Tag Archives: sci fi

Sky Full of Stars

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Getting reviews for books is even harder than actually selling books. A fraction of the people who read a book will review it, so when I got out of the shower the other week to a surprise email telling me I’d won a bundle of five reviews from Readers’ Favorite for my contributions to their forum, I carefully avoided mentioning that I’ve only posted there twice.

I chose to have Church of the Assassin reviewed, because it probably has the widest potential appeal of all my books, is probably my favourite, and has very little attention.

The result is five 5-star reviews with some nice, quotable lines! Unfortunately, they can’t be posted on most sites like Amazon or Goodreads, because Readers’ Favorite is a professional company, not a customer; however, they’re still nice to get. Here’s a snippet of the book’s six 5-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite:

Christian Sia – “Ross Harrison plots like a genius, filling the story with twists that readers won’t see coming. The conflict is well-written, and I liked how the author explores the shadowy sect to which the heroine belongs, allowing its effects on her to shine through the story. Church of the Assassin is fast-paced, a real thrill ride and a brilliantly executed page-turner.”

Alex Ndirangu – “I found Church of the Assassin to be spellbinding. Things get even more exciting when fate adds to Alex’s responsibilities. She inherited a baby girl and will run like the wind to keep her out of harm’s way, but first, she will shoot, and she never misses.”

Vincent Dublado – “It is a surprisingly moving sci-fi action novel with a compelling emotional arc.”

K.C. Finn – “Ross Harrison knows how to keep sci-fi fans on the edge of their seats with this fast-paced, cinematically drawn novel that never lets up on the action. […] The worldbuilding is off the scale for its depth, even down to the parlance and cultural attitudes of the characters, which gives Church of the Assassin an immersive quality throughout. This is a highly recommended and accomplished novel that grips readers hard and never lets go.”

Sheena Monnin – “Church of the Assassin by Ross Harrison is masterfully written. The reader will be neck-deep in the quagmire of lies, deceit, action, and murder from the very beginning of the story. […] This is a hair-raising adventure book that is impossible to put down, containing great characters, an excellent plot, and thought-provoking themes throughout.”

Alma Boucher – “Church of the Assassin is jam-packed with action, fast-paced, and never has a dull moment. The storyline is complicated and intriguing. […] Church of the Assassin was worth every minute I spent reading it.”

Starting on December 15, Church of the Assassin will be on sale for 50% off during the Smashwords Winter Sale, and I’m currently writing a direct sequel to it, so now is a good time to read!

Google’s Auto-Narrated Audiobooks

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Finally, after years and years of not trying, I have got my books onto Google Books.

After doing so, I had an interesting offer: be a part of their beta for auto-narrated audiobooks. Auto-narration means that a modern day Microsoft Sam reads to you, entirely failing to understand nuance and emotion, but randomly being pitch perfect when you least expect it. Usually when he has to swear.

Given the number of people who have recently asked me if I have audiobooks available because they can’t read for various reasons, such as dyslexia (it’s three – three people asked), and the currently-prohibitive expense of flesh and blood narrators, I thought I might as well give it a go with book one, Shadow of the Wraith. The result isn’t terrible, bar for the inability of the platform to let me control the length of pauses or use any kind of emphasis. I quite enjoyed listening to it, even if the content itself did make me acutely aware that I wrote most of it when I was twelve and thirteen.

The partially robotic delivery certainly won’t be for some people, and I obviously intend to eventually make real audiobooks – probably after Hollywood gives me an advance for the Avengers-style film series it wants me to write and direct – but hopefully this will allow some people who are interested in the book, but can’t read it, to enjoy it.

Listen to a sample here.

Meanwhile, Shadow of the Wraith is currently free as a clever/crafty way to try to get more sales for the better other books. Find your version of choice here.

Spark

Posted by Ross Harrison on

I tried another one. Technically this is the third one, but I gave up the second as a lost cause learning opportunity.

Instead, I tried a photomanipulation more on topic, about reading and imagination. And I shoved my characters in it. This was also a simpler one, with only four images, other than my character/ship concept art (mostly from Arianne), and a couple of custom brushes.

Here, again because I don’t know what else to do with, is a photomanipulation I’ve cleverly named ‘Reading’, and even more cleverly thought of as ‘learning’ so I don’t have to address all the issues with it:

Perhaps next time, I’ll…write a book.

What Waits Below

Posted by Ross Harrison on

I was thinking about one of The X-Files films the other day for no reason. The film starts with a child falling through the ground into a cave system, getting alien’d up, and then the Smoking Man and his people cover it all up with grass and a children’s play area. Being a writer with books to get on with, I obviously decided to make a photomanipulation along the same lines.

Now…here it is, because I don’t know what else to do with it.

I’ve never done one of these before, because I’ve only really worked with 3D except do very mildly edit my book covers, and took some additional inspiration and tips from Nemanja Sekulic. I can see plenty that should be improved and corrected, but I’ve done enough that my brain will let me go back to writing now.

Fear of the Dark

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Fear of the Dark is out now for Kindle and in paperback and hardback! This space opera is standalone, and you do not need to have read the previous books in the series (although it helps).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4GPSF18

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B4GPSF18

Do you fear the long dark?

– A dark planet on the galaxy’s edge. A primordial predator. A desperate hunt for a dangerous secret.

When the medical frigate Ruby Rose picks up an SOS from the planet’s lightning-ravaged surface, the medics do not hesitate to drop into the raging storm. But the innocuous little planet is home to something sinister. Something desperate. Something that will stop at nothing to find what it’s looking for.

Across the galaxy, the crew of the Star Wraith receives a call for help. The captain of a medical frigate has lost his medics, and one of their names is all too familiar. But how could the Wraith’s crew know that a simple rescue mission will lead to a string of murders and a waking nightmare that will leave them forever changed? –

Read about the main characters, Archer and Juni here:

Fear: Cover Reveal and Pre-Order

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Fear of the Dark will release in just 20 days, on 9 July, and is now available for pre-order!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4GPSF18

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B4GPSF18

Here, at last, is the cover:

Do you fear the long dark?

– A dark planet on the galaxy’s edge. A primordial predator. A desperate hunt for a dangerous secret.

When the medical frigate Ruby Rose picks up an SOS from the planet’s lightning-ravaged surface, the medics do not hesitate to drop into the raging storm. But the innocuous little planet is home to something sinister. Something desperate. Something that will stop at nothing to find what it’s looking for.

Across the galaxy, the crew of the Star Wraith receives a call for help. The captain of a medical frigate has lost his medics, and one of their names is all too familiar. But how could the Wraith’s crew know that a simple rescue mission will lead to a string of murders and a waking nightmare that will leave them forever changed? –

Fear of the Dark is the sixth book in the NEXUS series but, like most of them, it is standalone. If you happen to know book one and two, though, that will help, because this is finally the return of Archer and Juni!

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

Obligatory Update

Posted by Ross Harrison on

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a useless blog-writer must still update their blog at least once every year. As it is approaching the one-year anniversary of Church of the Assassin releasing (already), and I’ve written nothing here since…here is that update.

Ahem. Let’s see… What’s in the news… Well, never mind.

Although this was never supposed to be any kind of review blog, I have babbled about films and even games here and there, and yet I haven’t even returned to talk about the dreaded/fawned-over Snyder Cut. I do have a half-finished review of it written, but I couldn’t be bothered to finish. The gist is that I grudgingly like it a lot more than Whedon’s nonsense, but it’s still terrible.

More importantly, I am currently just over 90,000 words into my next book, which will see the return of Archer and Juni, the two who are supposed to be the overall main protagonists of my series, and yet haven’t been seen for 9 years. I’m glad no one was around to take a picture of the stupid smile on my face while I was writing their first scene together since 2012. It will be the first of a trilogy of sorts, alternating with the trilogy that Church of the Assassin kicked off.

In the meantime, I’m working on hardbacks of all the books, which will be available soon! And because I wanted it, the artist who has done the last three covers is doing some art for both Archer and Juni, so I should have that to share soon too.

I’m also considering writing some more of the Writer’s Guides, as they seem to be the most popular thing on this site. But you can see how infrequently I write anything here, and judge for yourself how likely that is to happen.

So there’s my annual update.

Bye.

Church of the Assassin: Out Now!

Posted by Ross Harrison on

When you take a shot at an apex predator, do not miss.

Church of the Assassin is now available in paperback and as an ebook from most retailers.

This is a standalone novel, and the fifth book in the NEXUS series. While the series itself is space opera/science fantasy, this book is more on the thriller side. Pick it up now, and I think you’ll enjoy Alexiares’ path of vengeance and discovery!

KILL ONE TO SAVE A HUNDRED

Alexiares spends her time killing, tinkering with a car she never drives, and wondering if she’s a sociopath. This simple life is complicated by a deadly purge of her sect and she finds herself on the run, trying to make sense of the slaughter. She’s not alone: the broken-minded assassin has inherited a baby girl. But how can hands that know only how to squeeze necks and strip engines ever nurture a child? When painful revelations, betrayals, and secrets show Alexiares that her life can only cause Baby pain and suffering, she’ll have to make a difficult choice.

Across the galaxy, one seemingly natural death puts rookie Intelligence officer Ryan Blake on a collision course with Alexiares. His journey into desperation and madness will reveal a world he’ll wish had stayed hidden. One full of mysteries and death. As his mentor says, there are cases to make your career and there are cases to make you look over your shoulder for the rest of your life, right up until it ends abruptly and violently.

KILL A HUNDRED TO SAVE ONE

Relentless hunters want both her and Baby, and they will tear worlds apart to get them. They are bigger, stronger, and more resourceful. But Baby is more than a newfound vulnerability to Alexiares: she is a reason to live. A reason to kill.

When you take a shot at an apex predator, do not miss.

Retailers include:

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple Books

Additional outlets can be found here.

And, of course, add it to Goodreads to let me and others know what you thought of it, and see what other readers are saying.