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Saga Press, the American publisher of my military thriller The Red, has put the ebook edition on sale for the month of June for just $1.99.

This sale comes with a couple of caveats:
• It’s available in limited territories, primarily the USA and Canada.
• It’s definitely on sale at Amazon, and it’s possibly on sale at other vendors. (This is out of my control, so I can’t say for sure.)

So, about The Red…

• Nominated for the Nebula Award
• Finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award
• Selected for the Locus Recommended Reading List
• Publishers Weekly starred review
• Publishers Weekly Best Books 2015

Despite all that, it never sold well. If you haven’t yet encountered The Red, I hope you’ll give it a try. Even if you don’t like military science fiction, this one might work for you. Here’s the description:

“There Needs To Be A War Going On Somewhere”

Lieutenant James Shelley commands a high-tech squad of soldiers in a rural district within the African Sahel. They hunt insurgents each night on a harrowing patrol, guided by three simple goals: protect civilians, kill the enemy, and stay alive—because in a for-profit war manufactured by the defense industry there can be no cause worth dying for. To keep his soldiers safe, Shelley uses every high-tech asset available to him—but his best weapon is a flawless sense of imminent danger…as if God is with him, whispering warnings in his ear. (Hazard Notice: contains military grade profanity.)

Amazon US (paid link) — Amazon CA

This past Saturday, I got on an airplane for the first time since December 2019. It was just a twenty minute flight to Honolulu, but it felt like a big step forward. Ron and I were able to see our daughter and son-in-law for the first time in…well, since December 2019, for me. And though we talk a lot between phone calls and Facetime, it’s not the same as seeing people in person and sharing a meal.

In fact, Saturday evening was the first time I’ve eaten in a restaurant in well over a year.

Yes, we are ALL vaccinated. Of course we are! We got our vaccines as soon as they were available to us.

Hawaii still has a mask mandate for when people are inside, and many of us still wear masks in many outside situations. (Probably not at the beach anymore, though.) Even so, I was very surprised how things suddenly felt “normal.” Sitting in a restaurant for two hours without a mask didn’t bother me, and weirdly, since then, I’ve almost forgotten to put my mask on a couple of times in situations that demanded it.

That said, Hawaii’s case count continues to slowly climb. As elsewhere, we need more people to get vaccinated. I see it as a civic duty — essentially, a gift to our fellow citizens. I’m extremely grateful that there is a vaccine. We are so fortunate here in America that we have access to it. There are billions of people in the rest of the world who would dearly love the opportunity to be vaccinated — but it will be a long time before many of them have the opportunity that is available to us now.

Update: June 14, 2021:
The sale is over! THANK YOU to everyone who helped spread the word about the sale, and of course, to everyone who picked up a copy! If you haven’t done so yet, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER and you’ll get news of future sales (among other things) directly in your inbox.

The Bohr Maker was my first novel. It sold for a small advance and was published as a mass-market paperback with no hardcover edition. This was before ebooks, but was essentially the equivalent of an ebook-only publication. On the plus side, it had a gorgeous Bruce Jensen cover—and it earned fantastic reviews.

Then, boom! It was out of print within roughly a year. Only when it went on to win the Locus Award for best first novel did it enjoy a brief second run at the market before fading away.

That was the maddening start to my maddening career. But many more readers have had the chance to enjoy The Bohr Maker since it found new life as an ebook, and I’d like to persuade even more to give it a try.

So if an award-winning novel of nanotechnology, adventure, and high-tech revolution sounds good to you, please check it out now, because the ebook is on sale this week for just 99¢/£0.99/€0.99, etc. Available at Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and BN.

Find more info and vendor links at my website.

Days of Storm, book 3 of The Wild Trilogy, is out today.

To read about the origin of The Wild Trilogy, follow this link.

Days of Storm picks up where book 2, The Long War, left off:

Bennek senses change flooding the world. Dread weighs on him, and he fears what is to come. But Jahallon sees hope.

Gifted with foresight, Jahallon is certain it won’t be much longer before Lanyon returns, bringing the talisman with her. Determined to distract and weaken Lanyon’s enemies before they have a chance to waylay her, he launches a great offensive against both the Inyomere Siddél and the sorcerer Édan.

With his growing skills, Bennek serves at Jahallon’s side, directing Habaddon’s army — but his skills are not enough to contend against Édan, while Siddél remains an even greater enemy. All the while, time is running short.

Days of Storm is the concluding volume of The Wild Trilogy. And though I love this series, it’s very likely to be the last epic fantasy I ever write.

The Wild Trilogy was such a long time in the making. I remember working on it when my father was still alive, and his impatience to see it done. Well, it’s finally done now and properly published. One more loose end tied up in the waning days of my career. I hope you enjoy it.

Find Days of Storm at Amazon

The Snow Chanter is a Kindle Countdown Deal!

The third and final volume of my epic fantasy series The Wild Trilogy comes out this Friday. To encourage more people to try the series, book 1 is now on sale, for a limited time. Get it for just 99¢/0.99£ (US & UK Amazon only).

Amazon US (paid link)
Amazon UK

Visit my website to learn more about The Wild Trilogy and to read the opening chapters — or head over to Amazon and grab a copy of The Snow Chanter while it’s still on sale!

The Long War, book 2 of The Wild Trilogy, is out today.

To read about the origin of The Wild Trilogy, follow this link.

The Long War picks up where book 1, The Snow Chanter, left off:

The future of the people hangs in the balance as Lanyon continues her journey north. She must find the Storm Lair, home of the Inyomere Siddél, where she’ll have one more chance to slay the great spirit of storm. But her journey grows ever more perilous and strange, and even her devoted companions cannot keep her safe.

Bennek, meanwhile, has been taken south to Habaddon. Through Lanyon’s magic he has survived terrible injury, yet he still needs time to heal. But time is short — and Siddél is resolved to destroy Habaddon. As the great Inyomere sends ever more arowl south towards the city, Bennek finds himself swept up in a relentlessly brutal war.

The Wild Trilogy will conclude with book 3, Days of Storm, scheduled to release on April 9 and available now for preorder.

Find The Long War at Amazon

Stories of the Puzzle Lands is a Kindle Countdown Deal!

99¢ US/0.99£ UK gets you two novels of dark, gritty, HUMOROUS sword & sorcery — plus a bonus short story. (ebook edition/Amazon only).

Amazon US (paid link)

Amazon UK

What’s it about?
His name is Smoke, though some know him as the Demon Dismay. He’s a charming, well-armed young murderer who is not altogether human. Smoke’s purpose in life is to mete out the stern justice of a vindictive goddess, and he is pleased to do it — that is, until he finds other things to live for. A woman, a child, a quiet home deep in the forest. He is so far from anywhere he can no longer hear the haunting prayers of those who would ask him to deliver them vengeance. But the quiet life is not Smoke’s fate.

This week only.

As a writer, I plead guilty to genre-hopping. I’ve written near-future, far-future, and military science fiction, as well as science fiction thrillers and grim-dark sword & sorcery. And with The Wild Trilogy, I can include epic fantasy too.

Book 1, The Snow Chanter is available now.

Book 2 releases on March 26, and Book 3 on April 9.

(links to Amazon are affiliate links)

So what’s The Wild Trilogy about?
Here’s the teaser:

Three young warriors risk death to find the fabled Snow Chanter—a nature spirit who might aid them in their quest to restore balance to the world. As they venture north into a wild and forbidden land, they chance to meet a strange young woman—a sorceress, with ambitions even greater than their own.

Click through to Amazon to read more about book 1.

So where did this trilogy come from?
Well, it’s been years in the making. Last December I wrote about The Wild Trilogy, its long history, and what the project means to me. Follow this link to read that post.

I suspect most of you who visit this blog are predominantly science fiction readers, but if you like epic fantasy too, I hope you’ll give The Wild Trilogy a try. It begins with book 1, The Snow Chanter.

The Long War will be out next week, and two weeks after that, the concluding volume, Days of Storm.

Three short novels that took me years to write! I hope you enjoy them.

This post was originally published in my February 18th newsletter. If you haven’t yet signed up for my newsletter, you really, really should. It’s fun, it’s once every four weeks (with an occasional special issue), and it’s the best way to stay in touch. Sign up here.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the only way for me to find new science fiction was to visit the little Waldenbooks at Maui Mall. Two short shelves held the full selection of mass-market paperbacks—the only format I could afford. It took only a few minutes to peruse the titles. Very often, I came away with something excellent to read. One of those lucky finds was a novel called The Broken God by David Zindell. I loved this book enough to go on to read the rest of the trilogy. Sometime later, I happened to be talking to a friend when the subject of David Zindell’s work came up.

Him: “Have you read Neverness?

Me: “Well, uh, no…”

Him: “It takes place before The Broken God—and you have to read it. It’s one of my favorite books of all time!”

So of course I eventually hunted down a copy. I remember that I didn’t like it as much as the later books. But recently I had an urge to revisit the story world of Neverness and decided that this time I’d tackle the books in the proper order, starting with Neverness itself. An excellent decision!

Neverness is a long, complicated, truly amazing novel. It belongs in a class with Dune for the detail and originality of its world-building, and also because, like Dune, it is in large part a philosophical novel, concerned with ultimate questions and the place of humanity in the Universe—though of course the story includes conflict and action too.

The protagonist, Mallory Ringess, is a pilot in an order dedicated to seeking knowledge throughout the galaxy. In one-person lightships, these pilots use complex mathematics to navigate the “manifold,” allowing them to jump from star to star—not instantly, but within endurable timespans.

But Neverness is not concerned only with the future. A reconstructed ancient past also plays a large part in the story.

Mallory is a sympathetic character, though not entirely likable, and I think that’s why, on my long-ago first reading, I didn’t love this book as much as those that followed. Even so, the story is fascinating. And although Neverness was originally published in 1988, it rarely shows its age.

If you’re looking for a fast read, this isn’t it. But if what you enjoy is a deep dive into an enthralling, uncertain future, Neverness is for you. When you reach the last page, you’ll know you’ve been on a magnificent journey.

Neverness is available at Amazon. (affiliate link)

PS: reading the reviews at Amazon, this is either a love-it or hate-it book. 🙂

On Facebook, a reader asked why more of my books haven’t been translated into Polish. The question applies to other languages too, of course.

Here is the answer I gave:

I wish it were different. I’d love to see more of my books translated into other languages, but that requires a publisher willing and able to take on the project.