Episode 160: Breakfield & Burkey – Enigma Tracer

A chat with the writing team of Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey about their long-running techno-thriller series, Enigma, and Enigma Tracer, first book in their new Enigma Heirs trilogy.

Website
enigmabookseries.com

Facebook
@TheEnigmaSeries

X
@EnigmaSeries
@1rburkey

Instagram
@enigmabookseries

YouTube

Amazon Links for Engima Tracer
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

About the Book

The clock is ticking … can Gracie uncover the truth?

Phillip Pliant is the wealthy opportunist plastics dealer, and CEO of Pliant Industries. He’s also a master thief—creating a pervasive threat to the manufacturing infrastructure in the Caribbean islands. With the cartel as his stealth client, the naïve city leaders have been seduced, enabling the production of more than 3-dimensional building materials.

And set the stage for massive chaos and destruction.

Pliant has locked up contracts, assets, and control of any future expansion. His contacts and clients salivate over their probable financial reward—the expected profits are monstrous.

Is the R-Group, now led by Gracie and the family heirs, strong enough to win against this predator? Can JJ’s CATS (Cyber Assassin Technology Services) act on the root-cause analysis in time?

  • Will the R-Group and CATS sabotage Pliant’s plan before it’s too late?
  • Can Jeff and Keith use their covert skills to put the bad guys away for good?
  • Will Gracie be able to squash Pliant and the cartels?

Can the chain of islands survive the underhanded tactics and threats? 

Gracie never considered their lives would hang in the balance between winning and losing. Will the devious plot be uncovered in time? The clock is ticking. Five … four … three …

About Breakfield & Burkey

Charles Breakfield works for a high-tech manufacturer as a solution architect, functioning in hybrid data/telecom environments. He considers himself a long-time technology geek, who also enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. Charles’s love of wine tastings, cooking, and Harley riding has found its way into the stories. As a child, he moved often because of his father’s military career, which even helps him with the various character perspectives he brings to life in the series. He continues to try to teach Burkey
humor.


Rox Burkey works as a business architect who builds solutions for customers on a good technology foundation. As a child, she helped to lead the kids with exciting new adventures built on make-believe characters, was a Girl Scout until high school, and contributed to the community as a young member of a Head Start program. Rox enjoys family, learning, listening to people, travel, outdoor activities, sewing, cooking, and thinking about diversifying the series.

Together, they started writing non-fictional papers and books, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as writing fictional stories. They found it interesting to use the aspects of technology people are incorporating into their daily lives more and more as a perfect way to create a good guy/bad guy story, with elements of travel to the various places they have visited either professionally and personally, humour, romance, intrigue, and suspense, and a spirited way to remember people who have crossed paths with them. They love to talk about their stories with private and public book readings.

Burkey also conducts regular interviews with Texas authors, which she finds very interesting. Her first interview was, wait for it, Breakfield. You can often find them at local book fairs or other family-oriented events.

Episode 159: Steve Truitt – The Mindset Chronicles

A chat with author and former television host Steve Truitt about his new science fiction novel series, The Mindset Chronicles.

Website
stevetruitt.com

Facebook
@AuthorSteveTruitt

Amazon Links for The Deletion
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

Steve Truitt’s Amazon Page

About the Book

In a world where artificial intelligence has become an integral part of daily life, the sudden death of all AI sends society into a tailspin – a disconnected, surreal post-AI period known as The Deletion. As the world struggles to come to terms with the loss, bad boy genius, Peter Eriksson, has invented a new form of interconnection called MindSet to reconnect the world in this strange new time. Conceived from a century-old concept, “Crowd Wisdom,” this revolutionary device links the minds of all of those who possess the necessary implants, becoming the only hope for humanity to rebuild and recover from the loss of AI.

But Bethany Okoyé—Peter’s part-time lover/part-time rival—remains leery of Peter’s devices and isn’t shy about making her opinion known.

It is only when humanity encounters a global challenge unlike any other, that the two must find a way to work together to address a threat that could endanger the very nature of reality itself.

With action, suspense, and thought-provoking themes, this science fiction novel explores the dangers of our reliance on technology and the possible consequences of a world without it, while also delving into the potential benefits and dangers of a mind-connected society.

About Steve Truitt

Steve Truitt has been hooked on science, science fiction, and the future since he was three years old and his mother sat him down in front of the TV to watch the launch of Apollo 11. An avid space enthusiast, NASA history buff, and flown-in-space memorabilia collector, he’s a proud member of the National Space Society and the Planetary Society and boast the impressive fact of having met five moonwalkers.

Steve has served as a Los Angeles TV news anchor and hosted such acclaimed science & technology programs as National Geographic’s The Human Edge and Discovery Channel’s Cool Stuff: How It Works. He’s also hosted Dream DecodersGround Rules!, and Sony Playstation’s annual coverage of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). He co-created and co-produced the renowned Discovery series Born Schizophrenic, which earned him and his team the CINE Foundation’s Golden Eagle Award for Excellence in documentary television. 

An avid Star Trek fan, he is also the co-creator and co-host of “Energize! A Star Trek Podcast,” which breaks down episodes of current Star Trek series. He even (after a determined letter-writing campaign) made a one-line appearance on Star Trek: Enterprise (Season 3, Episode 21).

Now a successful coach, trainer, and motivational speaker, Steve was awarded with the Reader Views Prize for Best Motivational Book of the Year for Stop Waiting For Permission!

His bestselling first novel, The Deletion, which examines life in a post-artificial intelligence world where a disconnected society scrambles for a solution thorough new form of interconnection called MindSet, came out last February. Book 2, The Spill,comes out this May.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four daughters.

Episode 158: Danièle Cybulskie – Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World

A chat with noted medievalist Danièle Cybulskie about her new book, Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World.

Website
danielecybulskie.com

X/Twitter
@5minmedievalist

Facebook
@5MinMedievalist

Instagram
@5minmedievalist

YouTube
@5MinMedievalist

Amazon Links for Chivalry and Courtesy
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Danièle Cybulskie’s Amazon Page

About the Book

Medieval people are often portrayed as having poor hygiene and table manners—licking their knives or throwing chicken bones on the floor. In the Middle Ages, however, such behavior was not tolerated. Medieval society cherished order in nearly every facet of life, from regular handwashing to daily prayer. There were consequences if you didn’t adhere to the rules of good behavior: you wouldn’t be invited to the lord’s next dinner, you wouldn’t win the battle, and you wouldn’t win the lady.

Author Daniele Cybulskie explores the world of etiquette from the time of Chaucer to the court of Elizabeth I, encompassing table manners and interpersonal relationships as well as running a household and ruling a kingdom. With wit and insight, Cybulskie draws on a wide variety of primary sources, from courtiers’ handbooks to romantic poems. Though we may no longer need best practices for things like dueling or ordering about our servants, the principles of generosity, kindness, and respect still apply today. After all, it’s a good reminder to “be companionable no matter who you are with” and to not “chew on bones because that is what dogs do.”

Illustrated with original drawings by Anna Lobanova as well as eighty medieval artworks, Chivalry and Courtesy is full of good advice for everyone, whether you are a peasant or a knight, a student or a CEO, a king or a queen.

Praise for  Danièle Cybulskie’s Chivalry and Courtesy

“Playful, learned, and bursting with golden nuggets of information―a joyful book that shows us how medieval history still matters in surprising ways.” ― Dan Jones, New York Times bestselling author and presenter of Netflix’s Secrets of Great British Castles

“A must read for anyone who wants to brush up on the finer points of etiquette, or who just wants to be a better human being.” ― Eleanor Janega, author of The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society and creator of the blog Going Medieval

“Daniele Cybulskie has done it again: no one is better at bringing the medieval world to life. . . . There’s so much to learn from the Middle Ages, and this wonderful book―supremely elegant, witty, expert, and wise―is the ideal guide.” ― Helen Castor, medieval historian, broadcaster, and author of She-Wolves and Joan of Arc

About Danièle Cybulskie

As a writer, podcaster, TEDx and professional speaker, Danièle has been making the Middle Ages fun, entertaining, and accessible for over a decade. A former college professor, she is the author of four books and hundreds of articles on medieval history.

The creator and host of The Medieval Podcast and ExtraMedieval, Danièle brings expertise and a sense of humour to the airwaves to dispel common myths about the medieval period, and enrich our understanding about the people of the past.

Her writing, videos, and podcasts have been used as resources in elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities across North America. The Middle Ages and the Modern World: Facts and Fiction, a course she co-created, is currently offered at eight colleges across Ontario via OntarioLearn.

In 2020, Danièle built The Medieval Masterclass for Creators, an online course designed to provide novelists, game developers, and other fiction creators with expert information in a visual format to help them bring their medieval worlds to life. She continues to offer her expertise to creators through one-on-one consulting.

Called a “tireless champion promoting medieval studies to both general and academic audiences”, Danièle is the winner of the 2019 Lone Medievalist Prize for Scholarly Outreach for The Medieval Podcast, and the 200+ articles she has contributed to Medievalists.net.

When she’s not reading, writing, or recording, Danièle can be found drinking tea, doing Krav Maga, or sometimes building a backyard trebuchet.

Episode 157: Marie Brennan – The Market of 100 Fortunes (Legend of the Five Rings Book 3)

A chat with Hugo-nominated author Marie Brennan about her Legend of the Five Rings trilogy, which just wrapped up with The Market of 100 Fortunes.

Website
swantower.com

Bluesky

Patreon

Amazon Links for The Market of 100 Fortunes
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Marie Brennan’s Amazon Page

About the Book

Enthralling fantasy mystery from the world of Legend of the Five Rings as two samurai risk everything to rescue an old friend from the clutches of a shadowy trickster

Having vanquished demons and halted invasions of devious creatures from the Spirit Realms, Asako Sekken and Agasha no Isao Ryotora are finally going to be married. But when a note from their old ally Sayashi arrives unexpectedly, the samurai find themselves dragged into another supernatural mystery.

Their investigation leads them to Crane lands and an ancient market ruled by a mysterious being. Now Sekken and Ryotora must use all their wit and charm to save Sayashi from a hundred year bargain before they find themselves embroiled in a conflict with a forgotten deity of unimaginable power.

Indiana Jones meets Teen Titans in The Dream Rider Saga, a fast-paced urban fantasy trilogy from “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction” (Library Journal).

Praise for Marie Brennan’s Legend of the Five Rings trilogy

“Both protagonists are pining idiots, though for fascinatingly different reasons. Five out of Five.” — Lauren’s Bookshelf, on The Night Parade of 100 Demons

“It transcends its tie-in roots to deliver a powerful, emotional tale of loyalty, honour, duty and love.” — Track of Words, on The Night Parade of 100 Demons

“An absolute ‘must read’ choice for fans of Samurai novels and Heroic Fantasy Fiction” — Midwest Book Review, on The Game of 100 Candles

About Marie Brennan

Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly leans on her academic fields for inspiration. She recently misapplied her professors’ hard work to The Market of 100 Fortunes and the short novel Driftwood.

She is the author of the Hugo Award-nominated Victorian adventure series The Memoirs of Lady Trent along with several other series, over eighty short stories, several poems, and the New Worlds series of worldbuilding guides; as half of M.A. Carrick, she has written the epic Rook and Rose trilogy, beginning with The Mask of Mirrors.

Episode 156: Douglas Smith – The Lost Expedition (The Dream Rider Saga, Book 3)

A chat with Canadian author Douglas Smith about his young adult fantasy trilogy The Dream Rider Saga, which has just culminated in Book 3, The Lost Expedition.

Website
smithwriter.com

Facebook
@WritingtheFantastic

X/Twitter
@smithwritr

Instagram
@douglassmithwriter

Amazon Links for The Lost Expedition
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Douglas Smith’s Amazon Page

About the Book

The Thrilling Conclusion to the Multi-Award-Winning Trilogy

Will is the Dream Rider, the superhero who walks in our dreams but never in the streets of his own city. Case is his girlfriend, a survivor of those streets who hears voices warning her of danger. Fader, her brother, is very good at disappearing.

In The Hollow Boys, they defeated a body swapper and a witch to save the world. In The Crystal Key, they battled warring cults to protect an ancient artifact tied to Will’s affliction.

The Chakana. The Crystal Key. But the key to what? To finding answers, they hope, to the questions that rule their lives.
What caused their strange powers? And Will’s crippling agoraphobia? Can he be cured? Why did their parents travel to the jungles of Peru eight years ago? Are they still alive?

Behind every question is the Chakana. What is the mysterious relic? Why will people kill to possess it? What hold does it have on Will?

As creatures from Inca myths haunt the three friends, another attack on the Chakana threatens Will’s life. To save him and solve the mystery of the lost expedition, only one choice remains. Return to Peru. With the Chakana.

There, they find friends and foes, both old and new. And behind it all, an unseen enemy moving them like pieces on a chessboard. To win this deadly game, Will, Case, and Fader must master new powers to defeat the most dangerous adversary they’ve ever faced—a god.

At stake this time? Every life, every world, every universe. Everything.

Indiana Jones meets Teen Titans in The Dream Rider Saga, a fast-paced urban fantasy trilogy from “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction” (Library Journal).

Praise for The Dream Rider Saga

The Lost Expedition (Book 3)

“Smith powers to an explosive conclusion in the finale of his Dream Rider series, a lavishly concocted ride brimming with magic, mystery, and mayhem… [and] bursting with dark magic, beastly protectors, and a slew of extraordinary fantasy characters … Smith skillfully probes deeper messages behind all the fun, as the main players face the consequences of humankind’s disregard for the Earth—and each other. … Takeaway: Explosive conclusion to this spectacular fantasy joyride.” — BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

The Hollow Boys (Book 1)
Winner of the Aurora Award for Best Young Adult Novel
Winner of the juried IAP Award for Best Young Adult Novel

This arresting series kickoff grips from the start as it introduces its inventive milieu, its flawed but fantastically powered hero, its playful worldbuilding, and a host of tantalizing mysteries. … Takeaway: Thrilling YA fantasy”—BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

“An assured, confident novel… A must-read story for YA fantasy fans.”—Blueink Review (Starred review)

“Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun.”—The Ottawa Review of Books

“A fun supernatural tale with well-developed characters and a touch of romance.”—Kirkus Reviews

The Crystal Key (Book 2)

“This thrilling superpowered urban fantasy series continues to grip.”—BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

“This fast-paced story delivers in a big way—and Smith has all his ducks lined up for an explosive conclusion that readers won’t want to miss.”—Blueink Review (Starred review)

The Crystal Key has everything that made The Hollow Boys work and turns it up a few notches. I can’t wait for the conclusion in The Lost Expedition.”—Ottawa Review of Books

About Douglas Smith

Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning author described by Library Journal as “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction.”

His latest work is the multi-award-winning YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow BoysThe Crystal Key, and The Lost Expedition). Other books include the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World; the collections, ChimerascopeImpossibilia, and La Danse des Esprits (translated); and the writer’s guide Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.

His short fiction has appeared in the top markets in the field, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionAmazing StoriesInterZoneWeird TalesBaen’s UniverseEscape PodOn Spec, and Cicada.

Published in twenty-seven languages, Doug is a four-time winner of Canada’s Aurora Award, most recently in 2023 for The Hollow Boys, as well as the juried IAP Award for the same book. He’s been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC’s Bookies Award, Canada’s juried Sunburst Award, the juried Alberta Magazine Award for Fiction, and France’s juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane

Episode 155: Matthew Hughes – A God in Hiding & The Emir’s Falcon

A chat with award-winning author Matthew Hughes about his newest fantasy novel, A God in Hiding, and his recent young adult outdoor adventure tale, The Emir’s Falcon (Shadowpaw Press).

Website
archonate.com

Facebook
@hapthorn

Amazon Links

A God in Hiding
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

The Emir’s Falcon
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Publisher’s Book Page for The Emir’s Falcon

About the Books

A God in Hiding

In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, Lieve Reder has risen from being a small chandler’s daughter to become the captain of a riverboat owned by House Bernaglio in the oligarch-run city of Exley. She has ambitions to rise higher and when her employer, the widow Philaria Bernaglio, asks her to travel to the remote desert town of Ur Nazim to retrieve a mysterious item her dead husband, Nulf Bernaglio ordered, she signs on to the quest.

Accompanied by Dai, an artificial human created by one of the mad thaumaturges of Olliphract to be part of the wizards’ deadly war games, she sets out on the perilous journey. But the object she is sent to collect turns out to be one of the abandoned, semi-sentient tools the demiurge used to create the cosmos in which she lives. It’s the kind of entity that can become a god. And other forces seek to possess it for their own purposes.

One challenge leads to another, leading Reder to embark on an even more dangerous quest, to the far northern rim of the world where she must awaken a powerful godlet that just wants to be left to dream in peace.

Along the way, she must contend with the assassins’ guild, secret agents of the Duke of Vanderoy, corruptible officials, a pair of quarreling, elderly wizard brothers, an ensorcelled flying reptile, ogres, cannibal weremen, and a surprise visitor who has the power to upend all of Phenomenality.

Through it all, Reder keeps her eyes on the prize: to move up in the world and make her own destiny.

The Emir’s Falcon

Named one of Spring 2023’s Best Books for Kids & Teens by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre

Finalist for Young Adult Fiction, 2023 High Plains Book Awards

Finalist for Best Crime Novella, 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence

“She was raised to be free, not some rich man’s pet . . . It’s just not right!”

Bernie Cholach’s dad wants him to take over the family’s rural Alberta feedlot, but Bernie has other ideas: he wants to be a biologist, an interest sparked by his experiences as a volunteer bird handler at a Canadian Wildlife Service facility that breeds and rears peregrine falcons for release into the wild.

Sheik Nasur bin Mukhta, son of a Persian Gulf emir, studying petroleum engineering at the University of Alberta, dutifully accepts his life’s course, laid out for him by his traditionalist culture.

Rosie Leboucan, daughter of a Métis trapper, running her injured dad’s trap line in the Swan Hills, is focused on keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table.

Then the Government of Canada decides to give the emir one of the peregrines as a diplomatic gift. It’s more than Bernie can stand. Impulsively, he takes the bird he has been tending—he’s named it Skyrider—and flees to a remote cabin in the Swan Hills wilderness.

The RCMP mount a search. Nasur, sent by his father to collect the bird, insists on being on the scene—which turns out to be both Rosie’s trapping territory and the territory of a hungry and dangerous mama grizzly bear with cubs.

The paths of the young people and the bear converge—and their coming together will send each in a new direction.

Praise for The Emir’s Falcon

“The Emir’s Falcon is a rich story that soars with action, drama and detail. It raises important issues of cultural and environmental conflict and still entertains and surprises right to the last sentence.” – Arthur Slade, author of Dust, winner of the Governor General’s Award

“One peregrine falcon raised in a breeding facility, to be released into the wilds of northern Alberta. Three older teens from different cultures, their lives already mapped out by parental expectations. An impulsive action by one places that falcon at the crux of a potential international incident and brings all to the brink of catastrophe in the wilderness. A fascinating and insightful read.” – Alison Lohans, author of TimefallDon’t Think Twice, and twenty-eight other books for young people and adults.

About Matthew Hughes

Matthew Hughes
Photo by Liza Groen Trombi, Locus Publications.

Matt (Matthew) Hughes writes fantasy, space opera, and crime fiction. He has sold numerous novels to publishers large and small in the UK, US, and Canada, as well as nearly 100 works of short fiction to professional markets.

He has won the Endeavour and Arthur Ellis Awards, and has been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Endeavour (twice), A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, and Derringer Awards.  He has been inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame.

Episode 154: David Nabhan – Thinwalker

A chat with David Nabhan, author of the new far-future nanotechnological science fiction thriller Thinwalker from Stairway Press.

Website
earthquakepredictors.com

X/Twitter
@DaveNabhan

Facebook
@David.Nabhan

Amazon Links
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Publisher’s Book Page

About the Book

Eight hundred years from now and a hundred light years from Earth, at the periphery of a vast interstellar civilization, humanity itself is changing—each individual injected at birth with ‘nanites,’ marvels of nanoscale technology that function in ways that are indispensable for almost every important transaction in life. This nexus between biology and technology is at the point of transforming the core of what it means to be human, with the next generation of nanites to impinge on the very thoughts of Homo sapiens.

Not everyone acquiesces to this vision of what humanity is becoming. The Free Range—at the far fringes of the colonized Spiral Arm and settled by individualists, free-thinkers, humanists—opposes this biomechanization of the spirit, to the death. Their struggle to preserve their own identity, their faiths, to prevent the hivemind from overcoming their culture as well, has given rise to a terrific resistance which, unfortunately for the free rangers, is ending badly.

One young free ranger, Enguerrand Duprey, has been abducted and compelled to act as bounty hunter for one of the most powerful men among hundreds of billions. The impossible realm into which Enguerrand is sent and the unfathomable quarry he is forced to seek sets off a series of events that strains the very fabric of the cosmos itself, daring to put effect before cause and setting into motion the most frightening event imaginable, one that will change not one universe, but two, and exposing something age-changing about the very nature of nature itself.

“A far-future, nanotechnological ‘vaccination’ tale like none other—some thousand years from now and a hundred lightyears away.” — Times of Israel

“Terrifying, unpredictable, intelligent sci-fi ending not so much with a whimper but with an unfathomable bang.” — WOBH, Auckland, New Zealand

About David Nabhan

David Nabhan is a science and science fiction writer who has been featured on the air or in print on a remarkable number of news fonts in the US and elsewhere–television, radio, and newspapers. The airtime and/or column space was garnered on some of the most recognized media venues in existence many, many hundreds of times: CBS News, Popular Science, Inside Edition, RT Television, London Daily Mail, Thom Hartmann Show, UK’s Naked Scientists, Howard Stern Show, Drudge Report, MSNBC/Sirius Joe Madison, Los Angeles Daily News, San Francisco Examiner, etc.

He is the author of four books concerning earthquakes, peer-reviewed papers on the subject, and many, many scores of newspaper and magazine op-eds regarding earthquakes, hydraulic fracking, dams and mining, climate issues and other important topics published on three continents and in two languages.

Thinwalker is his second novel; his first, The Pilots of Borealis (Skyhorse Publishing/Talos Press) came out in 2015.

Episode 153: Mark Morton – The Headmasters

A chat with author Mark Morton about his new young adult dystopian science fiction novel, The Headmasters, published by Shadowpaw Press.

Website
markmorton.ca

X/Twitter
@NotromKram

Facebook
@Mark.Morton.Author

Amazon Links
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com

Publisher’s Book Page

About the Book

How do you learn from the past if there isn’t one? 

Sixty years ago, something awful happened. Something that killed everyone except the people at Blue Ring. Something that caused the Headmasters to appear. But Maple doesn’t know what it was. Because talking about the past is forbidden.

Everyone at Blue Ring has a Headmaster. They sink their sinewy coils into your skull and control you, using your body for backbreaking toil and your mind to communicate with each other.

When someone dies, their Headmaster transfers to someone new. But so do the dead person’s memories, and if one of those memories surfaces in the new host’s mind, their brain breaks. That’s why talking about the past is forbidden.

Maple hates this world where the past can’t exist and the future promises only more suffering. And she hates the Headmasters for making it that way. But she doesn’t know how to fight them – until memories start to surface in her mind from someone who long ago came close to defeating the Headmasters.

But whose memories are they? Why aren’t they harming her? And how can she use them to defeat the Headmasters? Maple has to find the answers herself, unable to tell anyone what she’s experiencing or planning—not even Thorn, the young man she’s falling in love with.

Thorn, who has some forbidden secrets of his own . . .

Praise for The Headmasters

“Mark Morton’s The Headmasters is a brilliant science-fiction debut from one of Canada’s best-loved nonfiction writers. This compelling YA novel is a spot-on updating of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic The Puppet Masters for the new millennium, with intricate world-building, a great science-fiction puzzle, and — ironic for a novel about suppressed memories — a main character you’ll never forget. I loved it.” — Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Downloaded

About Mark Morton

Mark Morton is the author of four non-fiction titles: Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities (nominated for a Julia Child Award); The End: Closing Words for a Millennium (winner of the Alexander Isbister Award for nonfiction); The Lover’s Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the Language of Love and Sex (republished in the UK as Dirty Words), and Cooking with Shakespeare. He’s also written more than fiftycolumns for Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture (University of California Press) and has written and broadcast more than a hundred columns about language and culture for CBC Radio.

Mark has a PhD in sixteenth-century literature from the University of Toronto and has taught at several universities in France and Canada. He currently works at the University of Waterloo. He and his wife, Melanie Cameron, (also an author) have four children, three dogs, one rabbit, and no time.

The Headmasters is his debut novel.

Episode 152: Nir Yaniv – The Good Soldier

A long chat with author Nir Yaniv about his new humorous, satirical military science fiction novel, The Good Soldier: “M*A*S*H meets Starship Troopers in outer space,” published by Shadowpaw Press.

Website
niryaniv.com

X/Twitter
@TheNirYaniv

Instagram
@nyfiction

Amazon links
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

Publisher’s Book Page

Nir Yaniv’s Amazon Page

About the Book

The Imperial Navy has long been at war. It is a well-oiled machine, a mighty galactic power in which nothing can go wrong.

Enter Pre-Private Joseph Fux, self-proclaimed Idiot, Second Class.

When Fux arrives on board the light frigate UPS Spitz, things immediately begin to go wrong. It’s not Fux’s fault. It never is. Accidents just happen when he’s around, despite the best intentions.

And as the always-cheerful Fux bungles his way through one job after another, he throws the whole ship and its orderly crew into chaos. No one is left unscathed: not the responsible and lonely Lt. Lipton, grieving for his lost love; not the mercilessly logical Doctor Nightingale, who may or may not be Lipton’s current romantic interest; not the overzealous Ensign Berseker, or the pompous political officer, Commander Kapust. Not even the hidden, monstrous Captain.

Knowingly or not, Fux is an agent of resistance, his blind stupidity the only sane response to the insanity of war. Something’s gotta give, and the tiny spanner-in-the-works that is Fux threatens at last to destroy the entire machinery of the Galactic Empire . . .

“In this amiable satire of the gung-ho heroics of military sci-fi, Yaniv (coauthor of The Tel Aviv Dossier) sets a seeming simpleton against an immense empire, and the contest is hardly fair . . . (A)n amusing alternative to the usual run of martial marvels and battle-tested warriors. Military SF fans will enjoy this gentle roasting.” – Publishers Weekly

“Drawing on a tradition of anti-war fiction and his own military experience, Nir Yaniv meshes together classical American gung-ho SF with the delightful absurdism of European literature to create an unforgettable far-future fable for our times. Think M.A.S.H. in space, and you’ll come closest to capturing the spirit of The Good Soldier, but you’ll have to enmesh yourself in the (mis)adventures of Idiot-First-Class Fux and company of the good ship Spitz to find out for yourself. This is one explosive novel you do not want to miss!” – Lavie Tidhar, award-winning author of Central Station and Neom

“A madcap dystopian satire that shoulders its way into the ranks of Bill the Galactic Hero and Catch-22, then stands sloppily at attention as it smirks in the face of an apoplectic political officer.” – Alex Shvartsman, Award-Winning Author of The Middling Affliction and Eridani’s Crown

“I really enjoyed this: a rattling, SFnal updating of The Good Soldier Švejk via Starship Troopers (as it might be: Švejkship Troopers): funny, pointed, readable, a subversive depiction of the futility of war and a satire on the perennial logic of the military mind and the structures of the army. Fux is a wonderful anti-hero: a buffoon and an idiot (‘second class’) but also an everyman. Highly recommended.” – Adam Roberts, award-winning author of Jack Glass

About Nir Yaniv

Nir Yaniv, author of The Good Soldier, is an Israeli-born multidisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. He’s an author, a musician, an illustrator, and a filmmaker. He founded Israel’s first online science fiction magazine and served as its chief editor for ten years, after which he moved on to editing a printed genre magazine. He collaborated with World Fantasy Award-winning author Lavie Tidhar on two novels, including the “deranged sci-fi extravaganza” (per The Jewish QuarterlyThe Tel Aviv Dossier, and his English- language collection The Love Machine & Other Contraptions was published by Infinity Plus in 2012. His most recent Hebrew novel, King of Jerusalem, was published in Israel in 2019. His short stories have appeared in Weird TalesApex, and ChiZine, among others.

Nir’s musical career includes soundtracks for film, dance shows, and theater. His most recent work is the voice-and-drums animated album The Voice Remains (LifeArt Music, 2021). Nir has also directed several short films and music videos, both live-action and animated.

Episode 151: Robert J. Sawyer – The Downloaded

A chat with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer about his latest novel, The Downloaded, now available as an Audible original audiobook and coming in print from Shadowpaw Press on May 7, 2024.

Website
sfwriter.com

Amazon links
Amazon.com
Amazon.cahttps://youtu.be/H5pURHwuGg0

Publisher’s book page

Robert J. Sawyer’s Amazon Page

About the Book

The new novel by Canada’s top Science Fiction writer

In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario.

One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.

But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction.

The Downloaded debuted in a six-month exclusive window as an Audible Original narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser promoted by national TV and radio ad campaigns. This print edition is coming out immediately after Audible’s exclusivity ends and is being supported by a six-city cross-Canada author book tour.

“The Downloaded absolutely sizzles with fascinating ideas. You want space travel, a ruined Earth, virtual worlds, a cast of relatable characters, and a glimpse into the labyrinth of human destiny? Look no further: this book has all that and more.” —Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo Award-winning author of Spin

“The Downloaded is a wonderful demonstration of Sawyer’s deep understanding of — and compassion for — people, regardless who or what they are, or even what they have done. It’s a rare and potent humanity that elevates his work high above the rest.” —Julie E. Czerneda, Aurora Award-winning author of To Each This World

“In The Downloaded, Sawyer proves he’s not just a master at using science fiction to address social issues but also a master at portraying diverse characters.” —James Alan Gardner, Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning author of Commitment Hour

“The Downloaded is a wicked-smart thrill ride from start to finish. I loved it.” —Sylvain Neuvel, bestselling author of A History of What Comes Next

“One of the best SF novels I’ve read in years.” —Allen Steele, Hugo Award-winning author of Coyote

About Robert J. Sawyer

Photo by Carolyn Clink

Robert J. Sawyer–“the dean of Canadian science fiction,” according to the CBC, and a Globe and Mail and Maclean’sbestseller–is the only Canadian to have won all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. A member of both The Order of Canada and The Order of Ontario, Rob has won more Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”) than anyone else in history. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name; The Downloaded is his twenty-fifth novel.

A popular TEDx and keynote speaker with over 700 radio and TV interviews under his belt, Rob physically lives in Mississauga, and in cyberspace, he’s at sfwriter.com.