Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Lander by J. Scott Coatsworth - Blog Tour with Review, Author Guest Post, and Giveaway


Author Name: J. Scott Coatsworth
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
Format: paperback, ebook
Price: tba
Word Count: 90700
Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Tropes: second chances, ex lovers
Keywords/Categories: Wingfic, Gay, LGBT fiction, Queer Sci Fi

Series Title: Oberon Cycle
Position (Number) in Series: 2
Necessary to Read Previous Books: Yes



Book Blurb:


In the sequel to the Rainbow-Award-winning Skythane, Xander and Jameson thought they’d fulfilled their destiny when they brought the worlds of Oberon and Titania back together, but their short-lived moment of triumph is over.

Reunification has thrown the world into chaos. A great storm ravaged Xander's kingdom of Gaelan, leaving the winged skythane people struggling to survive. Their old enemy, Obercorp, is biding its time, waiting to strike. And to the north, a dangerous new adversary gathers strength, while an unexpected ally awaits them.

In the midst of it all, Xander’s ex Alix returns, and Xander and Jameson discover that their love for each other may have been drug-induced.

Are they truly destined for each other, or is what they feel concocted? And can they face an even greater challenge when their world needs them most?

The Oberon Cycle: Book Two

Series Blurb:

Xander is a skythane man whose wings have always been a liability on the lander-dominated half world of Oberon.

Jameson is a lander who has been sent to Oberon to find out why the supply of the psycho-amoratic drug pith has dropped off.



Excerpt:

Jameson kissed Xander again, his passion fading, but his ardor for the man still in full bloom. It was good to find time for the two of them in the middle of madness.
Xander was at rest, peaceful as he floated on the surface of the water, his eyes closed and his muscles slack. His black wings trailed off below into the glow of the pond. He looked more like an angel to Jameson than he had since the first time they’d met.
Images flashed in his head—this place, other people, other times. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing them to go away.
Reluctantly they subsided. Jameson stood to get out of the water, shaking his head as if to dry his hair.
Xander pulled him back down for one more kiss. “What’s the hurry? I can still hear the storm roaring outside.”
Jameson growled. “I’m hungry. Don’t you ever get your fill?” He should have told Xander about the memories. He knew Xander saw them too, sometimes, but Jameson didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“Apparently not.” Xander let him go. “But I like to watch your backside, so I guess this is some kind of compensation.”
“Pervert.” Jameson smiled to himself. He was still sore from their exertions, but it was a good kind of sore.
He climbed up to the rock floor next to the pool, using one of the columns to steady himself. Something skittered across the edge of his vision. A bat? Or something like it? He looked after it, but it had vanished.
He went to pull his pants back on and wrinkled his nose. His clothes were filthy.
He opened his pack and grabbed a fresh set. He pulled on his underwear first, then laced up his shirt while Xander watched appreciatively. Getting dressed had been a hell of a lot easier before he’d gotten his wings. To compensate for his lack of skythane clothing, they’d raided the king’s closet, and it had been a challenge to find anything without a fur lining or silver buttons. King Theron had been a big man too—thick in the middle, if his clothes were any indication. Frowning, Jameson cinched his belt tight to hold up his pants.
“It suits you.” Xander smirked, getting out of the water and giving Jameson a full-on view of his beautiful body. He was muscled, but not overly so, his stomach firm and his body sleek. He was perfect.
Jameson felt a surge of love for Xander. He took full advantage of the unguarded moment, enjoying the show. Xander’s well-defined abs and his lopsided grin were almost enough to entice Jameson to give it another go, but the memories were messing with his head, and he really was hungry.
“Let’s eat.” Xander pulled out his own change of clothes and sniffed them.
“A little damp?”
“Yeah. Mildew from all the rain. Still, it’s better than the alternative.”
He grinned. It was a shame Xander needed to wear anything at all. “Um, food. Yeah. Sounds good.”
“We need to be ready to leave as soon as the storm lets up.” Xander pulled on his pants. “That means keeping up our strength. Getting fed, getting some sleep…. I want to look for Quince and the others, and my people need me back home. Things will be confused in Gaelan after the shift.”
My people. Jameson had his own people too, somewhere across the continent. “Things will be crazy in Oberon City too, I’d imagine.”
Xander nodded. As he finished dressing, Jameson took a look around the cavern. It was maybe fifty meters across, and half that deep, and there were dark shadows at several places near the back, leading off to other caves or rooms.
He wondered how far this cavern system went. His new gift—or curse?—wasn’t specific on details like that, though sometimes memories sprang wholly formed in his head.
Back home on Beta Tau, caverns could stretch on for hundreds of kilometers. The Great Rift system went on for at least three hundred and fifty, meaning it was theoretically possible to get from New Davos to Arctus without ever going aboveground.
He closed his eyes, trying to remember this place. The ability seemed to come and go randomly, but there had to be a way to summon it up at will. It had come to him when he needed it, but not of his own volition.
Again, there was a flickering, like something fluttering past in his peripheral vision. This time it slipped past on both sides. He looked around wildly, but there was nothing there. Not bats, then. He was losing his mind.
“What are you thinking about?” Xander asked. “You seem a little… distracted.”
“You didn’t see that?”
“What?”
“Never mind.” He sighed. “It’s probably just this place. I… remember it, but I don’t.”
“I know. Since that kiss, it’s been hit and miss for me too.”
Jameson nodded. That kiss. The one at the House of the Moon, when memories had flooded through him, through Xander, like a torrent. It had been the second time for him, but for Xander….
“Do you ever… see things that aren’t there?”
“Sometimes. Quick images. Like brief overlays of the past on the present.”
“Do you see them now?”
Xander looked around. “No, nothing now. You?”
“No. I….” He stopped. Something was moving at the edge of his vision. He looked around. The cavern seemed to shift, becoming brighter. There was a weird fluttering, as if a hundred dark wings were flapping just out of sight.
“Jameson, you okay?”
Everything went fuzzy for a moment, and his stomach clenched in protest. When he could see again, golden light flickered from candles placed all around the room. Where had they come from?
He turned back to Xander, but Elyra stood there instead, grinning at him, leaning forward, her breasts like two perfect moons under her vest. “You came. I’ve been waiting for hours.” She pulled him close. He could smell her musky perfume, feel her long raven-black hair brush against his cheeks as their lips met….
The world shifted again.
The cavern was dark, lit by only the smallest blue illumination from the pool, and he was all alone. The deep, keening sadness of loss cut him with a sharp physical pain. In his left hand was a bloody dagger, and his right cupped his torn intestines.
Shift.
A massive furry creature with eight arms and long teeth like a saber-toothed tiger rose up with a growl, and six eyes stared at him over its wrinkled snout. It swiped at him with a hairy paw tipped with sharp claws and he danced away….
Shift.
He was out of breath, gasping for air, and covered in sweat. He held on to one of the rock columns for support, staring over his shoulder. Surely they hadn’t followed him all the way back here.
There were shouts behind him, in the main cavern, and he took a desperate gulp of air and pushed himself onward, toward the darkness at the back of the cavern….
Shift.
He/They/We were joined, feeling a sense of peace and harmony at their union. He/They/We fed on the nutrients in the water, joined body and mind, and mused about the world outside and the events of the last few days. Each part of He/They/We shared its experiences out in the world, the others they had encountered before returning with their knowledge to enrich the whole. The time of the Great Move was coming….
Shift.



5 out of 5 stars

Lander is the second book in the dystopian/science-fiction Oberon Cycle series. This is a connecting series, so you must read the books in order or you'll be completely lost. Lander takes up right were Skythane left off with little to no break in time lapse. So if you can I'd recommend doing a fast re-read of Skythane just to get right back into the action. 

So this is my official first 5 star review of 2018 and what a phenomenal second book in this series. The action was non-stop from start to finish leaving this reader wanting the next book in the Cycle NOW! While this may be the second book in the series, it doesn't suffer from the massive info-dump that many science-fiction stories fall into. Yes, there's a decent amount of new information that adds a lot of backstory to the series, it's not a continuous pile that is hard to wade through. 

The story moves at a good pace, with absolutely no slow moments, outside of those that are meant to be a focused thinking moment. There is a significant amount of new and continued conflict amongst the main characters and ancillary characters. Giving them moments in the story to both show their vulnerabilities as well as their strengths while continuing their growth and maturity. There is a marked difference in how both Xander and Jameson interact with those around them and even themselves as they begin to become the respective leaders for their people.  The addition of Xander's ex, Alix, showing up alive and well and still with feelings for Xander, tosses extra conflict into their lives as well. 

I absolutely am in love with this series for so many reasons. The main reason is that this series reads like the old sci-fi masters minus the misogyny and lack of diversity in the LGBT world. To see characters that I can relate to struggle with their sexuality as they deal with all that life can throw at them and of course save the world from evil while they do it. *g* I truly can not recommend this series any more than I've already fangirled all over this review. 

I hope you give this series a try and enjoy it as much as I have and plan to enjoy the remaining book(s) in the series. 




Where The Ideas Come From
by J. Scott Coatsworth


It’s something I get asked all the time. Where do I get my ideas? What inspired the half world in Oberon? Or the generation ship in “The Stark Divide?”

So I thought I’d reveal a few secrets of the writing trade.

There are three main places where writers get their ideas.

      1)      The Idea Drawer: Every writer has an idea drawer. We cut out newspaper articles, scribble thoughts on bits of paper and post-its, and leftover bubblegum wrappers (some of them with chewed bubblegum inside). When we need an idea, this is the first place we reach into, and the reason we have to keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on our desks.
      
       2)      The Great Idea Vortex: When you get your writing card, you get access to a special place – the great writing vortex. It’s a spinning, churning, nausea-inducing rip in the space-time continuum where all the unused writing ideas end up. Let me take a look at what’s floating around in there now. * stifles urge to upchuck * Let’s see. “vampire pandas.” “Downton Abbey with snowmobiles.” “garbage truck bandits.” OK, to it’s not always a great selection, which brings me to the third option:

      3)      Mrs. Klempf’s Idea Emporium: If you want a good cover, you have to pay a professional cover designer. If you want your book edited, you’ll hire a good editor. Why should ideas be any different? When you’re stumped for a new idea for that next story, check out Mrs. Klempf. The ideas are top shelf, and if you get on her email list, you’ll get the occasional specials, including “three ideas for a dollar” and the fun “mixed ideas bag”, where you get a bunch of half ideas you can put together yourself to make new and exciting hybrid ideas.

I hope that clears it up for you. I gotta run over to the emporium – I spilled a can of cherry coke in my idea drawer, and my vortex access is on the glitch.



About the Author:




He decided it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Waldenbooks. If there weren’t gay characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

His friends say Scott’s brain works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He seeks to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.

He runs Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring queer people together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own reality.

Author Links:
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor/

Giveaway

Scott is giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate and three copies of his queer sci fi eBook “The Stark Divide.” Use the rafflecopter code:

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