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Refuge for Human Civilization
Fragments of Light follows a young Archivist named Keela as she uncovers relics of a forgotten civilization while ancient machines awaken beneath the ice. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Winter. It all started with that. I live where winter is a VERY present concept, and as much of an avid reader as I am, rarely did I ever find a compelling SciFi story that took place in winter or somewhere where winter was the norm. So I figured that starting everything there would be something that could generate a different type of texture to the narrative. And one of those threads is the impact – or I should probably say “impacts” – of climate change. As harsh an environment as the Arctic is, climate change has a disproportionate effect on it; everything seems magnified. So to me, that area would likely be a natural refuge for human civilization should the World go to Hell in a handbasket…
Keela’s emotional journey feels incredibly intimate. Was her character shaped by any personal experiences or themes you wanted to explore?
No personal experience per se. However, being a parent, I see that many young people – and having been one myself – are unsure of the potential in them; of the strength that inhabits them. Sometimes it’s easier to wait for someone else to do what needs to be done, but most of the time, YOU could do it, and you could probably do it better. As for the archivist part, that’s purely projection: I’m a big history nerd! I just find it fascinating – good and bad – how technology throughout the ages shaped humans; how it creates a virtuous (or perverted, depending on where you stand) cycle where humans create technology that changes them and allows them to create more “advanced” or different technology that in turn changes them again, and so on and so forth.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Resilience. Ambiguity. Adventure. Friendship. And as corny as it sounds, humor. Because I really do not want to live in a world where even during the worst of the worst we are not able to smile or laugh. Maybe not at what’s happening, but surely at how we deal with ourselves and others.
The machines beneath the ice feel both mythical and scientific. What was your process for designing their nature and purpose?
Well, in Fragments of Light, machines are not generally “under the ice.” Some are, but it’s more because of their purpose, really. In the subsequent books, we see that Keela and Anina need to go outside the safety of their known world – the Arctic – and cross entire continents to continue their quest and get to interact with many different societies, machines, and people.
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Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that machines are left over from a technologically advanced world that existed pre-Fracture. One where geo-engineering was seen as the way to stop/reverse/curb global environmental collapse. Think huge sun reflecting mirrors, carbon catchers, water purifiers, methane gas processors, etc. These would need to be massive, on a scale that would blow your mind, in order to affect the climate of a system as big and complex as the Earth. And you are right, as with anything that is old, eventually they did drift into mythology or quasi-myth.
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Keela was meant to guard the past, not be claimed by it. In the frozen city of Lumik, she touches a relic that hums with memory, and nothing stays buried. Her quiet life shatters, pulling her into a truth no one else will face.
With Anina, a gifted technician who reads machines like language, Keela follows its call across a fractured Earth. Engines stir beneath snow. Salvage-built cities whisper of healing long abandoned. Wonder ignites, but so does danger, as rivals twist awe into power.
This is not destiny. It is choice. And when no one else steps forward, Keela must.
For fans of Skyward, Scythe, The 100, and Ship Breaker. Discovery-driven sci-fi with brave heroines, hidden tech, and the courage to do what must be done. Scroll up to begin.
One Heckuva Thrill Ride
Dissonance Vol IV: Relentless follows the plight of humanity in its fight against alien invaders and the daunting task of rebuilding a decimated world. What was the initial idea behind this story, and how did that transform as you were writing the novel?
I really felt there was no continuation of the story after Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. I honestly thought I was done. But ultimately, I confess that I left the door open to a sequel with some elements at the end of Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, it was probably inevitable that I continue it. Additionally, I have some rather rabid fans that pressed me to continue it. They were, ahem, relentless. I knew that if I did another one, I wanted to incorporate elements of the backstory of the gorgons, why they came, and more specifically, where they were from. Those were unsolved mysteries from the previous five books. Additionally, I knew that I wanted to structure the narrative along the lines of a CTU episode of 24 with Keifer Sutherland, fused with some hard sci-fi verbiage and research such as that from Contact, Deep Impact, Armageddon, etc. I wanted there to be a sense of impending dread. There were also characters in Dissonance Volume III: Renegade that really required some more final closure than I had previously afforded them, and so Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless was my chance to bring that closure to pass. It evolved…it turned into one heckuva thrill ride of tension and growing pessimism, and the stakes grew ever higher as you went. Additionally, there were elements of the gorgons that I still felt I could flesh out that would give some of the previous story some incredible weight, retroactively.
What was one scene in the novel that you felt captured the morals and message you were trying to deliver to readers?
I am personally a big fan of verbal jousting between two pivotal characters. The dialogue between the new president Cardona and the deposed president Graham was utterly fascinating to me…utterly motivating to me…and utterly thrilling to write. I loved how they played off each other. I loved the dynamics of the final fight, and how Cardona uses the gorgon’s own power against them.
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
Again, I just felt really compelled to write a la 24 with Jack Bauer, and wanted it to be a political thrill ride juxtaposed with an inbound repeat gorgon threat. I think setting it in a demolished Washington DC that was being rebuilt (as the rest of the world was) was a great setting. It’s also so tragic: in the middle of rebuilding, here they come again. That overwhelming sense of disappointment and dejection resulting from such a revelation played throughout, and I think I handled it pretty well. That disappointment and dejection would have played the same anywhere I had set them on the planet. It would be planetarily felt and shared.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
I think they’re done! I’ve wrestled with this and genuinely feel that the story is over. I mean, how many times can gorgons repeatedly attack Earth before we have to turn inward and start exploring our poor management of our defenses and perhaps just roll over and give up? It would grow entirely repetitive. I did the story, I did two prequels and a sequel. Dissonance is done, and I’m VERY proud of it. VERY proud of it. It’s an incredibly robust hexalogy and I’m so privileged and humbled that I got to be the one to write it!
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
In 2042, we finally beat them because of a resistance borne of one man.
But in 2045, gorgons don’t give up easily – and now they’re coming back for revenge.
The resistance deposed President Jean Graham, destroyed the gorgon queen, and leveled the funnel, which was stealing our oceans. But the victory was short-lived. A second craft now approaches, trying to re-establish communication with its predecessor. Earth’s survivors have only just been reemerging out of the shadows for a desperate two and a half years. The horrible truth is confirmed: the enemy is coming for them once more. And now they know precisely who led the revolt: none other than President Vance Cardona himself.
The time for their revenge has come. Will Earth be able to fend off the gorgons once more? Or will this be the end of all humanity? Not if President Vance Cardona, Chief of Staff Miguel Monzon, Lieutenant Cameron “Jet” Shipley, Corporal Liam “Foxy” Mayfield and others have anything to say about it.
Read all six installments in this bestselling post apocalyptic alien invasion series, in this order:
Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (released 11.20.24)
Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
Join bestselling author Aaron Ryan as he takes us back to the world of post apocalyptic Earth in 2045, a few struggling years after the climax to the alien invasion that had left a scorched planet in 2042. Jump back into the bestselling, award-winning “Dissonance” alien invasion series of post apocalyptic fiction books. This is a set of post apocalyptic novels in a survival fiction saga that will leave you riveted!
Deliverance or Justice
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning follows a man living through an alien invasion who is given a mission to train recruits and track down an AWOL Captain set on vengeance. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I needed to pick up right where I left off at the end of Dissonance Volume I: Reality. I’m a big believer in the continuity of story. I love how The Hunger Games movies literally pickup almost right where you left off. I wanted that for my books as well. There is a cruelty in play, and it is directly affecting Jet Shipley, but he’s consumed by desire for revenge, that he’s swinging at a lot of things and making mistakes in so doing. He needs time alone with his thoughts first, to refocus, to get centered with the help of Pastor Rosie, and to allow justice to happen rather than pursue revenge. But as he proceeds forward in trust, he just discovers that some people are silver tongues and cannot be trusted…and he gets fooled again. At this point that deception starts costing more lives and trauma, and he gets further galvanized for action as he goes along. I knew that as he was going into dark places, that I needed to take the story in dark places by introducing more sinister back story, plunging our protagonists into the depths of Mammoth Cave, showing them the aftermath of the 2026 invasion (in this case, by passing through Bowling Green KY), and learning what darkness the human heart can harbor.
With so many great characters in your novel, what character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
I have to say that I LOVE Pastor Rosie. I do. She is so wonderful and so sinister, haha! Sinister in that she knows what people need to do, but she’s maniacally devious in how she lets them get to their answers, guiding them along the way to the truth. I love her personality, her wisdom, her desire to guide Cameron toward justice instead of revenge, and I love her wit. She’s sort of a mix between the Oracle in “The Matrix”, God in “The Shack”, and the prayer warrior in “War Room.” Powerful combination. I had a harder time writing the ancillary characters like Armstrong. I also very much enjoyed writing Cardona, and the big reveal there.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Justice vs. revenge, certainly. But also snarkiness to maturity, as well as cynicism to trust. All of those are evolutions of growth that we need to experience if we’re to mature. Undergirding all of that, however, there’s the persistent and indispensable refrain of hope…that’s what keeps us going forward. Whether it’s hope for deliverance or justice, Cameron and company are pushing forward to see the good end of bad things.
Can you tell us where the book goes and where we’ll see the characters in the next book?
Yes! Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning leads right into Dissonance Volume III: Renegade and there is a massive conclusion to the series in store for you there. The book has several climactic battles, further character reveals, intense plot lines, incredible attention to military detail, and the aforementioned good end, not to spoil things. We need a happy ending. We all do. It’s good for the soul. The human race, in the Dissonance series at least, has already lost so much. In this series, 85% of humanity has been killed off. They need and deserve a happy ending. In Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, they get a happy and tremendously powerful ending.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
They say there’s nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. Sergeant Cameron “Jet” Shipley is that man.
Jet is hellbent on revenge for the death of his younger brother, and that thirst for vengeance extends all the way up to the President herself. But some people are silver-tongues, and Cameron is swayed back to trust. Promoted to Lieutenant, Cameron is issued a new mission and is on the hunt for answers. He must figure out who his military allies and enemies are, before he winds up with a knife in his own back.
The alien invasion is still a threat, and Cameron is torn between duty and doubt while just trying to survive. His next military assignment takes him to the post-apocalyptic Blockade at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. He’s needed to train recruits, strengthen defenses, and plan a strike against the gorgons that have taken over a post apocalyptic Planet Earth.
Love was never part of the plan, but surviving side-by-side with Allison Trudy, Cameron finds himself falling for her. Little do they know they’re walking into a trap: one that might just destroy everything they’ve built. Failure isn’t an option: the survival of mankind hinges on their success.
The final battle looms, and redemption awaits…for better or worse.
Read all six installments in this bestselling series, in this order:
- Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
- Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
- Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
- Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (coming November 2024!)
- Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
- Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning is the second installment in Aaron Ryan’s post-apocalyptic alien invasion military science fiction books series. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy thrilling, dystopian, futuristic military warfare and gritty stories of betrayal, love, revenge, and justice. Order your copy now and experience true tension and terror where the stakes are even higher than in Dissonance Volume I: Reality!
Cynicism vs. Trust
In Dissonance Volume I: Reality, two brothers fight to protect an amulet that could be the key to saving what is left of humanity in a dangerous dystopian world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Honestly, at first, they were just friends. But I needed a stronger bond, and it just made sense that they were the last remnant of their family unit left. That bond was strong before; now that they both are survivors, the bond grows stronger. And in truth, the amulet is not what they’re fighting to protect. That’s just the opening scene. They’re out on daily recon operations to forage for food, ammo, and any survivors. That’s the grind of their daily lives right now: the monotony and drudgery that has become life in 2042. Just staying alive. My wife and I had just watched I Am Legend the night before, and the overrun world is unmaintained and unmanaged. The rabies strain killed off nearly everyone. As a result, we see a world where 6’ tall weeds have grown up through the cracks, and the earth is a ghost town. I wanted that, but the catalyst in my scenario being an alien invasion that wiped out 85% of all mankind, and the survivors are living underground in fortified bunkers called blockades, hiding from a deadly species that possesses a terrifying telepathic paralytic. An enemy you couldn’t even look at, much less shoot at and draw in more of them. The notion truly terrified me.
Did you plan the tone and direction of the novel before writing, or did it come out organically as you were writing?
I’m so much more of a panther than a planner. Yes, I had some mileposts that I knew my characters needed to get to, but overall, I really appreciate the way that organic writing affords me the opportunity to let the characters lead me, as opposed to vice versa. Organic writing really allows me the ability to let them thread their way through wherever I set them down, and then, just as in life, “life happens to them”. From there, you get to see what happens to them as they face adversity. When monkey wrenches get thrown in. When they run out of gas or their computer crashes or the kid has just thrown up. Art imitates life, just as the other way around, and everything isn’t always hunky-dory. There are things that happen to our protagonists, and you get to see how they would handle them. Just as Vladimir Nabokov said, “The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.”
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Faith. Justice vs. revenge. Cynicism vs. trust. Snarkiness vs. maturity. There’s a lot of this that I personally went through as well, and I very much relate to them.
What can fans look forward to seeing in volume 2 of the Dissonance series?
An incredible adventure awaits Cameron Shipley. A very trying one. A journey of trust, adversity, questioning, answers, anger, betrayal, love, gain, loss, hysteria, incredibly colossal battles, victory, defeat, hiding, and re-emergence. I’ve never written anything more powerful than the Dissonance series. It’s truly loaded with thematic depth, and each book pushes you further along those tracks. You’re in for a fantastic ride!
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Author’s Blog | Website | Amazon
*** CURRENTLY ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN AND BEING PITCHED TO MAJOR STREAMING NETWORKS! ***
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Sergeant Cameron “Jet” Shipley was only six years old when the aliens silently drifted down through Earth’s skies in 2026. 16 years later, humanity is painfully familiar with one simple, agonizing, and inescapable truth:
One look, and it’s all over.
Terror lurks around every corner, and the rules of survival are simple: stay quiet, move quickly, and don’t ever look. It’s a post-apocalyptic Earth in 2042, and 85% of humanity has been annihilated by “gorgons”: horrific aliens with the ability to telepathically paralyze and then consume their prey, leaving the victims to feel every agonizing bite. Mostly impervious and nearly impossible to kill, the best defense against them is simply to run. One look, and it’s all over.
Brothers Jet and Rutty are part of an underground military bunker in Clarksville, Tennessee that provides shelter, training, and solace to those willing to fight back. But when a new recruit joins their ranks and reveals a secret that could change everything, Jet is faced with a difficult decision: follow orders, or fight for the truth? As the brothers navigate a dangerous dystopian world filled with gorgons and treachery, they must confront the ultimate question – who can they trust?
Read all six installments in this bestselling series, in this order:
- Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
- Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
- Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
- Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (coming November 2024!)
- Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
- Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
Bestselling 2024 fantasy fiction new releases author Aaron Ryan presents Dissonance Volume I: Reality in the first installment of his dystopian apocalyptic ebooks. It’s perfect for top new military science fiction readers who enjoy tense, thrilling and gritty post apocalyptic stories about resistance, complex characters, and the intrinsic truths of humanity. With a screen adaption underway for streaming networks, now is the perfect time to order your copy and delve into a gripping tale of survival and sacrifice in this top new sci-fi military thriller novel!
Eyes of Blue
In Eyes of Blue, author S.M. Sykes crafts a riveting tale set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a catastrophic plague. The protagonist, Ava Caroline Washington, is a survivor in a secluded Delaware state park. Her relative peace is shattered, thrusting her into an uncharted and dangerous world outside. Here, she encounters enigmatic beings with unnerving blue eyes, setting her on a quest to uncover their mysteries before they threaten the remnants of civilization.
Sykes takes a unique approach to the zombie genre, introducing ‘Deaders’ who break from traditional undead narratives. The story delves into the human spirit’s resilience and the complexities of moral dilemmas, echoing current societal concerns and the impact of technology. The narrative is skillfully woven, balancing intense action with reflective moments that mirror the pace and pauses of contemporary life.
Ava Caroline Washington stands as a compelling character, a symbol of humanity’s struggle to adapt in a fractured world. Her attachment to a lost phone is a touching metaphor for our dependence on technology and the challenges of maintaining human connections amidst turmoil. Ava’s journey prompts readers to contemplate their own ties to technology, identity, and the delicate nature of societal structures. The novel also innovates within its genre by reimagining the zombie archetype. The Deaders in Eyes of Blue do not propagate their kind through victimization, shifting the focus from physical survival to the psychological and ethical challenges faced by survivors. This thematic evolution mirrors contemporary fears of existential threats, whether biological, environmental, or societal, lending the story a multi-dimensional and pertinent quality.
Eyes of Blue resonates as a cautionary narrative reflecting real concerns about bioengineering and pandemic preparedness. In a world grappling with global crises and rapid technological change, the story’s exploration of a society undone by a deadly disease is both timely and thought-provoking. It prompts readers to ponder the ramifications of unchecked scientific endeavors and the fragility of established norms.
Sykes’ debut work transcends genre constraints, providing a narrative that is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. It showcases the potential of speculative fiction to shed light on enduring aspects of the human condition in a rapidly evolving world. Eyes of Blue is not just a survival story; it is a reflection on what it means to be human in an era of profound change.
Pages: 239 | ASIN : B09X546562
LITERARY TITAN 