Farish's Freehold: Echo, little girl twofer, and The Vampire of Rome updates

It had been an interesting and difficult week for me. The Vampire of Rome continues to chug along towards the finale. I’m quite pleased with the writing, although the speed - well one day I’ll be a fast typist. One day. Sebastian has gotten to deal with betrayal, undead monkeys, and highly suspicious allies. I think you’ll like it. October is still the drop date, of course that depends upon edits (ugh).

Brunette Sonya continues her sleep denial ways, which makes mornings extra fun. Veronica is moving away from the “Kill it with fire,” attitude she had before when it comes to her little sister, and headed to “Yea! I can boss someone around and be a tyrant.”

You will call me Queen Veronica

Sibling rivalry only happens with girls it seems. As the oldest of three boys, I can tell you I was fair, just, and always concerned with the feelings of my little brothers. Ha Ha Ha

As I have so little time and no sleep, I once again give you another great Indie author, Kent Wayne, and his series of Science Fiction books about the humans on the planet Echo. Take it away Kent.

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94

Blurb: In the late 21st century, humanity left Earth due to multiple resource shortcomings aggravated by an acceleration in climate change. They settled Echo, a planet that was nearly a carbon copy of Earth except for being devoid of all but the most basic life forms. Fast forward 1200 years later. Echo has endured over a thousand years of dark age. Corporations and government merged early on, becoming the oppressive authority known as the Regime. Military and police merged into the Department of Enforcement, their only mission to crush the huge network of rebels known as the Dissidents. Over half the planet is covered by decaying cityscapes and the elite live high above, removed and remote from the greater populace on the moon-city of Ascension. Hope lies in one man, a former Enforcer named Atriya. But before he can break the cycle of darkness and ignorance on Echo, he has to do it within himself.

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94

Excerpt: Book 1, Chapter 8

A top-tier Crew guy would be capable of going into a heavily fortified, multilevel structure held by a company size element of Dissident fighters-or one to two hundred combatants-and clear it by himself. Enforcers, by contrast, never entered so much as a single room without a minimum of two assaulters.

Atriya was nowhere close to that level. He was skilled enough to where he could go into smaller buildings or houses as the sole assaulter, but not so good that he could take down a high rise sans backup. Ultimately however, it wasn’t an issue. Operating procedure called for Crew shooters to deploy in two-man teams.

The most highly regarded and revered teams, though, were those that could task each shooter to clear their own piece of urban battlespace, regardless of whether it was a one bedroom flat or a warehouse filled with fortified shooting vantages.

As he ascended the sheer concrete face, Atriya resolutely tried not to think about his job related inadequacies or Verus’s words. He concentrated on losing himself in the climb, obstinately focused on pulling and launching his weighted body with one arm, then the other.

Author links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentwayne108

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KentWayne2

Blog: www.Dirtyscifibuddha.com

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94

Main Character's motivations?

Main character is motivated by becoming the best soldier he possibly can, but he is realizing that brute willpower does not cut it, and that he must look deeply into himself and confront his shortcomings to get to the next level.

What is their secret strengths/ weaknesses?

My MC's strength is that he is disciplined to the point of being obsessive. His weakness is that he doesn't have the talent to get as far as he wants, and (initially) he refuses to investigate his own shortcomings.

Any philosophical issues in this story? If so how do you address them, how does MC live and overcome them?

Philosophical: Echo is a reference to humanity's dark age, and mirrors our world in that despite being 1200 years in the future, it still "echoes" our world in many areas. The main theme of the story is the evolution of ignorance into awareness, and this will be reflected in the environment as well as within the main character. I hint at the ignorance of the world through external setting, and the main character evolves—like many of us do—through the destruction of his ideals and is forced to either confront what is holding himself back or become more aware. Unlike many of us, he will eventually choose not to wallow in his suffering (I actually think that's a little unfair, on a tangent: I believe all of us—through the course of infinity—become fully actualized in the spiritual sense), and be more at peace/aware. The way he does this is experiencing an incredible amount of suffering (once again, like us).

Any offbeat obscure or 80s references?

In book one I referenced Star Wars when MC's mentor mentions she almost wanted to call her magic kaia—my name for the subtle energy in this world—the Force. A lot of my designs for the machinery are influenced by Robotech and other anime as well as the recent movie Pacific Rim. The magical stuff is also influenced by anime effects; Naruto, Dragonball Z, Justice League Unlimited...the psychedelic art of Alex Grey as well.

When did you start to write this one and why?

I started writing Echo Vol.1 last February. I wanted to make a statement that the world suffered not so much from blatant evil, but more from ignorance. I saw a lot of this in the military; good intentions creating horrible results because of an unwillingness to investigate and let go of a clinging attachment to ideals. I saw a lot of the same ignorance in the general populace; people who wanted infallible, idealistic heroes, and thus their perception of the military led to badly managed expectations or policies.

What's next in this series or in your next book?

The next in this series (Echo Vol. 2) is my MC getting betrayed by his version of the military (the Department of Enforcement); everything he lived for and loved is now trying to kill him because he's pissed off an ultra-fanatical branch of religious zealots within its ranks.

Preview of your next book?

Most of us change gradually-over the course of decades. For Crusader Atriya, it will happen in a single, agonizing day. On the edge of a decaying cityscape, Atriya struggles to hold onto his identity as he faces death from both enemies and allies alike. In the process, his old self is torn away, and he catches a glimpse of what he may one day become.

Twelve hundred years ago, humanity left Earth to settle on Echo. Despite hopes for a golden age, an era of darkness fell. Government and corporations merged into the Regime. The military and police merged into the Department of Enforcement. Over half the planet is covered by crumbling cityscapes and the elite live high above, removed and remote from the greater populace on the moon-city of Ascension. Hope lies in Atriya, but before he can break the cycle of darkness and ignorance on Echo, he has to do it within himself.

When will it be available?

Echo Vol.2 is currently available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B01CH7ALS4

Echo Volume 3 is currently being worked on. I hope to have it out around October but we'll see; I've been slacking on the editing lately because of some personal issues but I'm always pretty religious about drafting, so it's been coming at 600 words a day. I plan to have 4 in total (#3 is The Dialectic of Agony and #4 is the Alembic Eternal).

Like all good Science Fiction this series asks questions about humanity, the human condition, and the difference between ideals and pragmatism. I think you should check out what life is like on Echo, but do it now, after all tomorrow is another day.

Speaking of books that make any book shelf appear more substantive, take a look at my series of Dark Fiction almost horror novels and decide how many copies you’d like and how many you want to give to friends.

Junior Inquisitor Book One