July 21, 2014
Let’s welcome a new friend to West of Mars. Sean Kinsley popped into my inbox, said hello, and told me about the song that makes him think of his book, Wicked Tides.
Short and sweet, huh? And this is some good Susan music, too. Crunchy but with an ethereal vocalist. Why haven’t I heard more of this band? This is good stuff!
Here’s the book description:
A dark fantasy, hardcore action novel…
After intercepting a convoy containing crucial intelligence and decrypting the data, the Kionic Pirates now know their time of plundering the seas may come to an end. An alliance has been formed between the various factions they prey on. With little time to spare the Kionic Pirates begin their own defensive preparations which include sending out various special forces teams to perform recon and sabotage missions.
An area of the world that has not seen major conflict is about to erupt. Run by powerful politicians, kings, warriors, spherists, assassins and underground networks, chances for personal gain are rife. Spherists, people who are able to draw upon and control the energy of ethereal realms, are utilized in everything from encrypting information, communicating long distance, spying and contract killing.
Everything is about to go down and the Kionics are right in the middle of it.
One Kionic spec ops team, lead by Exphasia, a spherist, is sent to the city where she grew up. Followed by her brother Merritt and her hard-headed friend, Rezen, they soon learn that there is far more going on than initially perceived. Aided by an assassin, who partly shares in the Kionic’s own goals, they must recover as much intel as possible and destroy what they can before the Alliance fleet leaves dock.
And there’s something else…
Communication and other spherical activities are being scrambled and hampered by an unknown storm brewing over the mountains to the east. Something is wrong.
And Rezen’s nightmares are getting worse…
Complex, like the song. I can see how it fits, already.
Pick up your own copy today!
What? No B&N or Apple? Oh, I hope that changes…
Connect with Sean:
January 31, 2013
I have more than enough to read. I really do.
So what was I doing in the library, letting my eye get caught by a book called Heavy Metal and You?
Well, trying to avoid exactly that problem, to be honest. I’ve still got books other authors have sent me, I started a book when I was between reviews for The World’s Toughest Book Critics that I’ve yet to finish, and TWTBC must like me enough that I got this current assignment an entire week before the last one was due. In other words: they’re filling my reading time, all by themselves, and all the other books around here continue to lie in wait for me.
But… how do you walk away from a book called Heavy Metal and You? Especially when a line in the acknowledgements reads: Special thanks to Tom, Jeff, Dave, and Paul, for being Slayer. (However, we won’t stop to ask why founding member Kerry King didn’t get a thanks but Paul Bostaph, who tends to play with them when Dave isn’t, did.)
The author is Christopher Krovatin, and he’s written some other things since Heavy Metal and You, settling into the horror genre after this stint in YA. The publication date is 2005, which feels old by today’s standard of immediacy. And the publisher? Push, a division of Scholastic.
So… go pick up a copy and read along! Leave your comments here or on the West of Mars Fans page over at Facebook.
