Barnes & Noble
A new review of The Last Good Man has gone up at the Barnes & Noble SFF blog. Read it here.

And, perhaps not by coincidence, Barnes & Noble is offering a 23% discount on preorders of the print edition. I have no idea how long this discount will last, but here’s the link.

Giveaways
On Twitter, I’m doing a giveaway of The Last Good Man. All you need to do to enter is retweet this tweet — and by doing so you’re helping me get the word out to potential new readers! So if you’re on Twitter, I’d really appreciate some more RTs:

I have an early copy of THE LAST GOOD MAN to give away! RT this by 5/28 for a chance to win it. PW starred review. #nearfuture #SciFi #milSF pic.twitter.com/dRMMZTsDqn

— Linda Nagata (@LindaNagata) May 18, 2017

Don’t forget, there is also an ongoing Goodreads Giveaway.

New Arrivals
Two new arrivals have shown up recently in my mailbox. Here, Xena is keeping an eye on the Polish edition of The Trials, translated by Mirosław P. Jabłoński, and published by Rebis:

Here are print copies of Cosmic Powers, a short story collection that includes my contribution “Diamond and the World Breaker.” Cosmic Powers is available in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions:

It seemed timely, so I posted this snippet from THE TRIALS, book 2 of The Red trilogy on Twitter a couple of days ago, and now I’ll repost it here:

For those of you who like to nominate for the annual science fiction and fantasy awards, including the Nebula and Hugo awards, here’s a roundup of my 2015 award-eligible work.

In the short story category…

“The Way Home” is a military fantasy story that reads like science fiction. It belongs to the subgenre known as “portal stories” in which ordinary people pass through some sort of portal to an extraordinary world. Bluntly, I think this is one of the best short stories I’ve ever written. I like its structure, its characterization, and its compactness — it contains an action story with multiple characters in only 6,300 words. Since I tend to write long, I take the latter as a personal victory. All that said, the story has garnered very little interest. So judge for yourself! “The Way Home” was reprinted at Lightspeed Magazine where it’s available to read free online.

In the novel category…

The Trials
book 2
The Red Trilogy

Going Dark
book 3
The Red Trilogy

The books in The Red Trilogy are fast-paced, near-future, high-tech science fiction thrillers. The Trials continues the story begun in the Nebula and Campbell-nominated The Red, and Going Dark completes that story.

A short history for those of you new to The Red Trilogy: The Red was originally self-published in 2013. It was republished by Simon & Schuster’s Saga Press this past June, with The Trials following in August, and Going Dark released in November.

Edit: this sale price is no longer available. As of this writing, the ebook of The Trials (and also of The Red) is on sale at most ebook vendors for $1.99, so if you’re interested, this is a great time to pick them up.

Edit: For the month of February 2016, the Saga Press ebook editions of all volumes in The Red Trilogy are priced at $2.99 each.

SFWA members: ebook and PDF editions of all three volumes of The Red Trilogy are available for download in the SFWA Forum. Once you’re logged in, you can find them by following this link.

That’s it! Thanks for stopping by.

I have no idea how long this will last [Edit: runs through December], but Amazon has put the Kindle editions of both The Red and The Trials on sale for $1.99 each. Tell your friends! Tell everyone! Don’t say I didn’t tell you. 😉

By the way, neither book has ever been discounted before.

Oh, and the math works out so that you can get the entire trilogy for $12.97 + tax.

Edit: The $1.99 price is also available at both iBooks and Barnes & Noble and Kobo! Sale applies to the Saga edition.

Edit 2: The United Kingdom edition is also on sale. It’s £1.99 at Amazon. Hopefully it’s priced the same at Kobo, though I can’t actually see the page from within the USA.

A few reviews have posted in September — two for The Trials and one for The Red.

At Tor.com, Stefan Raets had a few criticisms of The Trials, but he also says:

I really love these books most of all for what they are: some of the most action-packed and intelligent military science fiction to be released in years[…] I can confidently say that, if you loved The Red, chances are that you’ll love The Trials too.

Read the full review here.

* * *

Back in August, Sharon Browning at LitStack Review took a look at The Red. She’s now reviewed The Trials as well, saying:

The Trials aptly continues the terse and involving story begun in The Red: First Light. The action of The Trials is more closely contained than in the previous book; the focus is set more directly on Lt. Shelley and the affects of the Red in his life rather than on sweeping missions run by a larger military. But the stakes are just as high.

Like the best middle installments of trilogies, The Trials moves us deeper into the psyches and lives of the characters we have met, while still broadening the threat to the world and setting up a huge payoff.

Read the full review here.

* * *

And Sarah at Bookworm Blues, reviews The Red, saying:

First Light by Linda Nagata is… wow. Really, that’s all you need to know.

🙂 But there’s a lot more to the review!

Read it in full here.

Help!

Have you ever written a customer review of a book you’ve read at Amazon or at the Barnes & Noble website? Or at Powells.com?** Would you ever consider doing so?

Those reviews really do matter because they help to determine the perceived popularity of a book in Amazon’s algorithms, and the more popular a book, the more likely it is to be recommended to readers browsing the website — which means it’s more likely to be bought by other readers, who might in turn enjoy the book and recommend it. Ideally this turns into a cascade of recommendations that lets a writer stay in business.

I assume a similar system is at work on the B&N website.

So I’m asking for your help. If you enjoyed The Red or The Trials or both, consider posting a short review. You don’t have to actually review the books. Some people do, but many just post short reader comments — for example: “Great read. Looking forward to the next book.” — and that’s fine. That’s all it takes.

Oh, and this is not just about my books. Do consider leaving a customer review for any book you enjoy! Trust me on this: The author will appreciate it.

And THANK YOU to everyone who has already posted a review. 🙂

Okay, back to writing.

When I sold The Red Trilogy to Saga Press, I was able to retain the right to publish the books separately in the United Kingdom. I’m doing so under my own publishing imprint, Mythic Island Press LLC.

What does this mean for readers in the UK? It means you’ll get an ebook with the text formatted by me, and cover art that’s different from the American edition. Be assured though, that the stories are the same.

For now, I’m only doing ebook editions of the trilogy.

The ebook of The Red: First Light has already been available in the UK for around a month. It has the same cover as the original Mythic Island Press edition, but the text is revised from the original, making it the same as the Saga Press edition.

I’m very pleased to announce that The Trials is now available as well!

You can find both ebooks at Amazon UK.

The Red: First Light is also available through Kobo to residents of Great Britain, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Trials will also soon be available at Kobo, hopefully within a week.

Amazon links:
The Red: First Light
The Trials

Kobo links:
The Red: First Light
(9781937197193)
The Trials
(9781937197186)

I can’t resist a countdown.

The Trials is book 2 of the Red Trilogy and its publication date is only ONE WEEK away.

You can order it from your local bookstore, or preorder online. Here are links to some US retailers:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell’s Books
Mysterious Galaxy
Tattered Cover

The Trials will be available in multiple formats: hard cover, paperback, ebook, and audio book.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Lieutenant James Shelley and his squad of US Army soldiers were on a quest for justice when they carried out the unauthorized mission known as First Light. They returned home to America to face a court-martial, determined to expose the corruption in the chain of command that compelled their actions. But in a country still reeling from the nuclear terrorism of Coma Day, the courtroom is just one battlefield of many.

A new cycle of violence ignites when rumors of the elusive, rogue AI known as the Red go publicand Shelley is, once again, pulled into the fray. Challenged by his enemies, driven by ideals, Shelley feels compelled to act. But are the harrowing choices he makes really his own, or are they made for him, by the Red? And with millions of lives at stake in a game of nuclear cat-and-mouse, does the answer even matter?

Yes, I’m excited!

The Trials is book 2 of the Red Trilogy and its publication date is only two weeks away.

You can order it from your local bookstore, or preorder online. Here are links to some US retailers:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell’s Books
Mysterious Galaxy
Tattered Cover

The Trials will be available in multiple formats: hard cover, paperback, ebook, and audio book.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Lieutenant James Shelley and his squad of US Army soldiers were on a quest for justice when they carried out the unauthorized mission known as First Light. They returned home to America to face a court-martial, determined to expose the corruption in the chain of command that compelled their actions. But in a country still reeling from the nuclear terrorism of Coma Day, the courtroom is just one battlefield of many.

A new cycle of violence ignites when rumors of the elusive, rogue AI known as the Red go publicand Shelley is, once again, pulled into the fray. Challenged by his enemies, driven by ideals, Shelley feels compelled to act. But are the harrowing choices he makes really his own, or are they made for him, by the Red? And with millions of lives at stake in a game of nuclear cat-and-mouse, does the answer even matter?

One month until The Trials publishes!

The Trials is book 2 of The Red Trilogy and it’s due to publish on August 18. For those of you who read the self-published edition of The Red, it’s been a long wait. Thank you for sticking with me. I think you’ll find there’s a lot going on in book 2, and I hope it’s to your liking.

The Trials is available for preorder from most retailers, in simultaneous hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions, and there will also be an audiobook. So you can pick your favorite format.

I’ve seen no reviews yet. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best. Here’s the back-cover copy:

“No Way Out But Forward”

A new cycle of violence ignites when rumors of the elusive, rogue AI known as the Red go public and Shelley is, once again, pulled into the fray. Challenged by his enemies, driven by ideals, Shelley feels compelled to act. But are the harrowing choices he makes really his own, or are they made for him, by the Red? And with millions of lives at stake in a game of nuclear cat-and-mouse, does the answer even matter?

Order from your local bookstore, or find it online. Here are links to some US retailers:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell’s Books
Mysterious Galaxy
Tattered Cover