Tag: Books

Exclusive Interview: “Aurelia” Author Stephen R. Lawhead

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date January 24, 2025
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Aurelia” Author Stephen R. Lawhead

Twenty-six years after he seemingly ended The Pendragon Cycle novels, author Stephen R. Lawhead has returned to the legends of King Arthur in a big way.

Not only is this fantasy / historical fiction series being adapted for television by the streaming service DailyWire+, while the first three books — Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur — have been reissued, but he’s also written a prequel to the series called Aurelia (hardcover, Kindle).

In the following email interview, Lawhead talks about what makes The Pendragon Cycle different from other stories about King Arthur, as well as whether you should begin with the new novel or go back to it later.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Distractions” Author Liza Monroy

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date January 13, 2025
1 Comment on Exclusive Interview: “The Distractions” Author Liza Monroy

In fiction, it’s easy to portray the future as a utopia or a dystopia.

But in Liza Monroy’s science fiction novel The Distractions (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), she presents a society that is both at the same time. And it’s a balance she employs in other aspects of the story as well.

In the following email interview, Monroy discusses what inspired and influenced this sci-fi story.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Blacklight Born” Author Alexander Darwin

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 30, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Blacklight Born” Author Alexander Darwin

As someone who grew up on the original Star Trek, I remember well the episode in which two planets are at war, but instead of killing each other with weapons, they do it virtually, with computers, and then ask the “impacted” citizens to step in disintegration chambers (1967’s “A Taste Of Armageddon”).

It’s something I immediately thought of when preparing to interview author Alexander Darwin about his science fantasy novel Blacklight Born (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), the third and final novel in The Combat Codes Trilogy, in which nations go to war, but through 1-on-1 duels.

Though as Darwin says in the following email interview, his inspiration for this series, and this final installment, was something other than a certain episode from a classic sci-fi show.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Ardent Violet And The Infinite Eye” Author Alex White

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 23, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Ardent Violet And The Infinite Eye” Author Alex White

While it sometimes seems pop stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can do anything they set their mind to, I’m not sure, if push came to shove, that they’d be able to save us from an alien invasion.

But I’m happy to be proven wrong. Especially in book form.

Which brings me to Alex White’s new science fiction space opera novel Ardent Violet And The Infinite Eye (paperback, Kindle), in which one of the main characters trying save humanity from aliens is an ultra-glam enby pop star.

In the following email interview, White talks about who, and what, inspired and influenced this novel, the second book in The Starmetal Symphony Trilogy after 2022’s August Kitko And The Mechas From Space,

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Depth Charge” Co-Editors Hank Davis & Jamie Ibson

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 17, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Depth Charge” Co-Editors Hank Davis & Jamie Ibson

More than 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. And yet, when it comes to planet-based science fiction stories, most take place on dry land, either here on Earth or on some other world.

But in the new short story anthology Depth Charge (paperback, Kindle), iconic science fiction writers including Arthur C. Clarke, James Blish, and Fritz Leiber give us tales that are all set underwater, at least in part.

In the following email interview, co-editors Hank Davis and Jamie Ibson talk about how this collection came together, how the stories were chosen, and which they think could work really well in theaters alongside Avatar, Aquaman, and other movies that are all wet.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Ashme’s Song” Author Brad C. Anderson

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 16, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Ashme’s Song” Author Brad C. Anderson

Not every moral question has a right answer. Or no wrong one.

Take the question that inspired author Brad C. Anderson to write his new novel, Ashme’s Song (paperback, Kindle): “Is a hero someone who dies for their country or someone who gathers their family and gets them someplace safe?”

In the following email interview, Anderson talks about how that question inspired this story, which combines elements of science fiction, cyberpunk, political thrillers, and space opera into what he calls “spacethrillerpunk.”

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport” Author Samit Basu

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 9, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport” Author Samit Basu

We all know the story of Aladdin. Well, the Disney version, anyway.

But while author Samit Basu knows that version, too, his love of Aladdin goes back further than Disney’s 1992 animated movie. Which is partially why he wrote The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport, a humorous science fiction space opera / science fantasy / adventure story inspired by the original Middle-Eastern folk tale character from One Thousand And One Nights.

With The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport now available in paperback — a year after originally being released in hardcover and for Kindle — I spoke to Basu via email to discuss what else inspired and influenced this sci-fi story, his plans for possible sequels, and why he made one of the central characters a monkey-bot.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning” Author Robbie MacNiven

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 6, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning” Author Robbie MacNiven

The science fiction space opera board game Twilight Imperium has already inspired a trio of novels (Tim Pratt’s The Fractured Void, The Necropolis Empire, and The Veiled Masters), as well as a short story collection (The Stars Beyond).

But now the game, and people who like to read stories based on it, are getting some of the backstory of this sci-fi universe through a new trilogy by author Robbie MacNiven called The Twilight Wars.

In the following email interview, MacNiven discusses the second book in the series, Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning (paperback, Kindle), including how it was influenced by a trio of space-y cartoons.

Tags Author Interview, Author Interviews, Books, BookTok, reading, Robbie MacNiven, Robbie MacNiven Author, Robbie MacNiven Blog, Robbie MacNiven Books, Robbie MacNiven Facebook, Robbie MacNiven Goodreads, Robbie MacNiven Instagram, Robbie MacNiven Interview, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Imperium, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Burning Interview, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Imperium: Twilight Wars: Empire Falling, Robbie MacNiven Twilight Wars, Robbie MacNiven Twitter, Robbie MacNiven Website, Robbie MacNiven Wiki, Robbie MacNiven Wikipedia, Robbie MacNiven Writer, Sci-Fi, sci-fi books, science fiction, space opera, Twilight Imperium

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Breath Of Oblivion” Author Maurice Broaddus

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 5, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Breath Of Oblivion” Author Maurice Broaddus

Works of fiction are often inspired by things that happen to an author in real life.

But when Maurice Broaddus started working for a community benefitting nonprofit, he probably didn’t think it would lead him to write an Afrofuturist science fiction space opera trilogy.

In the following email interview, Broaddus talks about both this series, the Astra Black trilogy, and its recently released second installment, Breath Of Oblivion (hardcover, Kindle).