Empires: Extraction (10/11/2014)
Yesterday (at the time of posting) was Rememberance Sunday. Between one sporting event and another, I think we observed a good few minutes of Silence. I suppose, what one is meant to do in those quiet moments is to reflect upon the horrors of war, all the lives lost and the reasons why. Rememberance Sunday was born from the first world war, and I doubt many of us really know why that happened in anything except the most general terms. I’m certainly quite sure that I don’t. Some more recent wars have been a bit clearer, others have been equally murky. A lot of them seem rather unnecessary.
In a couple of weeks the SF novels Empires: Extraction and Empires: Infiltration come out. Like Elite: Wanted, these both have a colon in the title and are coming out under the name of Gavin Deas on account of having been co-written with Gavin Smith. Unlike Elite, we each got to do our own whole novel in Empires. Although most of the events are set in 2015, Extraction starts twenty years earlier, in Bosnia, in 1995, with the massacre of Srebenica (or at least a part of it). Around that time I was exchanging a few letters with a Slovenian girl I’d met on a train a couple of years before and who happened to be into the same music as I was, and yes, OK, Slovenia wasn’t Bosnia, but it wasn’t exactly Scotland either. We didn’t talk about what was happening to what was once Yugoslavia, but it shamed me later to realise how ignorant I was, which is why this week’s giveaway is the way it is.
It’s also quite sweary, that opening chapter. I’m sure there are genteel squaddies out there, but I haven’t met them yet.
Other news: here’s a review for Elite: Wanted…
And here’s a review for The Royalist…
“Deas … integrates history and narrative knowledgeably, with wisdom that shines through in Falkland’s voice based on his experience of the tragedy of war.” The Historical Novel Society
The rest of the last week was spent working on a third Nathan Hawke story, Dragon’s Reach, which is centred around Oribas and Achista and what happens when Gallow isn’t around and the forkbeads are out for their revenge.
Now to the giveaway:
The covers are a bit of a clue as to the content. I think they’re well suited for what’s inside. In Extraction, it’s basically badass aliens, snarky spaceships and sweary SAS men. I think Gav give Infiltration a slightly darker, edgier feel, but then the novels have their differences in what’s going on around each protagonist. If you like you that sort of thing, the way the two novels both mesh and work on their own is pretty cool.
This week’s giveaway is a copy of Extraction and Infiltration. There’s a possibility I can get Gavin to sign Infiltration so they’ll be a matched pair. You can read the first chapter of Extraction here.
Usual deal – comment on this post before November 16th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victims for a free copy. This week’s “game” isn’t game, really, but I’d like to know what else we should remember, lest we all forget. Or if that’s too touchy or difficult a subject, just comment and say “hi” to enter.
Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far. Am currently up to date with sending things out except theat Dragon Queen T-Short from months ago which I still haven’t had printed but I haven’t forgotten either!
November 10th, 2014 at 7: 01 pm
Today..11.11.2014 is the U.S. equivalent of Remembrance Day, Veterans Day…I have 3 vets who fought in WW II to remember, a father and 2 uncles and many others who are friends and relatives still alive who served since.
Be that as it may it seems war in one form or another is a fact of life these days..and will long be a subject to be explored b authors..It would be interesting to see Gavin Deas’ take on this.
November 10th, 2014 at 7: 48 pm
I love how the covers line up .Nice.
We should remember all the casualties of conflict, Not just the soldiers but the civilians .
November 10th, 2014 at 9: 08 pm
Huzzah, more Achista!
November 10th, 2014 at 9: 52 pm
Colon me up, good sir!
November 11th, 2014 at 12: 26 am
We should always remember shortbread. There is no life without shortbread. And Irn Bru.
November 11th, 2014 at 9: 15 am
Hi Stephen, we should remember the inventors who make our life easier every day with their innovations and we should especially remember the failed inventor’s who see a bad idea and run with it anyway. Love the stubborn Stephen!
November 11th, 2014 at 2: 38 pm
We should remember that no one is an island, we are all interconnected.
November 13th, 2014 at 11: 36 am
We should remember… oh, er, damn.
November 13th, 2014 at 11: 42 am
I realise I am a bit slow, but I have just twigged the Royalist connection – love that book!
November 13th, 2014 at 5: 27 pm
Pick a Genre man… im not normally SCIFI but for you… and seriously.,..big moment…for you i will try it
November 14th, 2014 at 4: 00 pm
Hi as said before love your work and look forward to our next literary encounter
November 14th, 2014 at 7: 30 pm
Hihihihihihihihihi!!!
November 15th, 2014 at 1: 57 pm
Remember where you left the keys to the space craft.
You don’t want to be looking, or fumbling, for the keys when the bugs are on your six and you’ve got wounded.
November 15th, 2014 at 2: 47 pm
Remember those who fought and died in conflicts forgotten by most…no matter how long ago they occurred.
November 16th, 2014 at 4: 02 pm
The Gods of Random seem to like multiples of seven at the moment. Adam gets it.