Category Archives: Spotlight

Become the Thing they Fear

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Cover Reveal and Pre-Order!

She’s coming back. Forge of the Assassin will release on July 15, and is available for pre-order now (currently only Amazon and Google, but the rest will come soon)!

arianneelliott.artstation.com

Codename Ares. A legend. A ghost story. They say that seven years ago, she rained down hell from the stars, cutting through everyone in her path: cops, intelligence officers, assassins. All for a baby girl. They say that if she really was just one person, she died under a thousand tonnes of rubble.

They’re wrong.

Alexiares has kept Baby safe for seven years, staying one step ahead of assassins and hunters. But one step isn’t enough. Not when their new enemy reveals himself. Her worst nightmare becomes reality: Baby is ripped from her. Taken to be made into the perfect assassin – something Alexiares promised she wouldn’t allow.

The clock’s ticking and her failure is almost complete. She must work out why she’s still alive while staying ahead of the assassins, a government task force, and the malevolent whispers of her own broken mind. She must find a way to rescue Baby. And she must remind them all of one thing…

She is the only thing they fear.

It probably goes without saying that this is a sequel to Church of the Assassin, so if you haven’t read that yet, now would be a good time to catch up! I have something weird and new coming soon to go with the pre-orders, and in the meantime, because it seems to have become a thing I do now, here’s a soundtrack thing:

Character Spotlight: The Assassin

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Juni Lien was supposed to be a woman, not a killing machine. But perhaps for the daughter of three assassins, there was never anything else in the cards.

Juni is second-in-command of the Star Wraith, but sitting in one place is not something she’s used to, and the sense of confinement is growing when we meet her again nearly a year on from books 1 and 2. Working in a team, coming to terms with the fact that she’s in possession of feelings, having to confront herself as a person rather than drifting through life as a weapon…it may be too much. Perhaps she made a mistake in not pulling the trigger when she had Archer in her sights.

For the rest of the team, Juni is an unknown entity – a predator carefully placed among her prey, yet choosing instead to fight alongside them. She could be a valuable and fearsome ally…if she can be trusted.

The assassin will slip out of the shadows soon, in Fear of the Dark…

Arianne has done all of the art for my books since book 3, and you can find more of her work here: arianneelliott.artstation.com

Character Spotlight: The Freelancer

Posted by Ross Harrison on

One of the two main characters of the NEXUS series, I technically haven’t written a book about him for 10 years! Travis Archer is a freelance bounty hunter with just a little obsession with the idea of being a space cowboy.

Archer is half human and half Necurian, an ancient race with psionic abilities. Although Archer can use these abilities, his lacking knowledge of how to do so safely may have caused some problems, just beginning to manifest when we meet him again, a year after the events of books 1 and 2.

He is the de facto captain of the Star Wraith, having uncovered the ship’s ugly truth almost a year earlier. Plagued by nightmares about the things he has been a part of since then, he knows that it isn’t a position he deserves.

The freelancer will drift into town soon, in Fear of the Dark…

Arianne has done all of the art for my books since book 3, and you can find more of her work here: arianneelliott.artstation.com

Cover Reveal: Church of the Assassin

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Coming very soon, Church of the Assassin is a standalone sci-fi thriller and the 5th book in the NEXUS series. Blurb and pre-order information will be coming later in the week.

This is the third cover to be art-iculated by Arianne Elliott, and hopefully won’t be the last.

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Mara

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Last in this short series of character spotlights is Mara, Vanguard inquisitor.

Mara

Mara graduates into the Vanguard at the same time as Solan and Rialen, easily matching the intelligence of the former and skill of the latter. She is the first of them to be sent on a mission: a hostage situation on an alien world. Something is off from the start – there are no Necurians among the hostages and these aliens don’t like anyone meddling in their affairs, so why call for the Vanguard?

The mission goes bad. People die. Mara kills. The natural compassion of Necurians is pushed aside by necessity and her specialised inquisitor training allows her to cut her way to the hostages with ease. But if she survives, she won’t soon forget that huge blade, or the mountain of a so-called ‘man’ who wields it.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Rialen
Ailan

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Ailan

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Next up is the moody teenager, Ailan Suhn. Sent to try talking him round, Solan and Rialen quickly realise he is more than just a typical teen.

Space Katana

Suhn is dangerously sympathetic to the so-called ‘Fallen’: those men and women who do not adhere to the conventional ways of Necurians. He feels that they are unfairly treated and vilified for simply wanting to do their own thing. He identifies with them. Perhaps even feels as though he would find his place among them.

But when he witnesses a brutal murder committed by one of these misunderstood people, his sympathy disappears. He becomes obsessed with hunting down the killer, now the symbol of those he suddenly hates more than anything: the Fallen. He’s in over his head, but he won’t let anything get in his way; least of all the laws of other, lesser galactic races.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Rialen
Mara

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Rialen

Posted by Ross Harrison on

The second character in this short series of introductions is Solan’s closest friend, Rialen Solaax.

Rialen's Katana

Seventeen-year-old Rialen has already developed his psionic abilities beyond the reach of most students and likes to meet Solan’s lectures with practical jokes and displays of aptitude his friend is yet to attain. Twenty-two-year-old Rialen is a powerful inquisitor with anger problems.

The murder of a Vanguard agent in front of his eyes drives the practical jokes and rash, thoughtless actions from Rialen’s repertoire. His only focus becomes joining the ranks of the Vanguard and protecting his people.

But when the ferocious killer again drives a blade through someone he cares for, Rialen’s anger may get in the way of him preventing the same fate befalling a friend he feels responsible for. If he can’t get a handle on it, will he become what he is fighting?

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Ailan
Mara

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Solan

Posted by Ross Harrison on

As we draw closer to the release of the third book in the NEXUS universe, I thought I could write a brief series of introductions to some of the characters in the book. The cast of characters is not as broad as in previous books, but there are still a handful to meet. These men and women are agents of the Vanguard, the Necurian people’s first and last line of defence.

Solan's Katana

Eighteen-year-old Solan Ashar sometimes remembers to check his arrogance before he lectures his fellow students. Mostly, he forgets that he hasn’t even started his training for the Vanguard yet, let alone graduated. Twenty-three-year-old Solan is full of doubt and worry. He is an inquisitor of the Vanguard, but is the responsibility of this role too heavy? Is the darker side of his new position too much to bear?

The moment teenage boy is suddenly forced into adult is the moment he witnesses the brutal murder of a Vanguard agent. The moment his ideas of a noble, adventurous life of sailing the stars and spreading peace to undiscovered races is shattered by the wrathful and merciless face of reality.

If he is to help bring a murderer to justice and uncover the truth behind a spate of child abductions, Solan will have to come to terms with the contrast between his once rose-tinted view of the Vanguard and its true nature.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Rialen
Ailan
Mara

Book 3 Cover Taster

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Book three of NEXUS is slowly creeping closer, though working seven days a week until midnight is slowing down its progress. The cover is ready, but I don’t want to reveal it until I know when the book will be released.

I will probably also start putting out brief character spotlights as the release gets closer and, obviously, announce that release when I know it. Until then, here is a little square of the cover. Look, it has a foot! A sci-fi foot!

Book 3 Tease

You may have noticed my Facebook and Twitter (oh, and G+…) banners change. That was your first taste!

So until I know more, I’ll try and put out more guides for surviving unlikely situations you’ll definitely find yourself in should you happen to be some kind of Hero.

Battles of Hastings

Posted by Ross Harrison on

This time around, the decision was made not to release Wyrd Worlds III, the science fiction and fantasy anthology I was a part of the first two times. Instead, several of the authors involved in those anthologies are releasing short stories to coincide with the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.

These stories are already up for pre-order, so you can make sure to have them in your collection on the day (14 October).

THE BATTLES OF HASTINGS, BY STEPH BENNION

The Battles of Hastings, by Steph BennionWho really won the Battle of Hastings? Eighteen-year-old Jane Kennedy, a twenty-first-century Chicago girl on her first field assignment, had expected a simple mission to gently ease her into the time-bending realities of her new job. Yet here she was, lying semi-conscious amidst the wounded and dying of a particularly gruesome battle, wondering what the hell she had let herself in for. In this novella based on Jane’s memoirs, follow her strange journey through multiple realities as her fellow time travellers each realise they come from a future with a different past. Is there a rogue on the loose out to change history? The Battles Of Hastings is a romp through alternate time lines in England 1066 to mark the 950th anniversary of the invasion that shaped Britain and Europe today.

PRE-ORDER NOW FROM SMASHWORDS

 

THEY MARVEL AT THE STAR – L J HICK

hastings-lj

Thomas is a member of the Fyrd and is recruited into Harold Godwinson’s army to confront Duke William II of Normandy. He is befriended by a blond-haired man called Kauko as they march to war. Thomas has no time for lords, kings or gods of any kind but Kauko seems to have a large amount of time for Thomas. Why is Kauko so interested in the welfare of a farmer’s son, and just what does he intend to do with him? As the relationship develops and the pair of them confront the stupidity and darkness of war, Thomas comes to realise that they did not meet by chance. In fact, Kauko has been preparing for this for a long time.

PRE-ORDER NOW FROM SMASHWORDS

 

NORMAN BLOOD – BARBARA G. TARN

hastings-barbNineteen-year-old Robert Malet followed William the Bastard to England to claim the English throne. The battle near the small town of Hastings is the beginning of the Norman conquest of England, but also of Robert’s second life.
A vampire in 12th century Europe traveling, fighting and meeting his siblings in darkness, changing names through the years when his mortal life is gone.
Follow Robert Malet, Brother Geoffrey, Robert Capuchon and Mercadier through the years. History and fantasy based on medieval chronicles for a Vampires Through the Centuries novella.

PRE-ORDER NOW FROM:

SMASHWORDS

KOBO

AMAZON

 

EADWEARD – A STORY OF 1066 – VICTORIA ZIGLER

hastings-victoriaIt’s October 14th 1066, and King Harold’s Saxon army is about to go in to battle against Duke William’s invading Norman army. Among the ranks of the Saxons are two boys who shouldn’t be there: Eadweard, and his best friend, Cerdic.
Daydreams of becoming great war heroes had the boys convinced to disobey their Fathers and go to war, despite the possibility of punishment if they were caught. Now it’s time for the battle to begin, and Eadweard is starting to wish he’d stayed home after all. But it’s too late to turn back now, and Eadweard finds himself witnessing the events of the battle that would later be called The Battle Of Hastings, and learning how different from his imaginings the reality of war actually is.
*Note: This is a work of fiction, which is based on actual events. It tells the story of the battle between King Harold’s Saxon army and Duke William’s Norman army, which took place a short distance away from the town of Hastings on October 14th 1066, in a place now known simply as Battle. Though this is a children’s story, the recommended reading age for this book is eight years and over, since it is a story that takes place on a battlefield, and therefore contains scenes of violence that are not suitable for younger, or more sensitive, readers.

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SMASHWORDS

BARNES & NOBLE

APPLE iBOOKS