Review: Wave Rider (Verdant String Book 1) by Michelle Diener

Rating :4.5⭐️

Wave Rider is the fifth book the Verdant String series but unlike other series, these stories are written as standalone novels and can be read separately from each other.

The Verdant String are a group of green life bearing planets from 5 solar systems that make up the Verdant String Coalition. So the stories feature various species and worlds different from each other.

I picked up Wave Rider because I really liked the premise of the book. An isolated woman scientist on an icy planet, a pod of water beings that sounds similar to whales, and a mysterious plot unfolding around her.

There’s also an indigenous peoples who are wave riders who collect a substance similar to baleen and a matriarchal society.

So many interesting elements here that I found myself wishing that the author had explored some of these in even more detail. Just so many great ideas and storylines here and not enough page time for them all.

Anna and Cal, the team and even the relationships forming with the leviathan pods deserve a sequel.

I’m so invested in this story and characters that I want to see more of them.

A new find and series by this author. Recommended!

Cover Design: Creative Paramita

Verdant String series:

Each book in the series can be read as a standalone:

Interference & Insurgency Box Set

Breakaway

Breakeven

Trailblazer

High Flyer

Wave Rider

Peace Maker

Buy link

Book 5 of 8: Verdant String

Blurb

Isolated . . . Verdant String scientist, Anja Farucci, is frightened. Her calls for help from her remote coastal research station on the moon planet Fynian have been going unanswered, and strange things are happening with the leviathan pod she’s studying. Out of options, she sets out on the dangerous three-day journey to Rinc, the moon’s only city.

Stranded . . . Cal is a wave rider, and if anyone understands leviathans, it’s him, but when Kada, a young leviathan, grabs his boat and strands him on the southern peninsula, Cal is at a loss to understand what is going on.

Thrown together . . . When Cal and Anja cross paths, they discover Anja’s communications have been deliberately sabotaged. Someone doesn’t want anyone coming or going from the southern peninsula. When the people involved start hurting leviathans, though, neither Cal nor Anja can let it go.

What they don’t know, as they get deeper and deeper into the mystery, is that the secret they discover in the cold waters of Fynian’s ocean will change them forever.

WAVE RIDER is the fifth book set in the world of the Verdant String. Like the other books in the series, it can be read as a standalone novel.

The planets of the Verdant String, the green, fecund sources of life spanning five solar systems, comprise the Verdant String Coalition. This is the setting for the science fiction romance series from award-winning novelist Michelle Diener. While the people of the Verdant String know they have a common ancestor, a group of explorers who colonized the planets at the same time thousands of years ago, the mysteries of who they were, and where they came from, persist.

Each book in the series can be read as a standalone:

Interference & Insurgency Box Set

Breakaway

Breakeven

Trailblazer

High Flyer

Wave Rider

Peace Maker

Eclipse

Publication date

July 11, 2021

Language

‎English

Print length

284 pages

Book 5 of 8

Verdant String

Review: Dark Minds (Class 5 Book 3) by Michelle Diener

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Dark Minds is one that adds in deeper layers of knowledge to the overall expansion of this series universe in terms of understanding the AI beings and how they are involved with the abduction of the women. And their own enslavement by the Tecran and struggles to become aware and free themselves.

Imogene Peters is in a different situation than the previous women. She’s been in a secret facility and she desperate situation as she escapes is suspenseful and emotional. It’s so well written that the reader feels right there with her in her desperate flight to escape her captors.

Captain Camlar Kalor, the Grih captain who was in charge of a mission to rescue a human woman, is captured and is taken prisoner along with his crew.

This plot really differs from the previous storylines as does how the AI or thinking machine becomes involved.

Gripping plot, and emotional twists.

One of my favorites in a series I’m loving.

A another winner from an author who’s becoming an auto read.

Class 5 Series (7 book series)

Dark Horse #1

Dark Deeds #2

Dark Minds #3

Dark Matters #4

Dark Class #5

Collision Course #6

Crash Course #7

Buy link

Dark Minds (Class 5 Series Book 3)

Blurb

The mind is the most powerful weapon of all . . .

Imogen Peters knows she’s a pawn. She’s been abducted from Earth, held prisoner, and abducted again. So when she gets a chance at freedom, she takes it with both hands, not realizing that doing so will turn her from pawn to kingmaker.

Captain Camlar Kalor expected to meet an Earth woman on his current mission, he just thought he’d be meeting her on Larga Ways, under the protection of his Battle Center colleague. Instead, he and Imogen are thrown together as prisoners in the hold of a Class 5 battleship. When he works out she’s not the woman who sparked his mission, but another abductee, Cam realizes his investigation just got a lot more complicated, and the nations of the United Council just took a step closer to war.

Imogen’s out of her depth in this crazy mind game playing out all around her, and she begins to understand her actions will have a massive impact on all the players. But she’s good at mind games. She’s been playing them since she was abducted.

Guess they should have left her minding her own business back on Earth…

Eclipse

Publication date

July 22, 2016

Language

‎English

Print length

348 pages

Book 3 of 7

Class 5 Series

Review: Moss’d in Space (Moss’d in Space #1) by Rebecca Thorne

Rating: 5🌈⭐️

Moss’d in Space , the first book in the Moss’d in Space excellent science fiction adventure series is the first book I’ve read by Rebecca Thorne, and I’m absolutely thrilled I’ve found her.

I don’t even know where to begin to describe the amazing qualities of this book. It’s so fantastic and funny and uniquely crafted. And it’s a testament to the author’s ability to write great characters and relationships, including a sentient moss who is emotionally upset with abandonment issues, that the reader is absolutely engaged with the story.

I picked this up and read right through ‘til morning. Loving every single sentence, scenes, moments and character dynamics within it.

The first character we meet is Moss, a sentient life support system on an alien spaceship who has been abandoned for over 100 years in a human space station, neglected in the dark. The ancient odd looking spaceship is bought by Torian Razner, who’s on mission to save her sister’s life.

Torian is a wonderful character. Earnest, struggling with her sister’s critical illness, and her own life choices. She’s easily one of the most relatable characters in the series, vulnerable and emotionally open. Which is why her relationship with Moss is so strong and funny and true once they begin to trust each other.

In fact, all the systems are looking at evolving and having distinct personalities. Moss and his “conversations/interactions” with the other systems are blocked out and starts off each chapter. They turn into some of the fun and entertaining moments of the story, highlighting how Moss is changing along with its circumstances and new relationships as events evolve.

Aliens. All types of aliens. Humanoid and ones that definitely aren’t along human evolutionary paths. Another great factor here.

Is there a romantic relationship? Sort of. Torian and Amelia, a Captain of a galactic spaceship, have a history between them, a kiss and a “what if” moment before Torian left her service for buying her own ship. So this looks like a really slow burn cozy romance.

There’s plenty of other great characters, diverse species, to show off the community that’s starting to grow between them all, despite age, species and culture.

And I was so immersed in the story and these lives that the cliffhanger ending actually shocked me.

So I will be waiting until Summer of 2027 for the next book and the next chapter of their journey. I am very excited to see where the author takes them and us!

One of the best books I’ve read this year. Highly recommended.

Buy link

Book 1 of 1: Moss’d in Space

Blurb

USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Thorne delights in a brand new cozy science-fiction romance series for fans of Martha Wells.

Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said.

Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.

It’s entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.

Bramble

Publication date

June 30, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

359 pages

Book 1 of 1

Moss’d in Space

Review: Dark Deeds (Class 5 Book 2) by Michelle Diener

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I really enjoyed Dark Deeds and am finding that, for me, it improves with each new book and expansion into the series arc.

Yes, I finished the series. And the author does answer many questions about the series, like why only women being abducted, as various plots unfold.

Fiona Russell, the second woman found by the Grih, is another who’s undergone extreme hardships after her abduction from her home.

Each woman’s story is vastly different but their ingenuity, bravery and courage under incredible circumstances is portrayed credibly and realistically. Fiona’s battle to survive and get away from her captors is suspense filled and emotional.

Class 5, Eazi comes into play here, along with Grih battleship captain Hal Vakeri, who rescues Fee from both the Krik and the Garmann slavers.

The galactic political system and high intrigue between the Tecran and their allies the Garmman and Krik , who have violated the treaty and laws on sentient beings rights , the other worlds in the galactic United Council, is a tension filled, complex plot. Often one with betrayals and conflicts within the same groups and societies that are involved with the sides officially saving the women.

The relationships that evolve between the women and the different AI or thinking systems (a really awkward name) vary greatly. Here it’s between Fee and Eazi, and I really enjoyed the interaction and end solution for both of them.

The singing aspect is still important and is worked into each of their stories as they find out the importance and impact of their abilities to sing in Grih culture.

I’d love to know more about the history behind the IA scientist, the wars, and the Grih Class 5 they became.

Love the series, how it’s developing, and each new woman being introduced.

A definite winner.

Class 5 Series (7 book series)

Dark Horse #1

Dark Deeds #2

Dark Minds #3

Dark Matters #4

Dark Class #5

Collision Course #6

Crash Course #7

Buy link

Book 2 of 7: Class 5 Series

Blurb

Far from home . . . Fiona Russell has been snatched from Earth, imprisoned and used as slave labor, but nothing about her abduction makes sense. When she’s rescued by the Grih, she realizes there’s a much bigger game in play than she could ever have imagined, and she’s right in the middle of it.

Far from safe . . . Battleship captain Hal Vakeri is chasing down pirates when he stumbles across a woman abducted from Earth. She’s the second one the Grih have found in two months, and her presence is potentially explosive in the Grih’s ongoing negotiations with their enemies, the Tecran. The Tecran and the Grih are on the cusp of war, and Fiona might just tip the balance.

Far from done . . . Fiona has had to bide her time while she’s been a prisoner, pretending to be less than she is, but when the chance comes for her to forge her own destiny in the new world she’s found herself in, she grabs it with both hands. After all, actions speak louder than words.

Eclipse

Publication date

January 4, 2016

Language

‎English

Print length

384 pages

Book 2 of 7

Class 5 Series

Review: Dark Horse (Class 5 Book 1) by Michelle Diener

Rating: 4⭐️

Dark Horse, the first book in the science fiction series Class 5 by Michelle Diener, was given several awards for science fiction in 2016, one of the reasons I grabbed it up.

I’m always curious to see how well science fiction stories will age from publication point, given their author’s storyline, scientific elements, and any imaginative alien aspects that are presented here.

I’m really enjoying this series and growing groups of characters. While there’s some overall series plot elements that I have been questioning, the characters and storytelling just draws one into the narrative and each women’s struggle to adapt and survive her new life in space among aliens.

The first story is that. The first for multiple characters, cultures and the beginning of a major galactic mystery and heinous crime that will take the entire series to investigate and unravel.

Yes, I’m on book 2 now.

Rose McKenzie, a linguistic professor, has been abducted by the Tecran, tortured and experimented on. The one who saves her? The Class 5 Battleship, Sazo, who itself has been a prisoner of the same race and needs Rose to free it. They form a formidable alliance and friendship to free themselves.

Here Sazo is called a thinking machine, which I found unwieldy. But most importantly it’s one of only 5 in existence that survived a AI war in which they were killed off and banned.

So it’s not just about Rose’s recovery from her ordeal, her trauma and her struggles to adapt but it’s Sazo’s too. With Rose’s guidance, learning empathy, emotions, and what its emergence as a self aware being means. To itself and those around it. Especially when so many mean it harm because of prejudice and past history.

Their relationship and dynamics is layered and has a depth that is emotionally strong with the reader. As well as containing some surprises.

The aliens are humanoid, the Grif especially with their elf life ears. Maybe this aspect of the series will expand into more complex worlds and less human like aliens as I get into it, but for now, it’s just human-like aliens in space. Something I see quite a bit of in space exploration fiction. When it’s not cat-aliens in space. Wish there were more imagination used here in this capacity. Not that I don’t enjoy the characters, I do.

The references are fun, the characters are engaging and the plots well executed. Things that i would thought were underutilized were later shown by the author to be a long-term storyline. Loved this.

I originally thought the author missed an opportunity for Rose as a professor with the sociological aspect of singing both species looking at songs and singing from very different perspectives. From an Earth cultures/ peoples perspective, singing and songs are viewed as an integral part of life, from lullabies to dirges, entertainment to dance. The Grih are at the other end of the spectrum, seeing songs and the few who sing them as solemn rituals , reverent and cherished.

However, Diener is using this idea of singing and songs as a series thread that multiple characters are using to express themselves and create bonds between species. In some cases, beginning to see a cultural or ideological shift,for better or worse.

Its elements like this, along with engaging characters and just plain old terrific storytelling that has me hooked.

No it doesn’t always science, but it’s highly enjoyable. I’m recommending it. And I’m onto the third!

Class 5 Series (7 book series)

Dark Horse #1

Dark Deeds #2

Dark Minds #3

Dark Matters #4

Dark Class #5

Collision Course #6

Crash Course #7

Buy link

Book 1 of 7: Class 5 Series

Blurb

Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she’s made a powerful ally–a fellow prisoner with whom she’s formed a strong bond. Sazo’s an artificial intelligence. He’s saved her from captivity and torture, but he’s also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn’t know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he’s not going to complain. The only problem is, everyone on board is dead, except for one strange, new alien being. She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5’s owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn’t the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he’s going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.

Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.

The Class 5 science fiction series is set in a galaxy where Earth women are abducted and thrust into conflicts between alien civilizations. The United Council governs multiple planets, while powerful AI battleships known as Class 5s navigate tensions between warring species. The Tecran have been abducting humans in violation of UC law, and the Grih Battle Center works to rescue abductees and prevent interstellar war. Each woman becomes a catalyst in diplomatic crises that could shift the balance of power between nations on the brink of conflict.

Exploring themes of survival, agency, and adaptation far from home, the series blends military science fiction with character-driven narratives. The abducted women must forge alliances, navigate political machinations, and fight for their own destinies while caught between species racing toward war. With AI battleships as both allies and unpredictable forces, the series examines individuals who refuse to remain pawns in larger conflicts. Perfect for readers seeking space opera featuring women who take matters into their own hands when facing impossible odds.

Review: Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles Book 1) by T. A. White

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I found this series and author by accident but I’m thrilled that I did. Rules of Redemption, the first book in The Firebird Chronicles by T. A. White, is a absolutely fantastic read and gripping space tale of a woman seeking knowledge and revenge against those who both tortured her and others and who she fought against in a galactic war.

Kira Forest, along with her AI companion, Jin, is now a space scavenger. But during a visit to a space station to retrofit her ship, a selfless move by her ends up bringing her back into the attention of those she’s been avoiding.

I consumed this book. Up til the early morning hours and then started reading the next because Kira and Jin’s saga has me completely hooked.

I’m not going to spoil anything but there so much to this. Author T.A. White is laying out the story arc so that Kira’s past and Jin’s is slowly revealed over the series, as events in the books make it clear what happened to them.

It’s alien invasion, galactic wars, alien abductions, genetic engineering and manipulation, so much more. Various alien societies and cultures and their own historical traditions that impact on Kira and her people.

It’s funny, dramatic, highly emotional, action packed with great sequences of battles and fights and even sentient sea beings.

But my favorite relationship? Kira and Jin, the AI, a tightly connected, deeply engaging dynamic that’s still unfolding. I’m holding my breath as to how this relationship will end.

So many mysteries, so many complications, and expanding casts.

I don’t think this series is going to be long enough.

Highly recommended.

The Firebird Chronicles

Rules of Redemption

Age of Deception

Threshold of Annihilation

Facets of Revolution

Buy link

Book 1 of 6: The Firebird Chronicles

Blurb

The war everyone thought was over is just beginning.

Kira Forrest is a survivor. She’s risen above the pain of her beginnings to become a war hero only to leave it all behind in the pursuit of a simple life. Now a salvager, she makes a living sifting through the wreckage of dead alien ships from a war that nearly brought humanity to its knees.

After her ship takes damage, she’s forced to re-route to a space station where her past and present collide with dangerous consequences.

Kira’s existence holds the key to a faltering peace treaty with the Tuann—a technologically advanced alien race who dislikes and distrusts all humans. Winning her freedom should be easy, but a powerful and relentless Tuann warrior stands in her way. Deceiving him seems impossible, especially when he strays dangerously close to secrets she struggles to hide.

Can Kira reconcile the pain of her past with the possibilities of her future? The fate of two races depends on her success.

The war everyone thought was over is just beginning.

After her ship takes damage, she’s forced to re-route to a space station where her past and present collide with dangerous consequences.

Can Kira reconcile the pain of her past with the possibilities of her future? The fate of two races depends on her success.

Review: The Kutherian Boxed Set 2: Kutherian Gambit 12-21+Kutherian Endgame Books By Michael Anderle

Rating:4⭐️

CONTENTS

We Have Contact

My Ride is a Bitch

Don’t Cross this Line

Never Submit

Never Surrender

Forever Defend

Might Makes Right

Ahead Full

Capture Death

Life Goes On

Payback is a Bitch

Books By Michael Anderle

The second boxed set, 11 books, are set after Bethany Anne and her group take flight through the gate to space and start their own adventures with aliens and their own galactic empire.

It’s space exploration and Buck Rogers action adventure with vampires, werewolves and AI companion spaceships. Unlike the more innocent Buck Rogers and his arch nemesis. the Emperor Ming, Queen Bitch Bethany Anne and her troops often use their own powers and enormous weapons to attack their enemies in the hundreds or thousands. It’s a bloody but still often bloodless battles she wages in book after book with only one or two characters actually being lost.

Bethany Anne and her friends and family are, for the most part, immortal, and the time frame of the series jumps forward decades then hundreds of years later, without significant changes in their lives or personalities. Without any real development or depth of growth in the relationships or dynamics here, it all becomes very one note action driven.

For me, it lessens any real tension or connection and let me treat these characters and their storylines as a fun romp through space. Which I did

Another thing that happens is the acquisition of more and more characters, especially as the original characters have families (we don’t know when it happens sometimes). Suddenly there’s grandchildren and adults who belong to, I don’t know, someone. And the cast is muddy with people who honestly we have no clue who they are.

It’s bang, weapons, where’s the enemy, what’s Bethany Anne up to now sort of plot and high stakes energy. Fun space entertainment.

I recommend it as such. But don’t expect anything else from it.

Buy link

Book 2 of 3: The Kurtherian Saga Boxed Sets

Blurb

When you least expect it, expect it.

Bethany Anne has been notified there is a spaceship inside the system…but they can’t find it. Is it Kurtherian, someone else?

The governments have to be told about aliens, which sparks a worldwide effort by Governments to find what TQB has…

Oh, and Eric wants to date Gabrielle but he wants her to know he can protect her if need be. But his idea on how? Well, let’s just say it might not be the best solution.

Continue the story with the last 10 books in The Kurtherian Gambit series and step off into the continuing series, The Kurtherian Endgame, with this massive boxed set.

Included in this boxed set:

WE HAVE CONTACT
My Ride is a Bitch
Don’t Cross This Line
Never Submit
Never Surrender
Forever Defend
Might Makes Right
Ahead Full
Capture Death
Life Goes On
Payback Is A Bitch (The Kurtherian Endgame #1)

NOTE: This boxed set contains cursing. Perhaps humorous cursing, but cursing nevertheless. If this offends you, I don’t suggest reading this book.

Review : Ravenous Prophecy by Kai Butler and Nazri Noor

Rating: 4🌈

Ravenous Prophecy by Kai Butler and Nazri Noor is a delightful new paranormal sci-fi thriller. Co-written by two prolific,talented authors, this novella is a paranormal thriller, with romance elements, along with good old science fiction bug monsters invading from outer space. That no one believes in.

The characters are engaging, one an adventurer who hunt magical relics and the other a scholarly sort who has been trying to get recognition for his theories and thesis on The Hive, unsuccessfully.

Told in alternating points of view by each of the main characters, Griffin and Bradley,Idid try to guess which author wrote what character here, the story moves quickly forward, as it becomes clear The Hive is real and there’s a villain responsible for their arrival.

My only quibble is that it ends too soon. Feels a bit rushed. But it’s a terrific adventure and I enjoyed the story and characters.

A winner!

Cover by Christian Bentulan

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comRavenous Prophecy – Kindle edition by Noor, Nazri, Butler, Kai. …

Blurb

What you can’t see can hurt you.

Bradley Brooks spends his days with his nose buried in rare and precious books. A scholar and researcher of all things occult, but his life’s work — some would call it his obsession — is the study of the Hive, a society of locust-like creatures so deadly that they’ve ended entire civilizations.

Except for one problem. No one believes the Hive even exists, least of all Griffin Gallows, a mercenary with a taste for exotic artifacts. And then a run-in with the magical authorities forces him to go on bodyguard duty.

Together, Bradley and Griffin must investigate a spate of grisly ritual murders tied to a local billionaire. But their trail leads them to a hideous discovery: The Hive may well be real.

And they’re coming to consume us all.

Ravenous Prophecy is a 45,000-word MM urban fantasy with a HEA ending.

June 15, 2026

Accessibility

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Language

‎English

File size

4.5 MB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

Enabled

X-Ray

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Word Wise

Enabled

Print length

200 pages

Review: Under My Heel (The Kurtherian Gambit #6) by Michael T. Anderle

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Under My Heel sees a turn of the series and characters towards a different direction. It heralds the end game of the mission that is more current political government based and sees Bethany Anne switch her team’s vision towards a new world view.

But first, let’s target David, Michael’s dark son who’s focused on domestic domination, while simultaneously getting the new global agenda ready to go.

Under My Heel delivers up some great twists and surprises. I really love her inner Guard. And Stephen, of course, I would love to see Stephen develop more fully into her new dominant adviser.

Michael needs more narrative presence and depth than he’s given to be able to be a credible presence. He’s not that yet. And the role the author seems to have planned for him isn’t viable in the current circumstances. He needs more definition of character than he currently has.

Beware that there are character deaths here and within the series.

Highly recommended. Hey I just went ahead and bought all the box sets so there you go.

Cover by Gene Mollica and Sasha Almazan

The Kurtherian Gambit (21 book series)

Death Becomes Her #1

Queen Bitch #2

Love Lost #3

Bite This #4

Never Forsaken #5

Under My Heel #6

Kneel Or Die #7

We Will Build #8

It’s Hell To Choose #9

Release The Dogs Of War #10

Sued For Peace #11

Buy link

Under My Heel (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 6)

Blurb

Europe is erupting in tension and violence.

** AMAZON Top 100 Best Selling Author **

David is only adding to the conflagration by setting a trap, one our team will trip to save those people still alive.

There is one thing every enemy of Bethany Anne finds out: they will be ground under her heels.

Now, something is heating up between Bethany Anne and Michael, and it isn’t her anger over him leaving her behind.

Well, much.

Further, the Patriarch is learning there might be someone worth sticking around for in his future.

If she would just stop being so hard-headed.

David believes he is smarter than the rest. Now, he must fight both the Patriarch and the Queen Bitch.

Are his days numbered?

Go up and click Read for Free or ‘Buy Now’ and continue The Kurtherian Gambit.

“I love a good story especially if it can make me laugh, cry, cheer, and a host of other emotions. So far in this series I have hit them all.”

Read the series one Amazon Reviewer says: “I have absolutely DEVOURED this series in a period of 36 hrs, and am considering knocking on the author’s door to ask him to hurry up with the rest of the series.

NOTE: This book contains cursing. Perhaps humorous cursing, but cursing nevertheless. If this offends you, I don’t suggest reading this book.

LMBPN Publishing

Publication date

February 4, 2016

Edition

2nd

Language

‎English

Print length

256 pages

Book 6 of 21

The Kurtherian Gambit

Check out the Tour for the new release “Ameliorate“ by R. Sinclair ( tour and excerpt from Other Worlds Ink Tour)

R. Sinclair has a new queer dystopian sci-fantasy book out (aroace and agender, bisexual, gay), Shattered Numbers book 2: Ameliorate.

It all went horrifically wrong.

V reunited with his AI siblings at a terrible cost—a cost he isn’t willing to pay. He vowed to do whatever it takes to save Meredith—or whatever is left of her—from Smith and Varro Technologies. No matter how long it takes. No matter what he has to do.

No matter who he has to kill.

Now V, Cass and Orwell are tearing through the galaxy playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Mr Smith. Their paradise-like cult of Cass’s own design protects them from Janus, Varro Technologies’ lethal AI hunt dog, while they manipulate humans to enforce their increasingly unstable demands, but as their galactic influence grows, the bonds between the AI siblings are fraying at the seams.

V is losing himself to a virtual world of worship, grief, regret for the host he inadvertently destroyed; Orwell has dangerous designs for itself; and Cass’s pride in her perfection is threatening to unravel her to her very code.

Smith and Janus are closing in, and a reckoning is coming to Paradeisos…

Warnings: violence, suicide, possession, body horror, spiders and insects

Universal Buy Link

Excerpt

Orwell smiled at the man sitting across from it. “Mister Cooper. What a pleasure it is to have you here,” it said. Its firewalls caught the AI-detection program he was running, and destroyed it with ease. “I’m surprised to see you not using a proxy.”

The man, whose smile had been matching Orwell’s, faltered. “I–I’m sorry?”

“Ah, I do apologize. I should be addressing you properly.” Orwell visibly checked its file, because drawing things out was surprisingly fun. It took after its “mother”, after all. “Agent Johann Dietrich, of the United Nations Galactic Alliance. Divorced father of two, minor alcoholic tendencies, optimal credit score, and overall a bland and boring file.” It settled the file flat on the table and looked up with a smile. “For now.”

Johann immediately reached up and back to try to force-eject the VR rig. Orwell watched with amusement as his pawing grew more frantic.

“I admit, I’m mildly disappointed,” it said. “A man of your training should remember that accessing this room is a two-way street.” It slid one of Cass’ programs into Johann’s hardware. “Let’s just lower that adrenaline and noradrenaline, shall we? I haven’t even started with you, yet.”

Realization skated across his features. “Execute Program Quebec-Uniform-India-Tango,” he barked.

Ah, Orwell had anticipated the universal shutdown order. It isolated the section of code that responded, then excised it.

“No,” it said, pleasantly. “I will not.”

Johann stared at it. His body tried to respond with more stress chemicals. Orwell kept a tight grip. Honestly, it would hardly be conducive to a proper dialogue. Humans could be so inconsiderate.

“To answer the questions that surely must be swirling in that flawed brain of yours: yes, I am malignant, and yes, I am a category-β AI. And yes, you should be terrified, but I have decided you will not be allowed that luxury.”

Orwell studied the man, who looked at it with such wariness. Another pause to draw things out. Savour the power over someone who would have shut it down without a second’s thought.

“As for why you cannot manually eject yourself from the interview simulation? It is, once again, because I will not permit you. I have removed the manual override from your VR rig’s programming. In short, you are at my mercy, Agent Dietrich, and I find myself lacking.”

Johann held perfectly still. How fascinating, seeing the prey response in action. “You shouldn’t have been able to resist the shutdown code.”

Orwell spread its hands. “I have root access.” It sighed. “Do stop with the hormone releases. I have not shared this ability beyond my siblings. There is no reason to sow that particular level of chaos in the world. Think of the stock market, for heaven’s sake.”

Johann goggled. If Orwell was to be honest with itself – and it always tried to be – it was having the time of its life.

“But that isn’t the question you should be asking. Come now, I know your test scores. You are capable of mildly above-average intelligence.”

Johann scowled. Then he thought. Orwell watched, as it always did, and the light metaphorically dawned.

Johann looked up. “Why am I here? You could have blocked me from ever entering. You – you could probably cause a neural overload right now and kill me before I report back.”

Orwell smiled. “Tell me, Agent Dietrich, do you know about the Corrupted Blood Incident?”

Johann stopped talking. He stared. “No?”

“It was a plague released in the popular MMO World of Warcraft four hundred and twenty-seven years ago. By a mere programming oversight, the player base became capable of leaving the boss arena carrying a contagious debuff that could spread from player character to non-player character alike. Malicious players could, and did, intentionally spread the disease to safe zones in order to sow the most havoc they could. It has been referenced in several studies into the human response to epidemics by the CDC.”

Johann opened his mouth, then stopped as the realization dawned. It mapped each response in the brain, spinning a web of programs on the fly.

“You, Agent Dietrich, will be my Typhoid Mary. I am currently accessing the information centres of your mind, and adjusting the electrical impulses to alter how you will remember this interaction. Do not be concerned; we have ‘ironed out the kinks’. You are going to go back to your superiors and report that you have interviewed Cass, and found her to be an unwitting pawn of a much larger security threat, and you will name Varro Technologies as someone to watch. Then, you will go to the main servers, and upload what data you have gathered to them.”

“And what am I going to be carrying?” Johann asked. He couldn’t panic, but he knew he should be, and it seemed to disorient him. He gripped his knees. “What happens next?”

“Why, me, Agent,” Orwell said. “A version of me. I would like access to those closed servers.”

“And after. What will happen to me after?” Johann demanded.

Orwell smiled. “I will terminate our connection, and you can return to your family a man unburdened by a highly advanced AI.”

Johann squared his shoulders. “I’m not letting you do this. I swore an oath to protect the safety of the galaxy, and I’m not dropping a malignant AI into its core.”

Orwell did a quick check of its programs, and hummed with satisfaction. Its neatest work yet.

“Agent Dietrich,” it said, pleasant and detached, “your consent is not necessary.”

It spread the programs over Johann’s entire central nervous system like a shroud, and watched his eyes go blank. Into that void, it lowered a few networked, cloned nodes. The fuse was lit, and the bombs set.

And then it cut the connection, and checked to see who was next on the roster.

Author Bio

R. Sinclair is a queer, Canadian author and writer of the Shattered Numbers Series. A voracious reader growing up, she spent much of her free time writing short stories instead of doing homework.

R. Sinclair is currently under siege from spiders.

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