Fame is like a shadow. Chase it, and it runs from you. But ignore it to focus on your work, and it grows with the passing of the sun. Of course, once night falls, it’s gone for good.
Unless, perhaps, you carry a torch.
I’ve had a touch of fame: a few Origins awards and poetry awards won, a few European game conventions attended as guest, a couple of weekends spent at Gary Gygax‘s home, a Tweet from Wil Wheaton.
But mainly I’m just a fanboy. Today I’d like to talk about some torches I carry for other people.
Andrea K Höst: I stumbled across Höst’s novel Stray (part of the Touchstone Trilogy) about two years ago and was immediately fascinated. This is, frankly, some of the best science fiction I’ve ever read (and I’ve been reading sci-fi since the late 1960s). Her writing reminds me in some ways of Ursula K. Le Guin’s. At just 99 cents, the first novel is a steal.
Adrian Howell: Howell’s novel Wild-born came up as a free Kindle selection last month on a mailing list I follow. I’ve been hooked on the series (the Psionic Pentalogy) ever since. It’s a sometimes grim but always steadfast tale of a boy coming to grips with a war bigger than his own impressive powers. The first novel is still free, so grab it now.
Matthew Bryan Laube: I bought Ancient Awakening (first in The Ancient series) three years ago and devoured it pretty much in one sitting. It’s a high-action horror powerhouse, like nothing else I’d ever quite encountered. I bought the second book immediately after, and read it as quickly, then panicked to discover that the third was—at that time—still in the works! So last fall, upon learning the third was available, I bought the collected trilogy and read the whole thing again from beginning to end. The first novel is currently free; grab it.
Hanna Peach: Angelfire (first in the Dark Angel series) came across my radar a year ago, and the vision of seraphim and demons fighting a secret war in the alleys of our cities sold me. Tie it around a Romeo-and-Juliet love story with its own prophesy, elemental blood magic tattooed to angel warriors, and hellish blades of asteroid-imbued steel, and I have a hard time waiting for each new release. The first novel is just 99 cents, and worth far more.
Now for the fanboy moment…
I am thrilled to announce that all four of these authors have agreed to have these novels represented in my upcoming d6*d6 CORE RPG project! You’ll be able to use those game rules to adventure in the worlds they’ve imagined, along with a growing list of other properties identified on that site.
But whether you choose to follow that game project or not, please do yourself the favor of reading these authors’ work. You won’t regret it. And tell your friends. They’ll thank you.
—Les
