Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.

TeaserTuesdays2014e

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

.

My Teaser for this week is from

Allies and Enemies

Storm Of Arranon #3

by R.E. Sheahan

23365281

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My teaser from page 24 in the paperback.

Cace, his young face wet with tears, leaned against the counter between the tiny kitchen and the small parlor. Still and silent, he appeared to sink in on himself, shrinking inside the gray sweater he wore. His youthful innocence faded with each attack against what the boy held dear.

~~~~~

I really enjoyed the first two books in this year. My review ill be posted later this week. It’s long overdue!

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

A vicious attack on life and love. A race to deny death. Trust blurs and alliances break. The chase begins.
A powerful evil threatens the natural balance of Arranon, endangering all that lives. No less important to Captain Erynn Yager, a life treasured above her own hovers in a coma, close to death.
In a race to uncover a cure and stop the mounting peril, Erynn risks everything—becoming the hunted. She challenges authority and allies herself with a being others believe a mortal enemy. In pursuit of the true evil, Erynn finds the line blurred between those they trust and those set against them.
Answers remain beyond reach.
Erynn embraces her abilities, joining her will with the living consciousness of Arranon. Her authority and confidence rises, and she strikes out against a murderous cruelty—becoming the hunter.

AMAZON

~~~~~

Other books in this series. Click on the covers for my reviews.

13553378  13569242

How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

mars rover photo: Mars Rover mars_rover.jpg

Welcome to My Monday Minis Reviews where I share short reviews of books I’ve read. For today I’ll be sharing reviews for The martian by Andy Weir, the book and the movie.

~~~~~

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440303473l/20829029.jpg

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

You’d never know it from the jocular beginning, but in moments, s#!t will hit the fan.

The author wastes no time in putting his characters in jeopardy. Beginning years away from home, the first to walk on Mars, these astronauts know the risks. When Mark Watney disappears and is presumed dead during a dust storm, the crew must abort the mission and return home without him.

Wouldn’t they be shocked and horrified to learn that not only did Mark survive, he’s actually colonized Mars.

With so many reviews already written, this won’t be a long one.

I loved this book. From the beginning, I couldn’t wait to read the next paragraph, the next chapter. The humor helps lighten the suspense the author puts you through. There’s no guarantee an author won’t kill off his characters, even the heroes, so you can’t relax, can’t count on anything. Each time something went wrong, I thought, this is it.

I used to think I’d love to travel in space. Not anymore. I’m too old and too fond of my life to endanger it. I fully expect us to one day walk on Mars. Look at all of the amazing things we’ve done already.

Until then, I’ll enjoy books like these, and when I’m done reading, I’ll turn off the light and dream of space from the comfort of my own bed.

5 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

AMAZON

~~~~~

And now for the movie!

My Review

Holy cow! If you think the book is fabulous, wait until you see the movie.

The cinematography is out of this world, the casting is awesome, and the scenes you loved in the book come to life in dramatic and fun ways. Careful if you are drinking anything during the movie. I almost spit tea all over the place at one of those comedic scenes.

I’m not a huge fan of Mark Damon, cast as Mark Watney. His most memorable movies for me were The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Bourne series. He won me over with his superb acting. He had to carry most of the movie by himself.

For all of you ladies, I don’t know about you, but is he not ruggedly handsome now. I wonder why men get better looking with time, and we women fight gravity, literally. LOL

I read the book first. Usually do. I’d recommend you do that so you get more indepth info about the characters and their thoughts. Makes for a richer experience.

Bravo to Andy Weir. Out of this world!

5 Stars

~~~~~

AMAZON

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

breeders2small

Welcome to the Infinite Ink $100 Book Blast Giveaway!

The Breeders by Katie French

“When the Breeders come for ya, there ain’t no escape. They strap ya to a bed and all ya hear is the thud of your heart and the cries of your friends as they wheel ya down to hell. Then the doctors come. You squeeze your eyes shut and pray you can forget. But ya never do.”

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world’s last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches– moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders’ long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they’re hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender– a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley’s affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico– escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is forced into the Breeder’s hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she’ll share unless she can find a way out.

amazon get it

KatieAuthor Katie French
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. It was about birds and frankly, it wasn’t very good, but it sparked a love of literature. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. This thoroughly solidifying her status as a class-A nerd. She currently works as a high school English teacher, a job that she loves even when it exhausts her. In her free time she writes, reads great books, and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. Her young adult best selling series, The Breeders, is available now on Amazon. She also has a kids series starting with Portia Parrott and the Great Kitten Rescue for ages 5-9.

Website graphic

Praise for The Breeders

Kindle Book Review, 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semifinalist

Over 45,000 downloads so far. More than 300 four and five star reviews. Top Ten in Free Kindle Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Romance.

“This is an Excellent book that should be published the writing is that compelling and suspenseful.” — The Book Runner, Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer

“Wow, just wow! I started reading the sample for The Breeders and before I was even halfway through it, I stopped and bought the book. I was completely enthralled after the first few pages.” — Amazon Reviewer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bookcover

Virulent by Shelbi Wescott

Lucy King is only an hour away from embarking on the most incredible vacation of her life: White sandy beaches in a tropical paradise, snorkeling and sunbathing in peaceful tranquility. But as Lucy looks forward to her trip, a sinister plot is unfolding that will demolish the world as she knows it.

An unknown bioterrorist group unleashes a virus that virtually wipes out the earth’s population—leaving Lucy, and a small faction of survivors, trapped inside her high school to wait out the apocalypse. War, looting, and death wreak havoc outside the school; inside, the students must contend with a tyrannical and paranoid principal and their own struggles of being orphaned, frightened, and unsure of what the future will bring.

What begins as a basic fight for survival turns into a search for answers that will challenge everything Lucy has ever known about her life and her family.

Virulent is the first book in the Virulent trilogy, an enthralling post-apocalyptic adventure that takes you from the end of the world to the formation of a new society.

amazon get it

ShelbiAuthor Shelbi Wescott

Shelbi Wescott is a high school Language Arts and Creative Writing teacher, a mother of two, a television junky, and a board game connoisseur. Her first book, “Virulent: The Release” was born from a challenge issued by her students to write a book that would interest them. When she isn’t writing or teaching, Shelbi can be found throwing unnecessarily elaborate birthday parties and officiating weddings. She is a fan of: Spanx, bourbon, Powell’s Books, and tabloid magazines. Shelbi lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, her two sons, Elliott and Ike, and an affectionate hound dog named Darby.

Website graphic

Praise for Virulent: The Release

“My favorite part was how realistic and authentic Wescott is about to make her characters. It is clear from the specific detail and the way she shapes her setting that Wescott knows her way around a high school. She also knows a thing or two about teenage minds.”
— Underground Book Reviews

“Great characters, amazing descriptions, suspense and the beginnings of a great conspiracy mark this beginning to a series that I look forward to following. I can’t wait for book two.”
— Cherie of Cherie Reads

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scourge Ebook Sml

 

The Scourge by A.G. Henley

Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She’s never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings’ tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be.

And she’s always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone.

amazon get it

LauraAuthor A.G. Henley

A.G. Henley is the author of the BRILLIANT DARKNESS series. The first book in the series, THE SCOURGE, was a finalist for the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award.

A.G. is also a clinical psychologist, which means people either tell her their life stories on airplanes, or avoid her at parties when they’ve had too much to drink. Neither of which she minds. When she’s not writing fiction or shrinking heads, she can be found herding her children and their scruffy dog, Guapo, to various activities while trying to remember whatever she’s inevitably forgotten to tell her husband. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

 

Website graphic

Praise for The Scourge

“Looking for a trenchant, imaginative, beautifully written novel to read? Look no further: it’s The Scourge, by A.G. Henley.”
— Sarah Cloots, former editor at Greenwillow Books, imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books

“The prose flows smoothly and easily but there are much deeper issues lying beneath the surface of the story that are captivating and will hold the interest of readers of any age . . . I was quickly transported into the world of The Scourge and plummeted breathlessly toward the resolution. This is a very good book and a good look at just what science fiction can achieve when in the hands of a capable writer.”
— Josef Hernandez, Examiner

“Lovable and relatable heroine? Check. Swoon-worthy, kick-butt hero? Check. Compelling romance that makes your heart melt and toes curl? Check. Captivating story and fascinating world? Check. Eagerly anticipating the next book? Check, check, check.”
— Refracted Light Reviews, blog review

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contributor

Contributor by Nicole Ciacchella

When the Great Famine threatened the existence of mankind, the Creators saved humanity. Humanity has been their loyal subject ever since.

This history has been ingrained in seventeen-year-old Dara Morrow since her first day of Creator-sponsored school. Grateful for the life-giving necessities her Creator provides, Dara is thrilled to be one of three students chosen for an elite, year-long apprenticeship program. Now is her chance to prove herself a devoted Contributor.

But Dara’s competition is ruthless and will stop at nothing to win the competition. Worse yet, her exacting master has little patience for her.

Then Dara’s mother is seriously injured, and Dara realizes the price of being a Contributor: once you’ve outlived your usefulness, you’re discarded. Can Dara learn to manipulate the system to save not only herself, but everyone she loves?

amazon get it

NicoleAuthor Nicole Ciacchella

Nicole has progressed from scribbling in notebooks to banging on keyboards, but she’s never managed to stop daydreaming at inappropriate moments.
Born and raised in Michigan, Nicole lives there still with her husband and two wonderful children. When not answering the demands of her characters, Nicole can often be found curled up with a good book or spending far too many hours acting the hero in whatever video game is her obsession of the moment.
Nicole rarely meets a genre she doesn’t like, and as a result has written contemporary romcoms, fantasy fiction, fairy tale retellings, and dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction. She’s the author of the Fairytale Collection books, the YA/NA crossover Contributor trilogy, and the Astoran Asunder series.

Website graphic

 

Praise for Contributor

From the world of dystopia comes something different – The Contributor. A society set wherein all must either contribute or be nothing at all. Very intense story line with a daunting theme. This is a great read and I can not wait to see what happens in book 2.
— LadyLox

Mindblowingly good. This book is brilliantly constructed.
— Kelly Walker

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the torturer's daughter Aa2

The Torturer’s Daughter by Zoe Cannon

When her best friend Heather calls in the middle of the night, Becca Dalcourt assumes it’s the usual drama. Wrong. Heather’s parents have been arrested as dissidents – and Becca’s mother, the dystopian regime’s most infamous torturer, has already executed them for their crimes against the state.

To stop Heather from getting herself killed trying to prove her parents’ innocence, Becca hunts for proof of their guilt. She doesn’t expect to find evidence that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the dissidents… and about her mother.

When she risks her life to save a dissident, she learns her mother isn’t the only one with secrets – and the plot she uncovers will threaten the lives of the people she loves most. For Becca, it’s no longer just a choice between risking execution and ignoring the regime’s crimes; she has to decide whose life to save and whose to sacrifice.

It’s easy to be a hero when you can save the world, but what about when all you can do is choose how you live in it? The Torturer’s Daughter is a story about ordinary life amidst the realities of living under an oppressive regime… and the extraordinary courage it takes to do what’s right in a world gone wrong.

 

amazon get it

ZoeAuthor Zoe Cannon

Zoe Cannon writes about the things that fascinate her: outsiders, societies no sane person would want to live in, questions with no easy answers, and the inner workings of the mind. If she couldn’t be a writer, she would probably be a psychologist, a penniless philosopher, or a hermit in a cave somewhere. While she’ll read anything that isn’t nailed down, she considers herself a YA reader and writer at heart. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and a giant teddy bear of a dog, and spends entirely too much time on the internet.

Website graphic

Praise for The Torturer’s Daughter

“…a great read that plays with your nerves and sets great challenges before its characters…”
— Willing to See Less

“The society created by the author is incredibly oppressive and realistic in all its horror.”
— Le Chat de Bibliotheque

“My day stopped in its tracks once I picked up this novel, racing frantically towards the conclusion and the answers I needed to have.”
— Bookluvrs Haven

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heartbeat Thief

The Heartbeat Thief by Ash Krafton

Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.
Poe meets Austen in this haunting tale of death and endless devotion…
Being the most beautiful debutante in 1860’s Surrey isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Senza Fyne knows all too well the expectations set upon a young Victorian woman—and she also knows that, in one fell swoop, death can just whisk it all away. When she meets the mysterious and mystical Mr. Knell, she is offered the chance to escape the chains of Life and Death and to enjoy the bliss of youth and beauty for all eternity.
But that takes magic…and a steep price. She’d have to surrender her life to gain an eternity and she’d have to steal the heartbeats of others in order to keep it.
She has everything to gain if she succumbs to his spell…but knows not what she might lose.
It’s a little bit Jane Austen, a little bit Edgar Allan Poe, and a whole lot of stealing heartbeats in order to stay young and beautiful forever. From the posh London season to the back alleys of Whitechapel, across the Channel, across the Pond, across the seas of Time…How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?

amazon get it

A.J.Author A.J. Crafton
The Heartbeat Thief is the first release for AJ Krafton, a New Adult speculative fiction author from the Pennsylvania coal region.
If she’s not writing, it’s probably because she’s distracted by all the cool junk on her desk or by the stacks of books that have grown up around it.
She also writes novels, short fiction, and poetry for adult audiences as Ash Krafton.

Website graphic

Praise for The Heartbeat Thief
“It’s a supernatural story, but it doesn’t rely on the conventions and themes that have gone before it. To be honest, when I picked it up I was expecting witches and/or vampires, but I found something else entirely. I loved the story and the concept.”
“True to its word, “The Heartbeat Thief” is part Jane Austen, part Edgar Allen Poe. The author revives the best of the style of writing found in the classics: the introspect of characters, lovely allusions comparing characters to nature and life, beautiful alliteration and prose. Mixed with this is a deep foreboding of death, a macabre sensation that follows Senza throughout the story.”
“Beautiful imagery and language shape this intriguing story that spoke to me about the meaning of maturity and purpose in life. Lovely!”

 

100_Amazon_Paypal

 

Book Blast Giveaway – $100 Amazon Gift Card or $100 in Paypal Cash

Ends 1/31/16

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the participating authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

 

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from

Treasure

  Seed Savers #1

by S. Smith

27263757

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Children’s/MG dystopian sci-fi adventure

My 56 is actually from pages 5 and 6 as page 56 only had one sentence.

  From page 5

Holding out her closed fist, she whispered, “What I have here will change the world.”

Dante’s eyes widened. “It’s so small.”

From page 6 

“You can’t make food. Everyone knows that food comes from Stores and from Delivery Trucks if you have government ration tickets – but people can’t make food.”

Dante laughed. “But wouldn’t it be great if people could make food?”

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Two kids, two bikes, and an idea they can change their world.

It’s 2077. There’s no apocalypse, but some things are different. Things like the weather, the internet, and food. In twelve-year-old Clare’s world, blueberry is just a flavor and apples are found only in fairy tales.

Then one day Clare meets an old woman who teaches her about seeds and real food. The woman (Ana) tempts Clare with the notion that food exists other than the square, processed, packaged food she has always known. Under Ana’s tutelage, Clare and her friends learn about seeds and gardening despite suspicions that such actions are illegal.

When the authorities discover the children’s forbidden tomato plant and arrest their mother, Clare and her brother flee. Clare has heard of a place called “The Garden State,” and with their bikes, a little money, and backpacks, the children begin a lonely cross-country journey that tests them both physically and spiritually. Will they succeed in their quest to find a place of food freedom?  And can they, only children, help change the world?

Treasure is a gentle dystopian, frightening only is the possibility that we may not be far from the future it paints.

Amazon

~~~~~

Leave your link and I’ll drop by your 56.

Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

ABeginnersGuideToInvadingEarth Banner copy

I’m very excited to share A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth with ya’ll.

  I have a an interview with the author, along with my review.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

~~~~~

Interview with Author Gerhard Gehrke

Thanks so much for taking time out from your busy tour to answer some questions. Let’s get started, shall we?

 

  1. How long did it take you to write A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth?

Two years before editing was complete. It still feels like I didn’t spend enough time on it but if I ever wanted to move on, I had to stop tinkering and let it go so people might actually read it.

  1. What is your target audience?

The book should be accessible to non-science fiction fans and be right up the alley of those comfortable with the genre. It is not overly grotesque or graphic and is appropriate for younger readers. There’s some disrespectful language and mild violence. Three aliens get accidentally impaled with a kite, so be warned.

  1. Could you share with us a favorite part you enjoyed writing?

My editor insisted on a new first chapter where the main character would be introduced and we just spend a few moments with him before the aliens show up. Here I got to reintroduce Jeff Abel to the story and was able to describe him in his mundane element working as kitchen help at a restaurant, while touching on the fact that he used to be a computer programmer who developed a distrust of technology, paranoia, and chronic bad luck.

  1. Where is your favorite place to write?

I have a messy desk with a desktop. Here I have room to adjust my keyboard, my multiple notebooks and Post-Its, and sit at ergonomically horrible angles while pecking away at the keys. Usually one of my wife’s cockatiels is sitting on a knee or foot.

  1. Are you currently working on anything new?

I have a follow-up to A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth that is now going through editing. Also I have a post-decline of civilization novel I’m writing where a young girl escapes from a secret sanctuary only to discover that the world outside is a much more complicated place than she had ever imagined.

Five fun shorts.

You are an alien on earth:

  1. Can I take your spaceship for a spin? If you’re telling me you can actually see our ship, then Zn’Fordell is going to get an earful about his ‘foolproof’ cloaking device.
  1. What is your reaction the first time you see a human? “Look, Gurgl’inada, these look just like the natives of Epsilon Eridani 4. Maybe we should be more careful this time.”
  1. Do you have a favorite TV show or movie? We do. Mostly our own shows. But to get good reception on this planet we will have to obliterate your moon as Zn’Fordell forgot to plug in the TiVo.
  1. Are you going to eat my cat? Well he did start it by eating my navigator. Unless by chance you’ve trained your cat in advanced astrogation?

What came first? The chicken or the egg? The egg enjoys deflecting attention to the chicken in order to obfuscate its true diabolical parentage which currently grows under your own city streets. Go ahead, eat the eggs. What doesn’t kill you makes you ours.

~~~~~

A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth

by Gerhard Gehrke

ABeginnersGuideToInvadingEarth book cover

Genre: Science Fiction

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

I expected some humor in this story. The title sure suggests it. As does the fun cover art.

There’s a whole lot of laughs here. The author’s choice of casting his main protagonist as your average Joe makes it mysterious and fun.

And the aliens. What can I say. You’d expect them to be intelligent, right? They come from galaxies far, far away. They must be smart to be able to conquer space travel.

Well, that’s not the case here. They seem completely unaware of how scary they look to us humans.

The first few attempts at contact fail dismally. One alien gets run over by a truck, several get shot, and many more meet sticky ends. And when you see the story from their point of view, you’ll shake your head at just how inept and clueless they really are. I wish I could share some of their attempts with you, but don’t want to include spoilers. I may have a warped sense of humor, but I had to laugh, a lot, at how some of the aliens met their ends.

Jeff has no idea he’s been chosen as the person of first contact with the aliens. Why would he. He’s nobody special. When contact is made, he’s soon embroiled in alien politics and conspiracy. He has some help from an outcast alien and a woman with her own agenda. It’s crucial that he discover the reason behind all of the alien deaths before Earth and humanity becomes a target.

I laughed at the beginning, and the laughs just kept coming. The aliens were kind of gross, in a funny way. They smelled. I mean really smelled. And they acted more like children than intelligent beings.

An action/adventure science fiction story for all ages. With loads of laughs and fun characters, and plenty of adventure, this is one I’d recommend to all readers. It has something for everyone. Sure kept me entertained for a few hours.

4 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

What would you do if you found a dead alien on a lonely highway?

Was it an accident, sabotage, or murder? And why is everyone blaming Jeff?

The extraterrestrials aren’t waiting for answers. They want revenge. And Jeff isn’t ready for company.

His only hope is an outcast mechanic from another world and a woman who might do anything to get off planet, including selling out her own kind. Jeff has to get to the bottom of why there are so many alien bodies piling up and who is really responsible.

A science fiction adventure novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth tells the story of a reclusive ex-computer programmer who is the unwitting central figure of a plot to keep humanity from ever making first contact.

~~~~~

Enjoy this glimpse inside!

First contact with the humans wasn’t going as planned, as was obvious by the rank smells that choked the air of the alien visitorsʹ craft. But no one called them aliens where they came from.

Seven little Greys, short bipeds with large heads and big eyes and delicate limbs, sat in the flight seats of their ship’s crew compartments and listened as the Mission Commander lectured them from the Command Module. The harangue lingered in the air, not as words or even sounds but as a smell, a ripe one replete with pheromones and scent packets that the Greys used to speak with one another. A new string of curses from the Commander’s glands smelled of licorice. The Mission Commander composed itself. It wiped sticky sweat from its hairless frontal lobe.

The lights and displays in front of the seven crew members blinked and flashed. No one would so much as touch a button until the Commander was finished addressing the crew.

“I’ll hear no more of it,” the Commander said. “We’re on the human world. We go forward. Probability calculations for success show at 100%. The computer will be trusted.”

~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

ABeginnersGuideToInvadingEarth author pic

Gerhard Gehrke studied film at San Francisco State University. He wrote and produced several shows for community television. His Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror short stories have appeared in several publications, including an Editor’s Choice-winning short story at AnotheRealm.com. A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth is his first novel.

You can connect with him at these links

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Blog

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N

~~~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.

TeaserTuesdays2014e

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

.

My Teaser for this week is from

 I Am Number Four

by Pittacus Lore

7747374

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Teaser from page 11 of the hard cover edition.

My current name is Daniel Jones. My story is I grew up in California and moved here because of my dad’s job as a computer programmer. Daniel Jones is about to disappear.

~~~~~

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books–but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

AMAZON

~~~~~

How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

BOB Banner copy

BOB

by Tegon Maus

BOB book cover

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre – Sci-fi (soft)

My Review

The star protagonist in this story is Peter Anderson. Or is he? He used to be a top reporter. Just needs that one great story to get back there. Maybe the piece about strange lights in the sky will do it for him.

It wasn’t long before I was thinking, “What about Bob?” The title is Bob. Who is Bob? I found out soon.

Peter gets his story when he discovers the girl, her hands nailed down to a table. With the help of the mysterious Bob, they rescue her, she quickly vanishes, and things go sideways.

Bob. What can I say about Bob. The easy things – he’s a Russian immigrant, now an American citizen (I think), and a taxi driver.

But there’s something fishy about Bob. He has these cousins. Different ones for different situations, from breaking and entering, to muscle, to aliens. He sure has a lot of “cousins.” And lots of connections.

Not only is Bob a mystery, so is his beat up taxi. To look at it, you’d think it was junk. That’s what Peter thinks when he gets in and the car won’t start. These two simply words from Bob, “Is Belt”, get them out of more than one sticky situation. Like Bob, the car is more than meets the eye.

When my brain wasn’t spinning trying to figure out who was what, I was laughing. There’s so much humor. Bob has some rituals that he uses repeatedly throughout the story, and they never get old. I found myself waiting for each one, and had some fits of giggles.

Aside from the humor, there’s a deep plot. It starts simply and soon develops into a fascinating mystery fraught with action and danger. There is a science fiction aspect to it, but nothing too complicated, and it adds to the intrigue.

There’s a mish mash of colorful characters to meet, plenty of humor, and lots of action and mystery. I was quickly drawn into the story and held hostage until the last page.  The end makes me think more books will be coming. I sure hope so, as I’m still wondering about Bob, and…..and so many other things.

5 Stars

~~~~~

Enjoy this Excerpt – This is one of those signature rituals that made me giggle every time.

“His English not so good,” Bob added, wiggling his hands dismissively.

“Sounded damn good to me,” I said honestly.

“Bob understands. Bob’s friend speak Spanish?” he asked with a little annoyance in his voice, threading his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Nope. Can’t say as I do,” I answered, folding my arms.

“How you say… no speak Spanish?” he asked, folding his arms as well.

“No habla Hispano.”

“AAAHHH, to Bob, Bob’s friend sound like native. Bob thought he smelled burritos, heard waves on beach. Very impressed. Bob’s friend has gift for language. Sure not speak Spanish?”

“Fred,” I said flatly, stepping directly in front of the little man. “Do you speak English?”

“Da. Fred speak no English,” he responded dully, tilting his head from side to side, his arms hung slack, swinging loosely as he spoke.

“Very sad, like Bob say. Fred’s parents live too close to nuclear plant. Sure, sure, rent very cheap but Fred… no brain for English,” Bob said, closing his eyes, shaking his head in a pretentious, melancholy way.

“Bob,” I started.

“Very late. No time for Fred’s story. Bob’s friend want to see house tonight or no?” he asked, pushing himself to stand between me and Fred.

“Alright, have it your way. Let’s go,” I demanded now irritated, angrily grabbing my coat off the back of the chair.

“Nyet, nyet. Bob’s friend almost forget,” he said, turning his back quickly, wriggling his fingers.

“Dear God. Money? Now?” I said, throwing my coat across the back of the chair again.

~~~~~

Synopsis

After 27 years as a newspaper man, Peter Anderson’s career is slipping away, at least it was, until he stumbled upon the story of a lifetime. Sent to do a fluff piece about lights in the night sky over Arizona, he discovers far more than he ever expected when he comes upon a mysterious young woman held prisoner in a basement. After helping her to escape, she disappears before he can learn the truth about who she is or where she came from. His search for her leads him back to the lights in the sky and leaves him with more questions than answers. The only thing he knows for certain . . . the only thing he can count on are the two words offered repeatedly by his friend and guide . . . “IS BELT.”

~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

BOB author

I was raised pretty much the same as everyone else… devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends I could conjure. Not that I wasn’t friendly, I just wasn’t “people orientated”. Maybe I lived in my head way more than I should have, maybe not. I liked machines more than people, at least I did until I met my wife.

The first thing I can remember writing was for her. For the life of me I can’t remember what it was about… something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married me shortly after that. I spent a good number of years after inventing games and prototypes for a variety of ideas before I got back to writing.

It wasn’t a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone. My wife and I had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. “Be as detailed as you can,” we were told.

I was thrilled. If there is one thing I enjoy it’s making people believe me and I like to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mine you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn’t be sure if it were true or not. When I write, I always write with the effort of “it could happen” very much in mind and nothing, I guarantee you, nothing, makes me happier.

Buy Links: (The Book is 0.99 cents during the tour)

Amazon / B&N

~~~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg


Blitz Package Banner

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – Things from Other Worlds
AUTHOR – Anne E. Johnson
GENRE – Children’s literature / science fiction
PUBLICATION DATE – October, 2015
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 84 pages
PUBLISHER – Anne E. Johnson
COVER ARTIST – James for GoOnWrite.com

Things from Other Worlds - Cover

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Many strange things wait inside these pages. There’s a fuzzy ball of kindness, camped out on a grumpy man’s porch. A chewed piece of gum with a mind of its own. A smart Alec who actually stands in line twice when they’re handing out brains. A girl who isn’t afraid when all the plants in her neighborhood come to life.
This collection of 15 science fiction and fantasy stories for kids by award-winning author Anne E. Johnson is perfect for ages 8-12, or anyone with a child’s heart.

BUY & TBR LINKS


EXCERPT

THE CRUSTY-HEARTED MAN
(Excerpt from Story No. 15 in Things from Other Worlds)

Outside our town, a few miles from where Jimbo’s gas station used to be, an old man lived all by himself. Everybody knew he was there, but nobody actually knew him. He’d show up a few times a year to buy canned goods at Ruth & Bobby’s, but that was it. Not a soul, not even the oldest soul in
town, could remember a time when that man hadn’t been around. He must have been two hundred years old. Some said more like three hundred.
Truth was, he’d been out of touch with people for so long that nobody could remember his name.
He couldn’t even remember his own name. Folks said that a crust had grown over his heart.
The heart’s a funny organ, though. It’s tougher than you’d think, and can survive through pretty much anything. It’s like a tulip bulb. No matter how icy and long the winter is, that little bulb stays alive under the frozen ground until it’s time to shoot up a new sprout, green and full of life.
But for some especially frosty people, there’s rarely enough sunshine to wake up their hearts. It takes something spectacular, maybe even something from another world. I’ll tell you what happened to this old, old man, and you’ll see what I mean.
Nobody wanted to have anything to do with him. Flies and grubs and spiders occasionally tiptoed into the walls of his house, but most were never heard from again. The younger raccoons and rabbits only touched his front stoop on a dare because their parents warned them not to.
“Get away!” the old man would scream hoarsely while shaking a frying pan above his head.
Every living creature, from human on down to bedbug, knew enough to keep off the old man’s property. But that knowledge had not been broadcast across space. So, when an alien landed in a clearing in the woods one late winter afternoon, it didn’t realize what it was up against. It was scared and a little woozy after a rough landing, although it wasn’t afraid. It had been brought up to assume that all beings will do right by each other when given the chance. Poor little thing.
I bet you think an alien is a spindly sort that looks like it’s made of green plastic. Well, not this one. It was furry. Oh, so furry. Picture fur as thick as a polar bear’s and as soft as a mink’s. Now double how thick and soft it is. Now color it blue-green. This deep, soft, dark fur was all over its body, which was short and wide. The alien, standing, came up just past your knees, but was too wide to get your arms around.
It had two giant tangerine-orange toenails on each of its four feet. Its eyes, too, were the color of tangerines, but twice as big. They were very close together in its head, and surrounded by fur, giving it a very intense look. Your average human would probably describe this alien as “the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” and make a sound that went something like “Awwww.”
Well, this little alien was in need of shelter and food. It didn’t know the plants and animals of our planet, so it shuffled right by some perfectly edible berries and nuts. But it recognized a building when it saw one. And so it approached the old man’s house in the middle of the woods, with hope in its heart but nothing in its belly.
“MMMnnnyonggg,” it called out from the yard. Nothing stirred in the house, but several woodchucks and foxes gathered to watch from a safe distance. The alien trundled up the front steps. Once it caught its fur on the rotting wood, but freed itself like a real trooper.
Inside the house, the old man heard a nasal howl.
“MMMnnnyonggg!”
He assumed it was a wolf or an injured bear. “Durn thing’s up on the porch,” said the crusty-hearted man as he pulled his frying pan down from its nail. “I’ll teach ʼem whose house this is.”
The old man shoved the front door open so hard it smacked against the rotten siding. A few shingles crumbled and fell. The woodland creatures watching the show skittered deeper into the shadows, fearing what would come next.
But the alien didn’t move. It didn’t know it was supposed to be afraid of the sound of wood smacking wood, or the sight of a two-legged earthling holding a round metal object. It assumed this was either a way to say “hello,” or else a communication device telling the whole planet about its arrival. Those were the only options that made sense to the alien. Widening its eyes and puffing up its fur, it tried to look as friendly as possible.
For his part, the old man was so puzzled that he forgot to swing the pan. “You’re not a bear,” he accused the blue-green furry thing. “You’re sure not a wolf. What are you? Gorilla?”
The alien didn’t know what the word “gorilla” meant, but it enjoyed the sound, so it waddled a little closer to the cool-talking human.
“GGgggrrrrill,” said the alien, trying to fit in.
The old man just snorted and slammed the door, leaving the alien alone on the porch.

AUTHOR BIO

Author Photo - Anne E Johnson
As the author of dozens of published short stories, Anne E. Johnson has won writing prizes for both children’s and adults’ short fiction. Her short fiction for kids has appeared in FrostFire Worlds, Wee Tales, Jack & Jill, Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, Rainbow Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her stories for adults can be found in Alternate Hilarities, The Future Fire, Liquid Imagination, and SpeckLit. For a complete list of her published stories, please visit AnneEJohnson.com. She also writes science fiction novels, including the humorous Webrid Chronicles series.
To give back to the writing and children’s lit community, Anne is a volunteer story judge at RateYourStory and writes a weekly column called Kid Lit Insider for EatSleepWrite.net.
Anne grew up in Wisconsin but moved to New York City over 20 years ago. She now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, playwright Ken Munch.

AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS


This Event has been Organized & Hosted by:
33c16-mini2bbutton

~~~~~

Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

We are excited to announce that the young adult novel Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young is now available for sale! Welcome to my tour stop, be sure to stop by the tour page for the full schedule.

From the critically acclaimed transmedia project Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker, comes one of the most anticipated collaborations in YA literature this year: a thrilling, edge of your seat story written by award-winning musician, producer and director Tom DeLonge and New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young.

Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares follows the epic journey of two orphan brothers, Jonas and Alan, who are Lucid Dreamers. After a tragic car accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas sets out into the Dream World in an attempt to find his brother and wake him up. What he discovers instead is an entire shared consciousness where fear comes to life as a snarling beast called a Night Terror, and a creature named REM is bent on destruction and misery, devouring the souls of the strongest dreamers to get closer to the Waking World. With the help of a Dream Walker—a guardian of the dreamscape, Jonas must face his fears, save his brother, and become who he was always meant to be: Poet Anderson.

Poet Cover Sept 17 2016

 My Review

Alan and Jonas are brothers, orphans. They have only each other. They’re also Lucid Dreamers, able to move in dream worlds. When an accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas must enter the dream world to find his brother and wake him up.

He’ll have to face a monstrous creature, his very own Night Terror, and REM, an evil being bent on entering the real world.

I enjoyed the names of some of the beings. Night Terrors and REM (rapid eye movement) are both sleep conditions and great choices. Caused some “I see” moments for me.

Jonas starts out fumbling in the dream world but catches on quick. Thrown into dangerous situations, he adapts. Save his brother, the girl he loves, the dream walkers, and the world, a heavy burden rests on his young shoulders.

At first glance the cover looks creepy. Take another look. See all of those images. I give five stars on the cover alone. So creative.

Action galore. It never slows down. Between the dream world and the waking one, you are pulled along at a face pace.

It feels a bit sci-fi, a bit horror, a bit action and adventure, and all thrilling. I can honestly say this story is something totally new for me. Not even sure how to tag it.

poet anderson and biloxi trip two 037

I have the hard cover edition and it is awesome. The cover art leaps out at you and the book comes with a music CD. I listened to it while reading and it really lent atmosphere and excitement.

A great collaboration brings you an amazing reading experience.

5 Stars

~~~~~

 

About the Authors:


Tom DeLonge is an award-winning American musician, producer and director best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the platinum selling rock bands Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves. His home is San Diego, where he focuses on creating entertainment properties that bridge music, narrative and film through his multimedia company To The Stars. For the full experience of Tom’s work, visit www.tothestars.media.

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is the author of THE PROGRAM, THE TREATMENT, THE REMEDY, and HOTEL RUBY.

.
.
GIVEAWAY:
Poet Anderson Complete Music and Book Gift Box
Open Worldwide
Ends December 23, 2015
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

~~~~~

Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

 

Welcome to the release event for The Stuff of Stars by David Litwack and ebook sale of The Children of Darkness which is free Dec. 5-9 only. This is a science fiction dystopian series from Evolved Publishing.

About The Children of Darkness:

The Children of Darkness - Cover“But what are we without dreams?”
A thousand years ago the Darkness came—a terrible time of violence, fear, and social collapse when technology ran rampant. But the vicars of the Temple of Light brought peace, ushering in an era of blessed simplicity. For ten centuries they have kept the madness at bay with “temple magic,” and by eliminating forever the rush of progress that nearly caused the destruction of everything.
Childhood friends, Orah and Nathaniel, have always lived in the tiny village of Little Pond, longing for more from life but unwilling to challenge the rigid status quo. When their friend Thomas returns from the Temple after his “teaching”—the secret coming-of-age ritual that binds young men and women eternally to the Light—they barely recognize the broken and brooding young man the boy has become. Then when Orah is summoned as well, Nathaniel follows in a foolhardy attempt to save her.
In the prisons of Temple City, they discover a terrible secret that launches the three on a journey to find the forbidden keep, placing their lives in jeopardy, for a truth from the past awaits that threatens the foundation of the Temple. If they reveal that truth, they might once again release the potential of their people.
Yet they would also incur the Temple’s wrath as it is written: “If there comes among you a prophet saying, ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the Light.”
Free on Amazon!
 

About The Stuff of Stars:SOS cover

This second book in The Seekers dystopian series continues the story started in the critically-acclaimed The Children of Darkness.

Against all odds, Orah and Nathaniel have found the keep and revealed the truth about the darkness, initiating what they hoped would be a new age of enlightenment. But the people were more set in their ways than anticipated, and a faction of vicars whispered in their ears, urging a return to traditional ways.

Desperate to keep their movement alive, Orah and Nathaniel cross the ocean to seek the living descendants of the keepmasters’ kin. Those they find on the distant shore are both more and less advanced than expected.

 

The seekers become caught between the two sides, and face the challenge of bringing them together to make a better world. The prize: a chance to bring home miracles and a more promising future for their people. But if they fail this time, they risk not a stoning but losing themselves in the twilight of a never-ending dream.
 
About the Author:

Dave Portrait Hi Res

The urge to write first struck at age sixteen when working on a newsletter at a youth encampment in the woods of northern Maine. It may have been the wild night when lightning flashed at sunset followed by the northern lights rippling after dark. Or maybe it was the newsletter’s editor, a girl with eyes the color of the ocean. But he was inspired to write about the blurry line between reality and the fantastic.Using two fingers and lots of white-out, he religiously typed five pages a day throughout college and well into his twenties. Then life intervened. He paused to raise two sons and pursue a career, in the process — and without prior plan — becoming a well-known entrepreneur in the software industry, founding several successful companies. When he found time again to daydream, the urge to write returned.

 

David and his wife split their time between Cape Cod, Florida and anywhere else that catches their fancy. He no longer limits himself to five pages a day and is thankful every keystroke for the invention of the word processor.
Newsletter sign up: http://bit.ly/1ronREk
GIVEAWAY:
$50 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Paperback copies of The Children of Darkness and The Stuff of Stars (US)
Ends December 16th
Prizing is provided by the author, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win. 
CLICK ON THE RAFFLECOPTER LINK BELOW TO ENTER

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

 ~~~~~

Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!