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Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star by Gregory Faccone

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Jordahk Wilkrest doesn't think he's special. The backwater world of his birth has only known peace in his lifetime, and the war is bygone history. Far from its centuries-old stalemate line, Jordahk's interest is collecting war era technology called “mystic.” Suddenly, political corruption and the people's own complacency opens a dreadful door, literally. Their way of life will be no more as the enemy assembles their giant transporting machine in orbit. The Wilkrests valiantly resist, but are unable to thwart the enemy's designs on land or in orbit. Jordahk is forced to leave his wounded parents and go off-world with his stiff grandfather. They venture far into the dustbin of human space looking for war-era help. Now Jordahk finds out his family line is a lot more special than he ever knew. Their quest leads to dangerous mystic technology—controllable only by a select few. It's a wild ride for Jordahk, who has to come to terms with abilities he never knew he had....

Interview with M. Terry Green

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Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing M. Terry Green , the author of the Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman series. As has been posted here previously, Green has been working on a new series entitled, The Chronicles of White World. With her permission, we revealed the cover for the first book, Iced, and an excerpt from the first chapter . Now, she's here to talk to us about the book. New Podler: Thanks for being here with us today, Terry! Terry Green: It’s a real pleasure, and thanks for having me! NP: The cover for Iced is striking. As we're in the midst of a New England winter, the cover isn't helping me forget how cold it is outside. TG: As we’re in the umpteenth year of drought here in LA, having only just ended 375 straight days when the high temperatures didn’t drop below 60°F, the cover for Iced is a fond, fervent wish for me. NP: The cover for Iced was created by RPG and book illustrator, Tom Edwards . Most of his work has been very dark, not necessarily ...

Author News: February

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We're a little light in this first edition of Author News, but I wanted to make good on that promise. February 1st: Richard Levesque , author of Strictly Analog , released his latest novel, Foundlings . Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of We Live Inside You , released Skullcrack City . February 10th: Iced , the first novel in a new series from 2012 INA Winner, M. Terry Green, will be released. February 15th: Steve Anderson, a 2010 INA Winner for The Losing Role , will be at the Barnes & Noble Tanasbourne in Beaverton, Oregon at 2PM. Anderson is in the midst of promoting his latest work: Liberated and Under False Flags . That's all for now.

Book Excerpt: Iced by M. Terry Green

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Last Friday, we revealed the cover for Iced , the first book in the Chronicles of White World series from M. Terry Green. This week, Green has granted us permission to reveal a sample of the story. Enjoy! Iced by M. Terry Green It was perfect slaver weather: visibility a hundred clicks, temperature a few degrees below zero, wind out of the northwest. Thirteen kept an eye on the horizon and opened the vent another notch. She watched steam pour from the opening and bend severely into the frigid wind stream. They’d have to be blind not to see that—blind or dumb. Slavers weren’t the brightest. She let slack into the control line and dumped more wind. The perlon sail fluttered and flapped, and the rigging slapped along the mast, audible over the high wind of midday. Her speed dropped a notch. The ship already sailed so slowly the wing couldn’t generate enough lift. Under the skimmer’s three hulls, the blades sliced the ice with a scraping and rattling sound. “Where are you?” she muttered...

The Best of 2014

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Each year, the reviewers here at the New Podler Review of Books pick the book (or books) which we feel are the very best independently published (or small press) works. The only other requirement we have is that the book was reviewed here on the blog during the calendar year. Here are the winners for 2014: Rob: Jim Melvin's Chained by Fear gets my vote for "Best of 2014." It's book two of the Death Wizard Chronicles , which follows the adventures of Torg the Death-Knower in his quest to free the world of Triken from the mad sun sorcerer Invictus. It's adult fantasy on par with G.R.R. Martin, but with far more magic and monsters. Highly recommended. DED: There were a few titles that I thought were very good this year. In order to narrow the list down I had to pick out the flaws in the choices, no matter how small. That got my list narrowed down to two. It was a tough decision, but ultimately, I chose Noise . In my review, I wrote: " Noise is a revenge ...

Bastion Magazine - November 2014

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Bastion is a science fiction magazine. Normally we don't review zines, but I don't see why not. They're similar to anthologies in that they contain multiple authors working around a central theme. In this case, that central theme is simple: science fiction. But as I look deeper, I see memory as a common thread. Another important point is that this issue was not submitted to us. I saw that Rob Steiner was one of the authors in this issue, so I went out and bought it. I'm reviewing it on GoodReads so I may as well post it here too. Small press zines are like indie authors: Publicity is better than obscurity. The issue opens with "Good Times" by Alexander Jones. Memories are the latest drug. Someone has created the technology where one can extract memories from one person and inject them into another. The experience is like living through them firsthand. Like all drugs, there's always the risk of overdose. I really liked this story. While the characters in...

Cover Reveal: Iced by M. Terry Green

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M. Terry Green , author of the Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman series, is putting the finishing touches on the first book of a new series, Chronicles of White World . She has graciously let us reveal the cover ahead of the book's release in February. The cover was created by Tom Edwards . So, without further ado... In the weeks ahead, we'll have a story sample and an interview with Terry. Stay tuned!