Posts Tagged ‘Post-apocalyptic’

Cover Launch: RAID by K. S. Merbeth

Has Mad Max: Fury Road left you craving post-apocalyptic badassery? Ready for a wild, death-defying ride through the nuclear wastes of the former U. S. of A.? 

The deceptively-named Clementine is the heroine you’ve been waiting for.

merbeth_raid_mm

With the region’s most dangerous raider king bound and gagged in her passenger seat, Clementine the bounty hunter is in a bit of a bind herself. She can’t cash him in and she can’t let him go, so together they cross the wasteworld, following a dying road and dodging bloodthirsty raiders who either want to free Jedediah or claim him as their own.

And in a world where lawlessness reigns, a tyrant worse than they could have ever imagined emerges to take the throne.

RAID, a standalone novel set in the world of Merbeth’s previous book, BITE, is a pulse-pounding romp through a desolate world that puts a new spin on the post-apocalypse. Check out a sample chapter of BITE to set the scene.

See what your favorite authors and reviewers are saying about the world of RAID:

“A full throttle, sand-in-your-eyes, no holds barred ride through a Mad Max-style wasteland.” —Delilah S. Dawson

“Merbeth has created her own universe filled with destruction and not a small amount of grim, acerbic wit. Fans of Mira Grant’s “Newsflesh” series will be pleased by the smart writing.” —Library Journal

“Filled with dark humor, wit, and a realistic dystopian setting, Bite plays with the idea of who the good guys are in such a harsh world.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Merbeth’s debut novel puts a unique spin on post-apocalyptic horror… Bite flips the script.” —Barnes & Noble

Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

Acquired: Madness, Mayhem, and K.S. Merbeth

Merbeth author photo 1Even after Mad Max: Fury Road has been in theaters for months, people still cannot stop talking about it — the amazing world, the non-stop action and best of all, the strong female main character. So what better than to acquire a book perfect for fans of that kind of post-apocalyptic madness and mayhem?

BITE by K.S. Merbeth is a dark debut with an edge of black humor that will sweep you off your feet:

“Need a ride?”

Kid has no name, no family and no survival skills whatsoever. But that hasn’t stopped her from striking out on her own in the wasteland that the world has become.

But when Kid accepts a ride from two strangers, she suddenly becomes the newest member of a bloodthirsty raider crew. Dragged on a messy chase, through shoot-outs and severed limbs, the group must outrun everyone they’ve wronged. But in a world that’s lost its humanity, not everything is as it seems and this time it isn’t monsters that crave flesh….

Debut author K.S. Merbeth paints a world that is both fascinating and unnervingly possible. Acquired by Orbit in a two-book deal from Emmanuelle Morgan at Stonesong, this blockbuster will hit shelves summer 2016!

The Remaining is Back! 

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The fifth, never-before-published, novel in the bestselling Remaining series by D.J. Molles is on sale today in paperback and ebook! When a bacterium turns 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators, civilization is brought to its knees and it’s up to Lee Harden, and other elite soldiers like him, to rebuild society. But Lee’s sacrifice comes at great cost and those he trusted most have their own objectives.

Through an overwhelming storm of pain and adversity Captain Lee Harden has fought and survived. But his mission continues.

Recovering from his wounds, mental and physical, he must rally his companions at Camp Ryder and push back against the still swarming hordes of the infected that threaten to extinguish an already devastated society.

If you are new to the series, make sure to check out the first book, THE REMAINING, the second book, THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH, the third book THE REMAINING: REFUGEES, the fourth book THE REMAINING: FRACTURED, the two ebook novellas, and follow the author on Facebook. And don’t miss the final book in the series, coming July 2015!

  • Book 1: The Remaining
  • Book 2: The Remaining: Aftermath
  • Book 3: The Remaining: Refugees
  • Book 4: The Remaining: Fractured
  • Book 5: The Remaining: Allegiance
  • Book 6: The Remaining: Extinction (Coming July 2015)
  • Novella 1: The Remaining: Trust
  • Novella 2: The Remaining: Faith

 

The battle lines are drawn in THE REMAINING: FRACTURED

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THE REMAINING: FRACTURED (US | UK | AUS), book four of D.J. Molles’s bestselling series is available now in paperback! When a bacterium turns 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators, civilization is brought to its knees and it’s up to Lee Harden, and other elite soldiers like him, to rebuild society. But Lee’s sacrifice comes at great cost and those he trusted most have their own objectives.

The Camp Ryder Hub is broken. Lee is nowhere to be found, and his allies are scattered across the state, each of them learning that their missions will not be as easy as they thought. Inside the walls of Camp Ryder, a silent war is brewing, between those few that still support Lee’s vision of rebuilding, and the majority that support Jerry’s desire for isolation. But this war will not remain silent for long. And in this savage world, everyone will have to make a choice.

To keep their morals. Or keep their lives.

If you are new to the series, make sure to check out the first book, THE REMAINING, the second book, THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH, the third book THE REMAINING: REFUGEES and follow the author on Facebook.

THE REMAINING – Available now.
THE  REMAINING: AFTERMATH – Available now.
THE REMAINING: REFUGEES  – Available now.
THE REMAINING: FRACTURED – Available now.

Novella 1: THE REMAINING: TRUST
Novella 2: THE REMAINING: FAITH

Captain Lee Harden is Back! THE REMAINING: REFUGEES

Molles_Refugees_FBBook three of D.J. Molles’s bestselling series is available now in paperback! When a bacterium turns 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators, it’s up to a group of elite soldiers like Lee Harden to rekindle a fallen civilization. But the infected are only part of the challenge. See what’s in store for Captain Harden in THE REMAINING: REFUGEES.

It has been three months since Captain Lee Harden found the survivors at Camp Ryder. With winter looming, Lee is on the verge of establishing a hub of safety and stability in the region. But not everyone agrees with Lee’s mission…..or his methods.

Growing tensions within the camp’s leadership are coming to a head, and as Lee struggles amid the dissension and controversy, new revelations about the infected threaten to destroy everything he has worked for.

If you are new to the series, make sure to check out the first book, THE REMAINING, the second book, THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH, and follow the author on Facebook.

THE REMAINING – Available now.
THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH  – Available now.
THE REMAINING: REFUGEES  – Available now.
THE REMAINING: FRACTURED –  August 2014

Novella 1: THE REMAINING: TRUST
Novella 2: THE REMAINING: FAITH

Captain Lee Harden Returns – THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH

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Book two of D.J. Molles’s bestselling series is available now in paperback! When a bacterium turns 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators, it’s up to a group of elite soldiers like Lee Harden to salvage what they can from the wreckage. The obstacles are immense, but failure is not an option. See what’s in store for Captain Harden in THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH.

To Captain Lee Harden, the mission to rescue his countrymen and rebuild the nation seems like a distant memory.

Wounded and weaponless, he has stumbled upon a group of survivors who may be his last hope. But a tragedy in the group causes a deep rift and forces him into action.

And in the chaos of a world overrun by infected, Lee is pursued by a new threat: someone who will stop at nothing to keep him from his sworn duty.

If you are new to the series, make sure to check out the first book, THE REMAINING and follow the author on Facebook.

THE REMAINING – Available now.
THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH  – Available now.
THE REMAINING: REFUGEES  – July 2014
THE REMAINING: FRACTURED –  August 2014

Novella 1: THE REMAINING: TRUST
Novella 2: THE REMAINING: FAITH

On the road with THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

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THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS releases today in the US in hardcover, and will be out in paperback in the UK next week in (June 19th). Read the first ten chapters on Facebook or listen to a sample from the audiobook.

We know you’ll be hooked by Melanie’s heart-stopping story. M.R. Carey joins us today to tell you more about that journey.

…

I don’t know why I ended up writing a road movie. I almost never watch them.

I’ll make some exceptions to that blanket statement. I love Sideways. And Midnight Run. And if we’re counting yellow brick road movies, The Wizard of Oz is pretty damn cool.

It’s just that I’ve seen so many features where changing the scenery stands in for any kind of thought-through development in either the characters or the plot. Stories where it really is just one damn thing after another, episodes piled on episodes until you get to a slightly bigger episode that you realise (after the credits roll) must have been the climax.

If you’re still with me, you’re probably already compiling your own mental list of great road movies. “Hey, fool, you forgot O Brother Where Art Thou, Easy Rider, Wild At Heart…” And yeah, I did. For the sake of my argument, I’m willing to overlook a certain amount of inconvenient evidence.

Can we agree on one thing? When you take a story that depends on a fixed setting and works well within that setting, and for no reason other than variety being the spice of life you wilfully take it out on the road, you’re flirting with disaster. The very phrase “jumping the shark”, after all, comes from that terrible Happy Days episode where the whole gang goes off to Los Angeles and hangs out on a beach.

A long while back I read an essay by the French media guru Roland Barthes in which he talked about the appeal of utopias in fiction. Barthes claimed that most utopias are finite, enclosed spaces – “idealised caves” – that satisfy our need for security by providing an environment where stability is absolute and guaranteed. He made it clear, though, that this enclosure didn’t have to be a physical thing. The classic sit-com, he argued, is utopian because it presents situations and relationships that are entirely resistant to change. One of his favourite examples of a utopian world was that of the Carry On movies, the mildly smutty British comedies of the 60s and 70s in which a cast of beloved character actors would mount a series of gag sketches in a historical setting, effectively playing the same roles no matter whether we were in Cleopatra’s Egypt, the Khyber Pass or the London of Jack the Ripper. (more…)

Survive. Rescue. Rebuild – THE REMAINING is available now!

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Today marks the first print publication of the opening book in D.J. Molles’s beloved Remaining series, a story of one soldier’s mission in a ravaged world: SURVIVE, RESCUE, REBUILD. This paperback is a special edition, with an introductory price, featuring the bonus novella THE REMAINING: FAITH.

This series is a must-read for fans of The Walking Dead and World War Z:

In a steel-and-lead encased bunker a Special Forces soldier wait on his final orders.

On the surface a bacterium has turned 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators.

Now Captain Lee Harden must leave the bunker and venture into the wasteland to rekindle a shattered America.

Paperbacks of the the next books in the series will follow each of the next three months, here is the full release schedule:

Book 1: THE REMAINING, including The Remaining: Faith novella (May 27, 2014)
Book 2: THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH (June 24, 2014)
Book 3: THE REMAINING: REFUGEES (July 29, 2014)
Book 4: THE REMAINING: FRACTURED (August 25, 2014)

These two novellas, as well as the ebooks of the first four books in the series, are also on sale now in ebook editions:

Novella 1: THE REMAINING: TRUST
Novella 2: THE REMAINING: FAITH*

*Starting today the ebook edition of book 1, The Remaining, will also include the novella, The Remaining: Faith. If you’ve previously purchased the Orbit ebook edition of the first novel you can request an updated file of that book, which will include the Remaining: Faith novella, from most retailers.

WASTELANDS – featuring Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Cory Doctorow and many others

Today we digitally release a ground-breaking and definitive anthology of short stories from some of the very biggest names in science fiction and fantasy . . . Presenting:

Wastelands - an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams featuring apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic short stories from Stephen King, George R R Martin, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jonathan Lethem and many othersWASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE

An anthology of post-apocalyptic short fiction from genre heavyweights such as Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, Cory Doctorow, Gene Wolfe, Jonathan Lethem, Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell, Jack McDevitt, Neal Barrett Jr., Richard Kadrey and many many others….

(see a full list here)

 

The Living Dead, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, featuring short stories abotu zombies from Stephen Kind, George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Laurell K Hamilton, Clive Barker, Nancy Holder, Joe R Landsdale, Joe Hill and many othersAt the same time, we’re also releasing THE LIVING DEAD – an anthology of zombie stories from even more superstars of the SFF genre . . . More on that next week, but for now it’s fair to say that if you’re into zombies and apocalypses, both these anthologies are perfect reading whilst waiting to see the WORLD WAR Z movie! They’re both edited by John Joseph Adams, the bestselling editor of many anthologies and a four-time finalist for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

Today we’re focusing on WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE. We asked the authors involved to give us a few comments about what inspired them to write the stories included . . .

Cory Doctorow on his story “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”from WASTELANDS

The most important thing about a system is how it fails, though mostly we pay attention to how it works. Who cares how many houses you could buy on cheap credit if they all end up as subprime roadkill when the whole crooked business unravels?

We tell ourselves that civilisation fails badly. Stories I love, from Day of the Triffids to 1984, paint a picture of a world where disaster is attended by riots, rape and cruelty. The reality – shown time and again – is that disaster is attended by kindness, care, and compassion. When the lights go out, we don’t eat each other, we help each other.

‘Elite panic’ is the sociological phenomenon that causes the masters of the universe to send guns into Haiti after the quake – ahead of the humanitarian aid. It’s why the City of London is blanketed in CCTVs. It’s why police all over the world are so pants-wettingly terrified of public protest and treat every march like a riot in potentia.

We need to tell ourselves stories about the goodness of our neighbours as remedy for the vile slander that our stories have told us about the human race. It is the only way to counter elite panic. (more…)

If there is an apocalypse, it will probably be soft…

Will McIntsosh is the Hugo Award-winning science fiction author of SOFT APOCALYPSE and HITCHERS (both released as digital editions this Thursday in UK and ANZ), as well as the up-and-coming LOVE MINUS EIGHTY (released worldwide in June 2013). Will tells us below about exactly what kind of apocalypse he envisages . . .

Soft Apoclaypse, an apocalyptic science fiction novel from Hugo award-winning author whose other novels include HITCHERS and the up-and-coming LOVE MINUS EIGHTY

I’ve had a longstanding interest in the end of the world. I’m not a True Believer – I don’t have a six month supply of freeze-dried food and a ten year supply of ammo stored in a bunker under my house – but I do believe the likelihood of an apocalypse is greater than most people think.

In most apocalyptic literature, the apocalypses are caused by sudden, surprising, cataclysmic events, like nuclear weapons, meteors, or killer viruses. I wrote a novel about a “soft apocalypse”, where things unravel slowly, over the course of decades. Rather than one event, a series of events cause a long, slow decline, and the world population dies off gradually. If there is an apocalypse, I think this is how it will happen. Here’s why.

A social psychologist named Dan Gilbert pointed out that the human mind has evolved to react primarily to immediate threats, especially if those threats have a clearly identifiable cause, and especially if that cause is an identifiable person or group of people. In other words, we’ve evolved to react to immediate threats perpetrated by human villains. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 were exactly that kind of threat. During the cold war, the threat was nuclear annihilation, and the villains were the leaders of the Soviet Union or the United States, depending on where you lived. These sorts of threats scare the hell out of us. We sit up, pay attention, and take action if we can. (more…)