this week!

Space Opera

Rich Horton, editor

Kage Baker, Elizabeth Bear,

Jay Lake, Robert Reed, Alistair Reynolds, etc.

Trade Paperback, 576 pages

Prime Books, April 2, 2014

Science Fiction

     

Book Synopsis

 Space Opera, a new anthology series edited and presented by Rich Horton, the editor for Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year, promises to span the whole wide range of a sub-genre famous for its romantic adventure, exotic settings, and larger-than-life characters, collecting the best space opera written in 2006 by some of the genre's greatest authors.  

Why am I waiting on this book?

I've always been a science fiction fan, 

having read such greats as 

Bradbury, Clarke, and Heinlein!

Of course, space opera, which is 

a science fiction sub-genre,

is especially exciting!

It used to be very popular back 

in the 1940s and 50s, 

although some SF writers looked down on it.

However, later on, it became 

a legitimate part of 'regular' science fiction.

Movies like "Star Wars" have been 

labeled 'space opera'. 

I'd like to read more science fiction, 

which I've been

sadly neglecting for a long time now.

This book should prove especially interesting, 

too, since it will give me a chance 

to get updated on what's been going on in 

this particular sub-genre!

For further information

about space opera:

Wikipedia 

TV Tropes

Goodreads

SF Revu

Space Opera Society 

What do you think of my choice?

What exciting books are

you waiting on this week?