Archive for Free
Free Short Story: ‘Ghost’ by Guy Haley
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Guy Haley‘s action-packed Omega Point – the second Richards and Klein investigation and sequel to last year’s Reality 36 – is one of our April titles and will be available from the 5th of the month (slightly earlier in the US & Canada and in eBook).
To re-whet your appetite for the A.I. P.I. and cyborg commando sleuthing team, Guy has posted a free short story, set a month or two before the events of Reality 36, entitled ‘Ghost’.
It begins a little something like this:
2nd July, 2129
“Ohmygod, are you like, wholly certain?” The microphone at Jeanette’s throat hurled her squeals across the grid at Molly. Molly, her face pasted over the world as part of Jeanette’s enhanced reality set up, stuck out her tongue and pulled a face.
“Yeah, yeah, he did, I mean, he really did.”
Jeanette’s shrieks of laughter battered the ears of the other tube passengers. They ignored her, a custom bedded into London psyches two centuries gone. They had ceased to be people by choice, becoming objects to be shifted from one place to another. Although as pressed together as tightly as lovers, they hid in their inner spaces as best they could – in the bone cage of their skulls or out on the boundless Grid – seeking release from the proximity of other warm animal bodies.
Jeanette was less self-conscious. Firstly, she was sixteen, only beginning to outgrow the brash confidence of adolescence. Secondly, wherever Jeanette went it was in a cloud of private information. She was oblivious to the others, their faces crowded out by Grid windows packed laminate-tight.
Her vision hemmed, the Real was confined to a letterbox directly in front of her, dull and drab and wholly not worth paying attention to.
“That’s just grunky vile,” said Jeanette. Molly was using real-time feed of her own face. Jeanette was represented to her friend by a near-I avatar. It caught her mood and expressions well enough. Both girls squealed.
“Vile!” shrieked Molly into Jeanette’s ears. “Oh, but, listen. But you mustn’t tell anyone, okay? He’d be, like, massively mortified, okay?”
“Too late for that!” giggled Jeannette. “I got people listenin’ sis!”
“Where are you?” said Molly.
“I’m on the train!” bellowed Jeannette. “Off shopping, in like shops, I’m massively getting into that. Sooo much better than looking on the Grid. But yeah, no, I surely can’t afford it, but you know, I image it,” she clucked her tongue, “like get it fabbed up at home. Done and sorted.”
“Oh I madly hate you,” Molly’s nose wrinkled as she pouted. “You always look so great and you always get your proj done on time. Why can’t I so? I’ve a ton due Monday, like the day after tomorrow.”
“I’ve not done my proj yet,” said Jeanette. Her avatar copied the grin on her face.
“How are you…”
“A girl’s got to keep some secrets,” Jeannette said. Her avatar held a finger to cartoon lips and gave a wink a teenager might judge mysterious.
The train spoke. “The next stop will be Oxford Street. Change here for Bakerloo, Victoria, and King Charles III lines.”
“And… Oh, hang on so, this is like, surely my stop. Gotta go!”
“Catch you Jeannette.”
“Catch you Molly.”
The last thing Molly saw of her friend was her avatar fading away. Not really Jeanette, just graphics and guesswork, but in her mind she’d never be able to tease them apart. After Jeanette had been gone a while, she wasn’t sure if she ever could.
Visit Guy Haley’s blog to read the rest of the story.
And for even more from Richards and Klein, check out the novella ‘The Nemesis Worm’, available from BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
More Extracts – The Alchemist of Souls, Omega Point, Costume Not Included
Posted by: | CommentsNext month we’re publishing a trio of terrific titles by three awesomely amazing authors and – in a slightly more timely fashion than the last batch – we’ve just uploaded excerpts from all three to our issuu.com page and added them to the relevant catalogue pages here on the website. But to save you having to go looking for them, here they all are!
The Alchemist of Souls
by Anne Lyle
Night’s Masque, vol I
When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend: skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers’ wake, bringing Native American goods – and a skrayling ambassador – to London. But what do these seemingly magical beings really want in Elizabeth I’s capital?
Mal Catlyn, a down-at-heel swordsman, is seconded to the ambassador’s bodyguard, but assassination attempts are the least of his problems. What he learns about the skraylings and their unholy powers could cost England her new ally – and Mal Catlyn his soul.
You can also download a PDF copy of the excerpt, if you prefer.
Omega Point
by Guy Haley
Richards & Klein, Volume II
The powerful artificial intelligence designated k52 has a plan to take over the world.
If it were to create an artificial reality based on our own universe it could theoretically gain enough data to be able to alter reality itself, turning k52 into the ultimate arbiter of mankind’s fate.
It’s down to Richards and Klein to stop k52 – even though the alternative could be worse!
Again, here’s the PDF version to download, if you’d rather.
Costume Not Included
by Matthew Hughes
To Hell and Back – Vol II
Chesney’s efforts to ‘Save the Day’ and ‘Win the Girl’ make slow progress. This superhero lark is a bit more complicated than he thought.
But even as Chesney is trying to learn the ropes, Boss Greeley has made a deal with the Devil. A deal that is making Greeley stronger by the minute. Soon he will be untouchable. Meanwhile Reverend Hardacre digs deeper and finds that not everything in reality is quite what it seems…
Now Chesney, the one-time actuary-turned superhero must continue the fight.
And one more time, the downloadable PDF, for those who want one.
Bloggers and Reviewers don’t forget, if you review genre fiction titles regularly at your own blog – or as part of a team blog, or for a magazine or pro-website – then you can get your hands on electronic ARCs of these titles (and many more) by applying to join our Robot Army street team. Click that link for full details.
Fresh Extracts – Carpathia by Matt Forbeck and Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm
Posted by: | CommentsWith the official US publication date of both Carpathia by Matt Forbeck and Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm finally upon us and the official UK publication date just a couple of days away, it’s long past time that we posted a couple of free excerpts from the books in question. So here you go.
Here’s what to do: read, enjoy, then proceed immediately to grab the full ebooks from the Angry Robot Webstore / your favourite online retailer or pick up the printed paper edition from your favourite purveyor of physical items. Couldn’t be easier.
Carpathia
by Matt Forbeck
It’s Titanic meets 30 Days of Night.
When the desperate survivors of the Titanic were rescued from the icy waters of the North Atlantic by the passenger steamship Carpathia, they thought their problems were over.
But something was sleeping in the darkest recesses of the rescue ship. Something old. Something hungry.
[applet thingy via issuu.com]
Dead Harvest
by Chris F. Holm
Meet Sam Thornton. He collects souls.
Sam’s job is to collect the souls of the damned, and ensure they are dispatched to the appropriate destination. But when he’s sent to collect the soul of a young woman he believes to be innocent of the horrific crime that’s doomed her to Hell, he says something no Collector has ever said before.
“No.”
[embedded whatsit from issuu.com again]
Click for full-screen versions. You can also embed these free samples in your own website or blog – just copy the code (by right-clicking on the “issuu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “copy embed code”) then paste into your own site.
More free excerpts real soon, from April titles The Alchemist of Souls, Omega Point and Costume Not Included.
Anyone for Empire State RPG Action?
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve just posted the latest bit of brand new content to EmpireState.cc, the collaborative content creation WorldBuilder project based on Adam Christopher‘s Empire State.
The shiny, new content in question is Empire State – the RPG, nothing less than a complete, original and self-contained roleplaying game system fresh from the feverish mind of game designer David ‘Doc Blue’ Wendt, whose credits include White Wolf’s Sword and Sorcery, Exalted, Mage, and Gamma World game lines, as well as his own ‘Camelot’s Shame‘ system.
In Empire State – the RPG the emphasis is very much on collaborative story-telling, with players and GM working together to generate plot- and character-focused gaming sessions based on the concept of the Empire State. Or any of the vast array of spin-off possibilities that the main narrative implies.
That’s the back-of-the-packet version. But what you really want to know is this: it’s cool, it’s sassy, it’s sexy, it’s noir, it’s anything you want it to be, and there’s not an experience point in sight. We’re talking proper, grown-up gaming, folks. Not the sort of thing your dungeon-bashing, level-up-mad kiddie-gamers and going to get a kick out of, and obviously that’s going to mean a much, much more satisfying gaming experience as a result.
So, what the game needs now is gamers! It’s completely free to download (the system is available under the same Creative Commons license as all the EmpireState.cc content) which means it’s yours to run with, build on and participate in to your heart’s content.
And we’d absolutely love it if, once you’ve played the game, you wanted to submit your game transcripts as works of short fiction, or submit character illustrations of their group, or anything else based on your game experiences.
Plus, as you’ll see when you download the rules set, it’s very much text-only at the moment. If there are any illustrators or artists out there who feel inspired to submit some suitable illustrations, do please feel free. Game supplements and rules add-ons (as long as they stay true to the original, story-telling focused game system) are also welcome.
Gaming in the world of Empire State awaits you… grab your dice-bag and get to it!
Empire State WorldBuilder is now live!
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You may remember we told you about our new WorldBuilder project, where we invite fans to create their own content set in the world of Adam Christopher’s Empire State.
Well, the website has now gone live, and to get the ball rolling we’ve commissioned a few pieces (with thanks to the mighty Mur Lafferty for helping to run the project).
The phenomenally talented JR Blackwell has provided us with stills from the (non-existent) 1946 noir movie adaptation of Empire State. There’s an example below, and you can find plenty more over at the main site (EmpireState.cc).
Also at the site is a short story from Hugo and Nebula Award winner, James Patrick Kelly. Empire State inspired his first ever superhero tale, The Biggest.
“The Biggest” by James Patrick Kelly
Big, known to his dear departed mother as Filbrick Van Loon, was startled out of his reverie when a heavy in a cheap gabardine suit dropped into the seat in front of him like a piano falling out of a skyscraper. In his drowsy confusion, Big thought the train itself had derailed, but as he gathered his wits he realized that the Empire State Express was pulling out of Union Station, finally headed south to New York City.
“Guess who I just seen?” said the heavy.
“Can’t.” A woman’s voice oozed boredom. “Jimmy Cagney?”
The seatback shuddered as the heavy thrashed disagreement. “What would Cagney be doing in Albany?”
“Babe Ruth?” said his companion.
“Nope.”
“Rin Tin Tin? Judge Crater?
“The Governor.”
“Roosevelt?”
Big stopped feeling sorry for himself and leaned forward to eavesdrop, although the heavy had a voice they could probably hear him in Buffalo.
“How did you know it was him?”
“Been in the newsreels, hasn’t he? Believe me, this is the guy. He could barely walk cause of the polio.”
Big stood and pulled his suitcase off the overhead rack.
“They say he got better.” The woman was still skeptical.
“If that was better, I’d hate to see worse.”
We’d love for you to go and see what’s happening as part of our WorldBuilder project, and we’d love it even more if you were to join in. There are some free sample chapters from Empire State at the site, and the novel is available to purchase now in paperback, ePub and Kindle formats from your favourite stores.
Empire State Launch/Signing News
Posted by: | CommentsWith a London launch at the Forbidden Planet Megastore last week (get your signed copies, here), and a signing in New York tomorrow night, Adam Christopher is keeping very busy!
Adam reads from Empire State at the UK launch
The launch for Adam’s Empire State at Forbidden Planet on Thursday last week was a great success. We’re still waiting for the firm numbers to come in, but FP have told us that it is one of the most successful launch/signings they have ever held there.
Which is nice.
A good time was had by all, and after reading a tantalising excerpt from the novel, Adam was kept extremely busy by the long queue of eager readers.
And if you missed the news at the weekend, the Financial Times said this of Empire State:
Suffused with a love for noir fiction and the golden age of American comic books, Christopher’s Empire State is something of a tour de force. If, somehow, Raymond Chandler and Philip K Dick had collaborated on a Superman story, they might well have produced this novel.
Congratulations to Adam on a fine launch, and our thanks go to Danie and the team at Forbidden Planet for making it all happen.
New Yorkers – don’t forget Adam’s signing at the Mid-Manhattan Library tomorrow evening from 6.30-7.30pm. (Details here, or click the image to the right).
Empire State is out now in paperback and eBook formats. Order a copy from your favourite indie, chain or online retailer.
Merry Christmas – Sock Amnesty Reminder
Posted by: | CommentsFirst of all: Merry Christmas! We hope you received everything you wanted, and wanted everything you received.
If not… don’t forget that we have our sock amnesty running this year!
It happens every year. Maybe it’ll be your mad Aunty Mabel, or your loving Mum, or your lazy brother-in-law, or maybe it’ll be the last-minute Secret Santa buyer in the office that you were unlucky enough to end up with.
But let’s face it, it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen: someone will give you some sort of Crap Present – often some oh, so jolly Xmas socks – during this holiday season.
Here at Angry Robot we’re no strangers to the Squishy Package of Impending Doom and we feel your pain, we really do. Which is why we announced the Angry Robot Sock Amnesty.
In a festive nut-shell: if you send us your Xmas socks (or any other crap presents that you’d be happy to see the back of) we will send you a voucher code for a free Angry Robot ebook in return.
We’ll then donate all your crap presents to charity on your behalf – after posting photos of the funniest and/or weirdest ones here on the Angry Robot blog, of course – and you’ll be able to read your ebook-of-choice in the warm glow of knowing you’ve Done Good.
And best of all, Aunty Mabel will never know…
[Full how-to-enter details below the jump:]
Read More→
12 Days of Christmas – Day 10: Marc Gascoigne
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Make your own Angry Robot Christmas Snowflakes!
Just in case you hadn’t noticed – and to be fair because Angry Robot readers are brighter than the average droid you probably did – there’s a crafting revolution going on. From Etsy to your local knitting shop, people all over the recession-hit western world are rediscovering the pleasures of doing it oneself. This Christmas, always one for an internet trend, we’d like to suggest a “make” for you of our own – with these deeply festive Angry Robot Christmas Snowflakes.
Making one isn’t so very hard, we reckon, our reasoning being that if we can make them without severing any major arteries, so can you. You’ll need a printer and appropriately sized paper (you can resize to suit), a pair of scissors or sharp craft knife… and Your AR Snowflake template (PDF) – don’t forget to right-click or alt-click, as is your wont.
So here’s all you have to do:
1. Download the PDF.
2. Open it up and print it. It’s set to just go onto some UK A4 (letter) but you may want to resize it to fit the paper size your printer can handle. Big is nice, weeny means you’ll probably lose a thumb trying to trim it, but feel free to experiment.
3. Fold it up (NB, you don’t need to cut the circle out first, unless you really want to). You might just cock the folding up first time but don’t worry about it. First, fold in half horizontally, then along one edge of the grey-tined segment. Then fold again so the grey-toned segment is on top. Fold the segment beneath it back the other way so it’s a “Z” in profile not a flattened spiral.
4. Using your preferred hacking implement, trim off all the grey parts, leaving the white. You’re going through 12 layers, so watch it!
5. Unfold. Wow, it’s like Christmas day already. Do a few, using different coloured papers, stick them up somewhere, and marvel at your crafting skills every 20 minutes until Twelfth Night. Then throw them in the recycling bin.
Announcing the Angry Robot Sock Amnesty
Posted by: | CommentsIt happens every year. Maybe it’ll be your mad Aunty Mabel, or your loving Mum, or your lazy brother-in-law, or maybe it’ll be the last-minute secret santa buyer in the office pool that you were unlucky enough to end up with.
But let’s face it, it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen: someone will give you some sort of Crap Present – usually oh, so jolly Xmas socks – at some point this holiday season.
Here at Angry Robot we’re no strangers to the Squishy Package of Impending Doom and we feel your pain, we really do.
Which is why we’re announcing the Angry Robot Sock Amnesty.
In a festive nut-shell: if you send us your Xmas socks (or any other crap presents that you’d be happy to see the back of) we will send you a voucher code for a free Angry Robot ebook in return.
We’ll then donate all your crap presents to charity on your behalf – after posting photos of the funniest and/or weirdest ones here on the Angry Robot blog, of course – and you’ll be able to read your ebook-of-choice in the warm glow of knowing you’ve Done Good.
And best of all, Aunty Mabel will never know…
[Full how-to-enter details below the jump:]
Read More→
