Authors Jacob & H.P. Holo
Hey, y’all! 😄 We just set up a last-minute signing, so if you’re in Greenville, SC, swing by Richard’s Comics and Collectables THIS SATURDAY from 11am-5pm!
We’ll be at its Free Comic Book Day event, along with several artists and generally awesome people! 😄 (And, of course, free comics and sweet sales!)
Hey, y’all! 😄 Jacob’s next Baen Books title, Freelancers of Neptune, releases this October – but if you’d like a little taste of what’s to come, check out his short story “Release the Cyber-Kraken!” in Raconteur Press’ latest anthology!
Edited by LawDog
Published by Raconteur Press
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When every inch of our planet has been explored, from the depths of the sea to the top of every mountain, Space and her untamed frontiers will still be beckoning us, calling us to go beyond the farthest star and see what there is to see.
Old Sam Clemens once said that History don’t repeat itself, but it do rhyme. In Space, we got a vast, unexplored, mysterious, and dangerous frontier. We’ll have herds of some kind to watch over and to drive to market. Most times we’ll be far and beyond the reach of “civilization,” with their myriad of laws, lawyers, and politicians. Those tough enough to carve out a living will need the independent, rugged spirit of the cowboy to survive. There will be leeches and villains, for sure, heroes and anti-heroes, and some folks just trying to eke out a living. If we choose to tell their tales draped in the lingo and trappings of the cowboy, that’s just another rhyme, with form following the function.
If you’re new to the Space Cowboy series, you’re in for a treat. These ten stories, from ten different authors, are where you’ll find Explorers charting new frontiers in space, Trailhands and Drovers watching over their cattle on alien plains, and Lawdogs of every stripe meting out frontier justice, and doing their best to make sure scallywags with evil intent don’t win in the end. These cowboys and cowgirls don’t back down from a challenge. It’s not in their nature.
(From the Introduction written by Rick Cutler)
by Jacob Holo
Published by Baen Books
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All he wanted was a simple job to make ends meet. What he got was a mysterious cat girl, a shot at a hoard of treasure, and a whole lot of trouble.
The Solar System ain’t what it used to be!
In the far distant future, Saturn’s rings are gone, Mercury is a gas giant, and Earth is remembered only as a unit of measure. Nearly godlike AIs reshaped the Solar System in eons past, but they too are now nothing more than a fading memory.
Captain Nathaniel Kade cares for none of that. He’s but a simple freelancer from the orbital ring of Neptune, struggling to make ends meet and to keep his understaffed spaceship from falling apart. All he wants is a decent, uneventful job to help put his finances back in order.
What he receives instead is Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful cat girl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. Vessani’s in over her head and is clearly more trouble than she’s worth, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen.
Nathan pulls her butt out of the fire, and together they begin to assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. But other interested parties have their eyes on the same prize; the Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he’d like a few words with Nathan and his new crewmember.
Hey, y’all! 😄 If you’re in the Greenville, SC area, come on over to the Artist’s Alley at SC ComiCon this weekend (April 6-7th)! We’ll be at Booth 918, signing books and generally hanging out. 😄
Ever wished you could read a new book before it releases? 😀 Well, you’re in luck, as Baen Books just released the Early Access eARC for Gordian Division #6 – The Thermopylae Protocol.
What’s an eARC? It’s the semi-final version of the book; it’ll have a few typos (and, in fact, is the version H.P.’s editing right now), but other than that, it’s pretty close to the final version that will release in June.
But, of course, if you’d rather wait for the finished version, it’s also up for pre-order wherever you like to buy books (and in Baen’s June Monthly Bundle). 😁
However you choose to experience it, we’re looking forward to sharing it with you, and we hope you enjoy it. ️️😊
Imagine The Six Million Dollar Man as written by an internationally-recognized expert in neuroscience and bionics, and you have The Moon and the Desert.
As you might guess from the title, itself a reference to the first episode of the show, the Six Million Dollar Man played no small part in inspiring author Robert E. Hampson to enter said fields in the first place, and his love of the original concept and his present work shines here.
The ultimate questions of this novel are “What would it take to build a bionic man? What’s involved in adapting to a bionic body? What are its limits and practical uses? How, especially, can it help humans function in the very non-human-friendly environment of space?”
It’s equal parts hard sci-fi and medical thriller with enough detail on both fronts to make a science-loving reader happy, but what makes it succeed is its human element.
Despite his extraordinary circumstances, astronaut and flight surgeon Glenn Armstrong Shepard reads like a regular, determined guy who’s eager to turn the disaster of losing most of his body into an opportunity to test the limits of bionics. He’s no stereotypical action hero, though he is admirable: Even though he volunteered for his bionics, he struggles with adapting to his complex prosthetics with the same frustration of any person who suddenly finds themselves with metal and plastic where there was formerly flesh. This sets him up as a relatable character, which makes the reader even more eager to follow him when he volunteers himself for a mission in outer space that tests the limits of his bionic capabilities.
The first part of the novel is all human; the second is all thrilling medical mystery as he faces the dual challenges of handling a crew-sweeping medical emergency on a returning space shuttle, while also pushing his physical and technological limits.
Though there’s a lot of science and medical talk, it’s all conveyed so naturally and in such manageable bits that, combined with the relatable cast, it becomes an easy, fast-paced read, especially once the space action starts.
Overall, it’s highly recommended for anyone with an interest in bionics, medical technology, the future of humans in space, or just a solid story about a determined man facing an incredible situation.
It’s amazing to think we’re already on Book 6 of the Gordian Division series, but here we are. 😮
The Thermopylae Protocol marks an interesting departure for the series.
David and I wrote previous books to fit within their own separate branches, with the “Protocol” branch leaning toward alternate history and hard sci-fi with the risk of exploding universes, and the “File” branch being sci-fi police procedurals with lower-stakes but still thrilling adventures.
This novel starts with an exploding spaceship, which is fun for readers 😃 … but not so much for the Gordian Division, when it finds the wreckage is inexplicably 40 years older than it should be – not to mention carrying advanced self-replicating machines that, in the wrong hands, could be put to multiverse-destroying ends. 😨
Gordian Division’s no stranger to multiverse-threatening challenges, but time is of the essence, and when you’ve got a multiverse-spanning time-travel mystery, who better to call than a pair of time cops from two different universes? 😉
They’ll all have to work together to get to the bottom of this, and fast, because if they don’t, the fate of multiple universes could be at stake. (Again.)
H.P. chats with author Patrick Chiles about his new sci-fi novel, Interstellar Medic: The Long Run, (available March 5, 2024 from Baen Books). Join us for a reading and fun book chatter, and enter to win a signed book of your own!
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BEING A PARAMEDIC IS A TOUGH JOB; IT’S TOUGHER WHEN YOU STUMBLE ONTO A CRASHED ALIEN SPACECRAFT.
Melanie Mooney thought she was just doing her job when she came upon an unusual accident in the deep woods late one night. Acting alone, what she found was nothing like she’d expected. What followed was even more unexpected.
Recruited by emissaries of a galaxy-spanning civilization, Melanie is thrust into a world she thought only existed in supermarket tabloids. As the first human in the Galactic Union Medical Corps, she cares for extraterrestrials in desperate need of a medic who can ignore the fact that they’re nothing like any patient she’s ever seen, even on their best days. And in emergency medicine, it’s a given that every patient is having the worst day of their life.
Each run takes her deeper into the galaxy and farther from home, navigating alien cultures that only get weirder with each call. It will take all of Melanie’s experience, instinct, and grit to prove herself—and the rest of humanity—to be worthy of the Union. That’s a lot to put on a woman who’d just like to end the day with a cheeseburger and a cold beer.
H.P. chats with author Marisa Wolf about her new sci-fi novel, Beyond Enemies (available now from Baen Books). Join us for fun book chatter and enter to win a signed book of your own!
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An assignment on a backwater world turns deadly for a combat vet and her AI tank. Military SF with heart and humor from up-and-coming author Marisa Wolf.
Sometimes the only way forward is to burn it all down.
Talinn Reaze and Bee serve as “Breezy,” part of the United Colonial Force’s elite Artificial Intelligence Troops. Trained for full integration since before Talinn’s birth, they exceeded expectations and became one of the premier heavy tanks, leading assaults on several fronts of the long war against the Interstellar Defense Corps.
When they’re thrown to a backwater base without cause, boredom becomes their main enemy—until the world falls out from under their treads and they begin to question everything they’ve ever known.
As they orient to their new reality, they have a decision to make: Uphold the status quo, or risk burning civilization to the ground?
Talinn and Bee always did have a fondness for fire.
One of our favorite parts of going to cons is meeting and hanging out with our readers, and we’re kicking off 2024’s con schedule fast!
From January 12th-14th – that’s just over two weeks from now – both of us will be Featured Guests at MarsCon in Virginia Beach, VA. (H.P. will be appearing as a Featured Fantasy Writer, and Jacob will be a Featured Science Fiction Writer.)
It’ll be our first time going to this con, so we’re pumped to meet all our fans in that area. 😄 We’ll be on lots of panels, but we also enjoy just hanging out in the hotel bar and chatting with whoever stops by, so if you won’t be able to make a signing or a panel, just look for Jacob’s bowtie or H.P.’s hair, and eventually you’ll find us. 😊
Won’t be able to make it to MarsCon? Fear not; we have three more cons already on our schedule:
More will be added as the year goes on, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements – or tell us about your favorite local con so we can add it to our list of potential stops! 😄
H.P. chats with author Monalisa Foster about her new sci-fi novel, Threading the Needle (available now from Baen Books). Join us for fun book chatter and enter to win a signed book of your own!
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A NEW START—OR AN OLD CALLING?
Talia Merritt, a former military sniper once known as Death’s Handmaiden, is a woman haunted by her past. Her cybernetic arm and her phantom—the implant that allows her to control it—serve as a constant reminder of what she’s lost. But Talia is hoping to leave her past and her reputation behind and start anew on the colony world of Goruden, a hardscrabble planet of frontier-minded people seeking a better life. And she’s finally earned enough to start to make that dream come true.
In the bucolic town of Tsuri, she interviews for a job as a marksmanship instructor for local bigwig Signore Ferran Contesti. But Contesi is not what he seems. A recent arrival on Goruden, he hopes to mold the colony world in his own image—an image at odds with the unencumbered life free of government and corporate meddling that Talia has come to find.
Soon, Talia finds herself thrust into the start of another conflict. Talia desperately wants to stay out of it, but she may not have that luxury.
With the fate of a planet and her own peace of mind hanging in the balance, Talia must decide whether or not to once again take up the mantle of Death’s Handmaiden. . . .
If you’ve ever wanted to hear Jacob wax geeky about Star Wars, giant robots, bowties, gaming, and, oh, maybe his new solo novel The Dyson File 😉, go check out this week’s episode of Blasters and Blades! 😄