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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.

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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,

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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).

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Exclusive Interview: “And The Mighty Will Fall” Author K.B. Wagers

 

K.B. Wagers’ NeoG novels have all been military science fiction stories.

But as they explain in the following email interview about the fourth installment, And The Mighty Will Fall (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), it’s not really the fourth in a series, isn’t just military sci-fi, and while the title implies some finality, there could be more adventures for the crew of Zuma’s Ghost.

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Exclusive Interview: “The Sun Runners” Author James Bow

 

While some authors are hesitant to admit their influences, others understand that no one lives in a vacuum, and that it’s okay to admit that yes, you were shaped by those who came before you.

And then there’s author James Bow who, in the following email interview, not only says what authors had an influence on his young adult sci-fi The Sun Runners (paperback, Kindle), but he also notes that he paid homage to one of them in a rather clever way.