Zervakan by Rob Steiner

Reason and science gave the Recindian Compact wonders like steam engines, telegraphs, and gunpowder. The world had order. It made sense.

Until one night two multi-colored bands of light split the sky, spanning the horizons like rings around the planet. Soon after, unnatural storms assaulted the Compact's cities. Whispers spread of ghoulish creatures haunting Compact forests. And then a message from a legendary race called the Mystics - "ally with us to fight the growing evil, or we all perish."

The Compact's desperate leaders turn to disgraced history professor Taran Abraeu. Taran spent years searching in vain for the ancient healing magic of the Mystics to save his dying daughter. His family and colleagues once mocked him. Now his research might save them.

When the Compact asks Taran to accompany a secret delegation to the Mystic homeland, he is swept up in an adventure that forces him to fight a horrifying enemy that only he among all his people can comprehend.

I discovered today that I reviewed this on GoodReads in 2013, but didn't cross post it here. I've decided to make up for that oversight.

Full Disclosure: I was the editor for this book. You can discount what I have to say here in this review but hear me out. I think what I have to say might still sway you.

You can read the description for what the book is about. I'm here to tell you that Steiner did a fantastic job. The world in Zervakan is a clever juxtaposition of one civilization which relies on primitive technology but is well-versed in magic (the Mystics of Beldamark) while the one in which our protagonist hails from is comparatively advanced: muskets, steam engines, and the telegraph. It would've been easy for Steiner to take a side, i.e. "technology is evil" or "faith is for fools." Instead, he shows that there are good points about both systems, and neither has a monopoly of short-sighted dogmatists. His point is that both sides must learn to work together to overcome an evil that is stronger than either one can handle on its own.

Steiner excels at characterization. They're real. Young characters are passionate but lack the wisdom that comes with experience. Older characters are stuck in their ways. Tarn makes for an excellent protagonist: His daughter is his Achilles' heel, and he struggles to make the right decisions. Fatimah wrestles with trusting Tarn, the outsider who has embraced mysticism despite his Compact upbringing, and obeying the wisdom of her elders. Speaker of the Compact, Dylan Edoss (my favorite character), is forced into having an open mind with regards to the Mystics because he realizes cooperation is the only way to protect his people, but that very open-mindedness leaves him vulnerable to his political enemies. Even Steiner's minor characters and villains defy the cookie cutter mold. I even want to root for Karak, a villain with a conscience.

Even before I was Steiner's editor, I was a fan of his storytelling (See The Last Key and Aspect of Pale Night). He's able to construct a highly believable world that is easy to get caught up in. There's just enough detail: enough to believe you're there in the world he's constructed but not too much that you drown in minutiae. And he's able to conjure up horrors in this land that would fit right in with Lovecraft. My favorite scene is when Steiner plays homage to the Master while Taran and Dylan ride a train to meet with the Mystics. If I say anything more, it will count as a spoiler, so I won't.

So I hope that, despite my obvious prejudice, you'll check out Zervakan, a fantasy vs. steampunk mashup, lightly seasoned with Lovecraftian horrors. At the very least, check out the sample chapters to see Steiner in action. You won't be disappointed.

\_/
DED

Muses of Roma by Rob Steiner

Reviewed by Erin Eymard.

Marcus Antonius Primus began a golden age for humanity when he liberated Roma from Octavian Caesar and became sole Consul. With wisdom from the gods, future Antonii Consuls conquered the world and spawned an interstellar civilization.

Three weeks before the millennial anniversary of the Antonii Ascension, star freighter captain Kaeso Aemelius, a blacklisted security agent from Roman rival world Libertus, is asked by his former commanders to help a high-ranking Roman official defect. Kaeso misses his lone wolf espionage days—and its freedom from responsibility for a crew—so he sees the mission as a way back into the spy business. Kaeso sells it to his crew of outcasts as a quick, lucrative contract…without explaining his plan to abandon them for his old job.

But Kaeso soon learns the defector’s terrifying secret, one that proves the last thousand years of history was built on a lie.

Can Kaeso protect his crew from Roman and Liberti forces, who would lay waste to entire worlds to stop them from revealing the civilization-shattering truth?

Rob Steiner's Muses of Roma is unlike any alternate history novel I've ever read. The premise of the novel is simple: Imagine that Rome never fell and is now bent on conquering the stars.

Steiner seamlessly blends historical fact into his story, slightly altering bits, but pulls no punches in this process. This is first evident with the quote preceding the prologue: "I found Roma a city of marble and left it a city of steel" - Marcus Antonius Primus. This is a play on Augustus Caesar's quote "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble" (marmoream relinquo, quam latericiam accepi). The book is peppered with enough Latin phrases and tidbits to make the Romanophile in me giddy.

The prologue starts with Marcus Antonius taking the eternal city aided by cannons and muskets. His march through Rome amidst gunfire and smoke is a surreal scene. Steiner goes on to explain that deep in the deserts of Egypt, Marcus Antonius is bestowed upon "by the gods" the secrets of advanced technologies.

One of my favorite lines from the prologue is:

He passed the Circus Maximus on his left; its large walls were pockmarked with musket shots.

I found myself trying to imagine what the people of the city would have been thinking as a man leading an army with the power of the gods marched to take the city from a man they worshiped as a god.

The shock of the prologue (especially after the author deftly explains the rapid technological advancement) serves as a warning to the reader that this is going to be a wild ride.

Fast forward 1,000 years and we are on the streets of Roma. The city has all the feel of ancient Rome even after the characters catch a bus. A young woman, Ocella, is trying to smuggle a boy, Cordus, off planet, which is where the true sci-fi aspect of the book takes hold.

We meet Kaeso, former Umbra (secret agent) and captain of the Caduceus, as he is trying to keep his spaceship flying. His crew is a hodgepodge of people running from their pasts all with their own secrets. Kaeso’s own secrets could put the lives of his crew in jeopardy. The interaction between the crew is not unlike the Malcolm Reynolds' crew in Firefly. They fight like a family and would give their lives for their crewmates.

After a disastrous job and an injury to a crew member, Kaeso’s past catches up to him and he is tasked with returning to the eternal city to retrieve Ocella and Cordus. In the process, they discover a millennium's old secret that could change the course of humanity.

I have never gotten so wrapped up in a book. I will be purchasing the remaining books in the series but only once I have time to devote myself to being locked in a room and do nothing but read this. This is not a series that one reads in small spurts. Steiner constantly pulled me in and held me captive for hours on end.

For more information, please visit the author's website and read this interview.
The reviewer purchased a copy of this book. A review was not solicited.

Book Excerpt: Citizen Magus by Rob Steiner

A few weeks ago, we revealed the cover for Citizen Magus, the first book in a new series by Rob Steiner. Today, Steiner has granted us permission to reveal the first chapter of the story. Enjoy!

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CITIZEN MAGUS
by Rob Steiner

CHAPTER ONE

My name is Remington Blakes, but people in 6 B.C. Rome call me Natta Magus.

Why?

For starters, I am a fully trained, licensed, and insured magus from twenty-first century Detroit in the American Union. Second, I needed to feed myself somehow after I got stranded in ancient Rome, so I set up my own magus shop on the Aventine Hill. What Roman would hire Remington when they could hire (cue epic echo) Natta Magus. It means something like "artisanal wizard" in Latin, so I guess you could call it a marketing decision. But there were times like now, running through Rome's crowded streets on my way to stop a magical murder, that I wondered if there were safer ways to earn money. Like joining the legions.

Gaius Aurelius Vitulus, my Praetorian friend—perhaps my only friend in Rome—stopped ahead and gave me an impatient frown. I once saw him make a corrupt quaestor spill his guts with just that frown. He was a few inches shorter than my six-foot two-inch frame, but he had the intimidating build of a twenty-something man who spent the last ten years in the legions. When I caught up to him, he said, "The sun is setting, and we're still a mile from the temple."

"I'm going as fast as I can," I growled. "These damned sandals are killing me." Eighteen months in Rome and I still longed for the rubber-soled sneakers I wore back home.

"Your dawdling will kill Celsus Maximus," Vitulus grunted, and began weaving his way again through the crowds and labyrinthine Roman alleys.

Vitulus was dressed like any other citizen of the equestrian social rank—a white woolen tunica with two narrow, vertical red stripes down the sides—but his bearing and the well-used, pearl-handled gladius on his belt made the crowds part for him. The gladius was a gift from his father upon his ascension to manhood on his fourteenth birthday. I once asked Vitulus why he didn't brush the stains off the pearl handle, and he said that the stains remind him the gladius was a tool and not a bauble. I tried not to think of how many men he'd killed with it during his days in the legions.

I'd known Vitulus for about a year, and all I can tell you is that by contemporary Roman standards, he's a huge Boy Scout. He values honor above all other virtues, always keeps his promises, will fight to protect the innocent, but won't hesitate to kill his enemies. A year ago I had helped Vitulus and his boss, Praetorian Prefect Salvius Aper, with a "delicate matter" involving supernatural forces. They'd come to me ever since with more "delicate matters" that gods-fearing Romans didn't want to believe in.

Take the case of Celsus Maximus, the famous gladiator whose murder we were racing to prevent. Now I abhor slavery like anyone from my time, so when Vitulus came to me for help in finding Celsus, I turned him down. I had hoped that Celsus had escaped the bloody gladiatorial games that Romans loved. But then Vitulus told me that a clay tablet had been left in Celsus's empty quarters. It said that Celsus would be killed unless "Remington Blakes, the one you call Natta Magus," shows up alone at the Temple of Sterquilinus outside the Porta Ostiensis by sundown. It warned of dire consequences if I brought anybody with me.

Well that piqued my interest. Only two people in ancient Rome knew my real name. Vitulus was one. The other was the all around bastard who abandoned me in ancient Rome in the first place, my former friend and mentor from the twenty-first century, William Pingree Ford. He'd been using his magus powers in Rome over the last eighteen months to try and change history, and I'd done my best to clean up his messes. But he always stayed a few moves ahead of me. I had to catch him, so I could not only stop him but make him send me home.

Was it a trap? Maybe. He'd passive aggressively tried to kill me last year by sicking daemons on me, though I think that was more to distract me from his real plot to kill Caesar Augustus. I stopped him, but that's another story.

No, this was the best lead I'd had on him in months, and I couldn't ignore it.

Which is what worried me.

"I don't understand how Celsus could be captured," Vitulus said as I came even with him again. "He's a cunning warrior."

I dodged a flock of sheep heading to the Forum and blinked the sweat out of my eyes. My Detroit Wolverines baseball cap, which helped me focus my magic, was soaked in sweat from my jog through Rome's stifling and close streets.

"Magic beats might every time, my friend," I said. "If William is behind this, then Celsus may not have had a chance. We need to—"

I stubbed my open toe on a stray rock and unleashed a string of modern curses. Vitulus eyed me with amusement.

"Is that how you curse in 'Anglish'?" he asked.

"English," I said, limping next to him. "Latin curses don't feel as good." And I hope I'm not here long enough for them to do so. "As I was saying, we need to figure out why William would kidnap Celsus of all people and use him to lure me to this temple."

"If your former mentor wants to kill someone famous," Vitulus said, barely breathing hard, "he couldn't have found anyone more famous than Princeps Augustus himself. Celsus has over a hundred kills in the arena in just the last year alone. He rarely ever gets wounded, and he's refused the wooden sword of freedom four times. He's the most remarkable gladiator in over a generation."

Listening to Vitulus rattle off Celsus's kills reminded me how I'd rattle off the stats of my favorite Wolverine ball players. It was kind of disgusting and once again illustrated the huge cultural gulf between my friend and I.

"Yeah, well, a good sword arm is no match against a well-formed sleeper spell," I said.

We rounded the corner and almost ran into a wedding party. The bride's father, dressed in a brilliant white toga, led the procession. Female slaves marched behind him and in front of the bride, throwing multi-colored flower petals at her feet. A deep-yellow veil covered her head, and she wore a white robe bound at the waist with a woolen belt. Her attendants and family marched behind her, likely on their way to the groom's house and the next stage of their ceremony.

These processions were common in Roman streets, and my heart cracked a little each time I saw one. I had missed my own wedding in the twenty-first century two months ago. I'm trying, Brianna, I thought. All my will and focus is bent on getting home to you. I missed her so much that I saw her reflection in every pool of water I passed. Her long brown hair always pulled back in a ponytail; her circular, wire-framed spectacles perched on the end of her nose; sparkling green eyes; mischievous grin; the goose flesh on her soft skin when I touched—

Focus, I had to focus. Daydreaming about Brianna had almost killed me during my recent jobs with Vitulus.

We passed the procession and stepped onto the brick-layered Via Ostiensis, where I felt like I could breathe again. For an empire renowned for its efficient roads and imperial administration, the Mother City was a maze of meandering, claustrophobic alleys and haphazardly built wood and brick tenements. Even native Romans got lost if they tried navigating the unlit streets at night.

"Have you given more thought to my invitation?" Vitulus asked as we continued jogging.

I winced, expecting this after passing the wedding. "Still thinking about it."

"What's there to think about? It's my wedding. I'm meeting Claudia's family tomorrow to negotiate guests, so I want to add your name to that list. I don't know about your Detroit, but here in Rome it's considered an insult to refuse a wedding invitation, especially from a friend."

Oh, it's insulting in my time, too, I thought. But how could I explain to him that passing a stranger's wedding procession made me want to sit in my shop all day writing sad poetry and sighing. Watching a friend get married would be a figurative gladius shoved into my heart.

"I know, and you deserve an answer," I said. I licked my lips. "I have to decline. You know I can't make any oaths that would tie me to this century or it'll be all the more difficult for me to get back home. Accepting a wedding invitation is an implied oath that I will be at a certain place at a certain time. What happens if I discover a way to get home tomorrow?"

Vitulus gave an exasperated laugh. "Then I'll release you from your 'oath'!"

"Yes, but what if you're not around to do that? I can't take that chance. I'm sorry."

Vitulus continued jogging in silence, his teeth clenched.

Accepting a wedding invitation wasn't considered an Oath with a capital "O" in any magus class I'd ever passed. Only strong Oaths, like marriage vows might keep me here longer than I wanted. I'd even turned down Salvius Aper's clientela offer, essentially giving me a full-time job in the Praetorian Guard, because I'd have to swear oaths to serve him that might conflict with my Oaths. Swearing an Oath is like putting a tattoo on your soul. It's there for life. Sure there are ways to remove it without fulfilling it, but they hurt like hell. So if you even think you might not follow through with an Oath, it was best not to swear it in the first place. If I went back to the twenty-first century without fulfilling it, my aura would be forever tarnished, and then good luck finding a job or making another friend again.

So even I knew my excuse was lame.

We exited the Porta Ostiensis on the south side of Rome and jogged another half-mile before stopping. Vitulus pointed to a hilltop with a small circular building on top. It was a few hundred yards away and surrounded by plowed grain fields. The building had a red-tiled roof and square windows that ran along the entire circumference. It looked more like a tool shed than a temple.

"The Temple of Sterquilinus," he said, "the god of fertilization. Most people go to the Temple of Ceres these days, so it's fallen into disrepair."

"So he's the god of manure?"

Vitulus shrugged, and then said, "I still think it's foolish for you to go alone."

"Probably," I said. I mentally checked the enchantments that held my ball cap to my head and my components belt around my waist were set. The familiar tingle in my hairline and my hips said they were. "But the letter said he'd kill Celsus if I didn't come alone. And William couldn't have chosen a better spot to ensure my loneliness."

Vitulus's hand tightened on the pearl hilt of his sheathed gladius as he studied the temple. "If you think this is a trap, then why are you going? Why risk your life for a gladiator you've never met?"

"Because this is the best lead I've had on William in months." I put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his eyes back to me. "And I want to go home."

He nodded reluctantly.

"Besides," I said, "William has had plenty of chances to kill me over the last year and a half. If he wanted me dead, I'd be dead. He wants something else from me."

"Then may Fortuna walk with you," Vitulus said.

I nodded to him, turned my black Wolverines ball cap around so the bill was pointed backwards, and started toward the temple. This prepared my body to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

The Temple of Sterquilinus may have been forgotten, but the manure he represented sure wasn't. It was planting season, so the stench and crunch of desiccated dung beneath my sandaled feet made my nervous walk toward the temple all the more unpleasant. When I arrived at the base of the temple hill, I noticed the walking path that I could've taken from the Via Ostiensis to the temple door.

"Son of a..." I muttered, and then kicked the manure and dirt off my sandals and bare feet. Only a bath later would get them clean. William would just have to deal with my smells.

I walked to the top of the hill, glancing to the west as I did so. A sliver of orange sun still shone above the hilly horizon. I had made it here before sundown. I hoped I wasn't too late for Celsus.

The entry into the temple had no door and was dark. Nothing like an abandoned, spooky temple to raise the hairs on your neck. My Wolverines baseball cap would block my presence from any lurking spirits that might try to feed on my magic, so I wasn't worried about them. It was the living that concerned me, and William in particular. What I said earlier about my belief that he didn't bring me here to kill me was well reasoned...until my lizard brain threw spark grenades at that logic.

Maybe he's tired of you stopping his plots and wants to kill you now in the middle of a manure-sown field. Maybe he's finally lost what's left of his mind. He admitted in our last meeting months ago that he wanted to erase the knowledge of magic from twenty-first century humanity. In my future, magic was ubiquitous and powered the world; erasing it would plunge the world into a dark age that I couldn't imagine. For someone who wanted to do that, murdering a former student wasn't too far-fetched.

Well I wouldn't get any answers by standing outside soaking up manure reek. I marched through the open entry and into the dark temple.

The meager light from the windows and a second open entry across from me helped me see a dozen wood benches surrounding a stone altar in the middle. A large man with a shaved head wearing a brown tunica stood before the altar with his back to me. That was not William, unless he'd grown three inches and put on fifty pounds since I last saw him.

"Celsus Maximus?" I asked, my eyes scanning the rest of the empty room.

A throaty chuckle came from the large man. I shifted my eyes to him and every cell in my body seemed to ice over. There was something terribly wrong with him.

"That is not my name," the man said in a Germanic accent. "The Romans gave me that name when they enslaved me."

He turned around. I first noticed the small body he held in his massive arms. It was a dark-haired girl, no more than thirteen. Her face looked serene, but the left side of her neck was a jagged mess of dark red flesh, muscle, and exposed white bone. A second girl lay near the man's feet. She was younger than the first and her eyes were closed, but I saw no wounds and she was still breathing.

My eyes fled from the two girls to the man's face. His entire mouth and chin were bright red, and his teeth were impossibly large, gray, and jagged. "My name is Octric," he said, "and I no longer kill for the pleasure of a Roman mob." Blood oozed from between his teeth when he grinned. "Now I kill for my own pleasure."

©2015 Rob Steiner

To learn more, check it out on Amazon.

Cover Reveal and Kindle Scout Campaign for Citizen Magus

Rob Steiner has started a new series: the Journals of Natta Magus.



Here to tell us more about the book and its Kindle Scout campaign is Rob Steiner.

I’m really excited to announce a Kindle Scout campaign for my new novel, Citizen Magus.

Remington Blakes, a magus from a 21st century where magic powers the world, has a big problem. His former mentor, William Ford, stranded him in ancient Rome without a memory as to how or why. Well a guy has to eat, so he’s forced to eke out a living as a magus-for-hire among Rome’s plebeians. But when Ford conjures daemons to kidnap a senator’s young daughter, Remi tracks him to the Germanic frontier to not only rescue the child, but learn the terrible secret behind why he left Remi in Rome.

The campaign works like this: Readers can nominate my book for a publishing deal with Kindle Press. If Kindle Press picks up my book, your nomination will earn you a free copy once it’s published. The more nominations I get, the better my chances for a deal and a free ebook for you.

Nominating is easy, quick, and a great way to support new authors (check out the other campaigns on the Scout site, too). Please see my campaign page for more details.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Interview with Rob Steiner

Today we have the pleasure of interviewing Rob Steiner, the author of The Last Key, Aspect of Pale Night, Zervakan, and the Codex Antonius trilogy. His short stories have appeared in Bastion and Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. As has been posted here previously, Steiner has just concluded the Codex Antonius trilogy with the publication of Muses of the Republic. Now, he's here to talk to us about...everything.

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New Podler: Thanks for being here with us today, Rob!

Rob Steiner: I appreciate you having me.

NP: Anyone familiar with your recent work, both in novel and short story form, will notice a certain Roman element to it. Is it safe to say you're a Romanophile?

RS: Am I that obvious, lol? Yes, I’m huge Romanophile. I mean, the Western civilization we know today came right out of Rome, from its languages to its religious customs (the Christian/pagan mashups), to its roads (still used throughout Europe), and even its lawyers (Romans sued the bejesus out of each other).

I’m also an American history nut, so the parallels between Rome and the US have always fascinated me—both threw off monarchs to establish democratic republics, albeit ruled by elites; both had a sense of “manifest destiny” to conquer their respective continents; both became cultural melting pots; both transitioned from regional powers to super powers after defeating a long-term rival (Carthage for Rome and the Soviet Union for the US).

Does that mean I think the US republic will one day fall to emperors or that it’ll last as long as Rome? Who knows? The US is still a baby compared to the Roman Empire, which existed in one form or another from the 500s BC until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The US has a long way to go before it can be considered a match for Rome.

I’m getting into TL;DR territory, so if you’re a budding Romanophile, check out Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome podcast series and anything by Anthony Everitt.

NP: For the people out there who don't know anything about the Codex Antonius series, otherwise known as the Muses books, what would you like to say to introduce them to the series?

RS: Romans…in…spaaaaaaace!

But if you need more than that: Mark Antony routs Octavius Caesar at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and becomes the sole consul of the Roman Republic. He ushers in an unimaginable golden age, and within 1,000 years, Rome has not only conquered the world but spawned an interstellar civilization.

By the time Muses of Roma starts, Rome has declined over recent decades, and rival worlds have emerged. But it’s still a powerhouse that no nation is crazy enough to take on alone.

NP: What was your inspiration for writing the series?

RS: Since I’m a history nut, it stands to reason that I also love alternate history. Harry Turtledove got me going with Guns of the South, where time travelers show up during the US Civil War, give the Confederacy AK-47s, and enable them to win the war. In addition to his Worldwar series (aliens invade Earth during World War II), his books showed me that sci-fi and alternate history can coexist and make for some exciting stories.

For me, the Roman Empire + space opera = awesome. So I went with it.

But all good alternate history needs that "what if" moment where things take off in a different direction. For my Muses series, I wanted Rome to go from a Mediterranean empire to an interstellar one within a thousand years. That’s an awfully short time period for such a drastic advance, so I figured they’d need help. I wanted that help to be alien, but I didn’t want your standard gray alien whispering in Mark Antony’s ear from behind the curtains. I wanted something different.

I once read in Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything that 80% of all life on the planet Earth is bacteria. Humans usually fancy themselves at the top of the food chain, but Bryson said that humans exist on this planet because the bacteria allow it. If they turned on us, there wouldn’t be a damn thing we could do.

The way he described bacteria made them sound almost…sentient.

Huh.

What if a sentient virus, which had existed for millions of years and infected dozens of intelligent species, found its way to Earth and Mark Antony, infected him, and gave him all the knowledge it had accumulated? That sure would kickstart a Roman golden age, to say the least.

But all that knowledge isn’t free, and there’s a terrible price for it. The Codex Antonius series is about Marcus Antonius Cordus, Mark Antony’s distant ancestor, who learns the terrible price and fights to free Rome—and humanity—from Muse enslavement.

NP: You've covered a lot of ground in the series, and many years have passed between books. In "The Vestal" (Bastion November 2014 issue), we got to see Kaeso (my favorite character in the series) back in his Umbra Corps days. Any chance that we'll see more stories from his early days or between the novels?

RS: So to give your readers a quick backstory: Umbra Corps is a super-secret spy agency for the Roman rival world Libertus. Libertus is small and doesn’t have a huge star fleet like Rome, so they use the Umbra Corps with its almost magical technology to infiltrate any government or crime syndicate. Their philosphy is: Why maintain a huge star fleet when you can stop any threat in its planning stages through targeted assassination or sabotage? Umbra Corps is why little Libertus has remained free in an interstellar neighborhood dominated by Rome and petty warlords looking for glory.

Of course, Umbra Corps’ success comes from its own deal with the devil, which I won’t spoil here.

By the time of Muses of Roma, Kaeso Aemilus is a former Umbra Corps agent who used to work in Rome, but was blackballed and now runs his own cargo ship crewed by outcasts like himself.

I’d love to write about Kaeso’s Umbra Corps days, because he did things that would make James Bond wet his pants. However, I want to avoid the Star Wars prequels trap. The answers to the mysteries that Kaeso fought to learn in his Umbra Corps days are revealed in the Codex Antonius series. I need to figure out new stories (and/or novels) where those mysteries aren’t central to the plot (which would bore Codex Antonius readers who know how it all ends), but at the same time keep the Muses as the main bad guys (because they are the reason this alternate history exists, after all). Once I figure out another story like that, I will write it.

NP: In Zervakan, you gave us a world where magic and steampunk era technology co-exist, albeit not peacefully. The main character, Taran, tried to bridge the two worlds but was viewed as a pariah. What was your inspiration for writing it?

RS: Zervakan was inspired by my personal belief that science and religion are two sides of the same coin: they both attempt to describe different aspects of reality. And I wanted to wrap that notion up in an exciting fantasy adventure.

Taran’s story is about someone who seeks to bridge the gap between seemingly opposite ways of seeing the world. I wanted to show that just because you’re a scientist doesn’t mean you can’t have spiritual beliefs. And just because you have spiritual beliefs, doesn’t mean you should ignore science.

Science and religion are always in flux anyway, never settled and constantly reinterpreted. For some religions, the belief that the Earth was the center of the universe was sacrosanct; but that belief was reinterpreted in face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. And up until the 1870s, the best minds in science thought it was pure fantasy for “invisible” germs to cause contagious diseases.

I often wonder if people a hundred years from now will look back on today’s “settled” scientific and religious principles and laugh at our naiveté.

NP: Do you have any plans on returning to that world?

RS: When I outlined the book, I intended it as a standalone novel. But as I wrote it, I decided to throw in some plot threads that could lead to future books. I think the novel still holds up well as a standalone, though, so I don’t have any plans for future volumes at this point.

But if it starts selling like gangbusters, I could be persuaded otherwise. ;-)

NP: Now that the Codex Antonius trilogy is complete, do you have anything on the drawing board, or are your creative batteries re-charging?

RS: I just completed a new fantasy novel based on the characters in the two short stories I published on Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. The book and stories are about Natta Magus, a wizard from an alternate 21st century where magic powers the world. He gets stranded in 6 BC Rome (go figure, eh?) by his former mentor and friend and is desperate to find out why. It’s in third draft mode, and I hope to release it in early fall. I’d encourage your readers to sign up for my New Releases mailing list to be among the first to know when it comes out.

NP: That's going to do it for me. If anyone in the audience has any questions for Rob, please post them in the comments.

Thanks again for joining us today, Rob. I suddenly feel the need to stock up on Purell and Lysol.

RS: That would be wise. ;-) And thank you for this opportunity.

NP: To learn more about the Codex Antonius series or any of Rob's other works, please visit his website.

Author News - June

Anne Charnock announced the title of her next book and how it came about.

Mike Reeves-McMillan announced that a story of his has been selected for the Terry Pratchett In Memory anthology. Proceeds go to benefit research into finding a cure for Alzheimer's.

Rob Steiner has been busy lately. Two of his stories have recently appeared in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show: "The Oath Breaker's Daemon" and "The Cloaca Maxima". He also published the third story in his Codex Antonius series, Muses of the Republic.

Michael J. Sullivan started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a third Riyria Chronicles novel entitled The Death of Dulgath. The campaign was successfully funded in just under 48 hours. I find it interesting that after signing a major book deal, he still feels the need to self-publish.

Cover Reveal: Muses of the Republic by Rob Steiner

Rob Steiner has revealed the third cover in the Codex Antonius series, Muses of the Republic. In case you haven't been following it (and why the hell not!), it's a sci-fi/alt history series about a Roman Empire that didn't fall. Instead it thrived, conquered the world, and spawned an interstellar civilization.

Rob hired Tom Edwards to create the cover. Edwards also created the covers for M. Terry Green's Chronicles of White World.

The ebook is out now. The paperback is scheduled to be released later this month. There's a compendium containing all three ebooks. You can get that here.

Bastion Magazine - November 2014

Bastion is a science fiction magazine. Normally we don't review zines, but I don't see why not. They're similar to anthologies in that they contain multiple authors working around a central theme. In this case, that central theme is simple: science fiction. But as I look deeper, I see memory as a common thread.

Another important point is that this issue was not submitted to us. I saw that Rob Steiner was one of the authors in this issue, so I went out and bought it. I'm reviewing it on GoodReads so I may as well post it here too. Small press zines are like indie authors: Publicity is better than obscurity.

The issue opens with "Good Times" by Alexander Jones. Memories are the latest drug. Someone has created the technology where one can extract memories from one person and inject them into another. The experience is like living through them firsthand. Like all drugs, there's always the risk of overdose. I really liked this story. While the characters initially appeared to be just some random shmoes, Jones developed them as each explored a memory shared by the other.

"The Ticket-Taker" by CJ Menart is told to us from the perspective of a ticket-taker robot at a vaudeville show. But something's wrong with it. People are complaining about its behavior. They think it's malfunctioning, and so does the central factory computer, but there seems to be more going on. The robot is a bit of a smart aleck who rambles about its memories of shows past. But if you pay close attention, you just might be able to figure out what the author is trying to say.

A landing on an alien world has gone terribly wrong in "Us or Them". The protagonist in B. Brooks' story is the last person among her crew, pursued by the others and slowly succumbing to the sickness that claimed so many. She struggles to remember her training. And something wants to commandeer her starship and spread its infection to Earth. A nice edge of your seat story.

"The Vestal" is a story that takes place in Rob Steiner's Codex Antonius series. If you know the series, it's back in Kaeso's Umbra Corps days, long before Muses of Roma. But if you're not familiar with it, the story takes place in an alternate universe where Rome never fell. Kaeso works for the CIA equivalent of a free world trying to keep Roma from taking it down. It's an interstellar cold war. In "The Vestal", Kaeso is charged with helping a woman, one of the Vestal Virgins, defect to his world. Hands down, this was my favorite story in the issue. It had action and a solid protagonist. And Rob Steiner's world building is top notch.

In "Playing in the Skeleton on Riot Day", Jedd Cole tells the story of Sheila, a ten-year old girl recounting the days of the occupation of Earth by aliens. Her brother and his friends enjoy watching people protest the occupation. And sometimes it gets ugly. There's an obvious parallel that can be drawn to human armies from one nation that occupy another, where the cultural differences make the other seem alien. But Cole doesn't preach. He's just offering a different POV. Food for thought as it will. A good story.

The editor thought that Michael Andre-Driussi's "Mayhem at Manville" was going to be controversial. I suppose it was because of the S&M, homosexuality, and violent world portrayed in the story. But I didn't find any of it offensive or gratuitous. Human, androids, and aliens mix together in a piece that's part Philip K. Dick, part William S. Burroughs, and all puzzle. I read it twice to try to make sense of it and a chain of memories to see if I could piece together the clues.

In Spencer Wightman's "Shenzhen Blues", video games have become high stakes affairs, like back room poker games are today. But the video games are far more intense than anything we have today. And biotechnology has advanced to the point where implants and organs can be considered collateral on bets. It's the dark underbelly of cyberpunk. The protagonist, Sam, seems hellbent on blazing through life to burn a memory from her past. But at the rate she's blazing, she just might wind up dead.

All in all, I think that this was a good collection of stories and worthy of further investigation. For more information on their current and past issues, visit Bastion's website.

Cover Story - Rob Steiner

A great book cover inspires readers to ask the question the book seeks to answer. Since my design skills scream “amateur” (to put it kindly), I hired professionals to design great covers for two books I will publish in 2013. I think both designers did a fantastic job conveying the question of each book, and it was a pleasure to work with them both.

ZERVAKAN

ZERVAKAN is a fantasy novel set in a world with 19th century technology -- steam engines, guns, telegraphs -- where two magical bands of light suddenly appear in the sky one night, spanning the horizons like rings around the planet. A scientist and a priest must discover the mystery behind the rings before their world is consumed by an evil they're not ready to fight.

Given the setting, I wanted a cover with a 19th century feel, but one that said "fantasy" and not "historical."

TJ Lomas brought my vision to life. He found an old photograph and added two bands of magical light on the horizons. He added color to the bands so they stood out. It's simple, but elegant. It grabs your attention and makes you ask, "What's with those two bands of light?"

ZERVAKAN will be released in January 2013, but you can read the "pre-published" version on Quarkfolio.com.

UMBRA CORPS

UMBRA CORPS (a working title) is an alternate history/sci-fi novel about a Roman Republic that survives its true-life fall and reaches the stars. A star ship crew of rogues must help the 12-year-old Consular Heir escape Rome with the terrifying secret behind the Republic's god-like technology.

For this cover, I worked with professional illustrator Stone Perales. My idea was to combine something iconically Roman with an anachronism that told readers it was alternate history.

The result: Mark Antony holding a musket while looking down on his Legions as they sack Rome.

Stone did a wonderful job capturing the ethereal look on Antony's face and the subtle detailing of his armor. My hope is that readers will see the cover and think, "Why is that ancient Roman soldier holding a musket? I've got to read this book to find out!"

UMBRA CORPS will be released in 2013.

Door Jam Novels in Fantasy/Sci-fi

In a recent email conversation with fellow author David Drazul, I mentioned that I'd grown tired of large fantasy/sci-fi "door jam" novels (books so big they could prop open a heavy door) due mainly to their emphasis on minutiae world-building over fast pacing.

When I think back to what I've read over the last year, books three and four of Steven Erikson's Malazan series are the only door jam novels I finished. Erikson is a brilliant writer, but by the time I reached the middle of each book, even his work had me antsy for the end.

I'd love to read Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings, as I've heard good things about it, but at a thousand freakin' pages, I can't help but think of all the slimmer books I could read in the time it would take to finish that one.

The only door jam fantasy I want to read is the last Wheel of Time book. I started the series back in the '90s because I heard it would be three books. Then three turned into six, which turned into nine, then twelve...until it's now at the fifteenth and final(!) book due for release in January. I'm invested at this point. But I'd never start the series right now considering its length.

I gave up on George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series because it felt like he was heading into Wheel of Time territory (and partly because I have the luxury of watching the DVDs).

It took my discovery of Glen Cook's Dread Empire series for me to see that a fantasy/sci-fi novel doesn't need to be a door jam to have quality world-building. Colin McComb's debut Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale (which I reviewed) is another example. Both Cook and McComb present their complex worlds and characters with visceral, compact prose that keeps their books under 250 pages without making them feel "thin."

What are your favorite fantasy/sci-fi novels, with quality world-building, that are relatively short (e.g., under 300 pages)?

Or do you love the door jam novel? If so, why?

Originally posted at Quarkfolio.

Kickstart Your Next Novel

While printers like Lulu and CreateSpace have made it possible to create physical copies of an author's work without money from the author (they recoup the costs of printing each book as it is sold), there's more to self-publishing than just printing a book.

Before indie authors send their manuscript off to the printer, they need to hire an editor to proofread their work and an illustrator to design a cover. As an indie book reviewer, I've seen my share of bad covers and poorly edited works. While there are readers who don't care about the finished product (so long as it costs 99 cents), they are in the minority. Too many writers feel that they can self-edit and illustrate. Those that can do both well are rare (I am not in this select group). For me, nothing really detracts from the reading experience like a manuscript riddled with typos.

I sympathize with my fellow self-published writers. I have my own experience with the cost of self-publishing. As I was concerned about the quality of my finished work, I hired an editor and an illustrator. While these are costs I have yet to recoup, if I had to do it all over again, I'd still spend the money on both of them.

While making a living as a writer is a dream, I'd really like to just break even at this point. There are many other indie authors in the same boat. Let's face it, many of us have a limited budget to work with. Paying illustrators and editors means more start up costs and delays that break even point. It's tempting to cut corners and spend as little money as possible on them, or forgo utilizing their services entirely; but that's a mistake. Just like plumbers and electricians, their skills are essential and they deserve to be paid for their time and effort. Fortunately, there's a new way for writers to pay for these costs: investors.



Kickstarter is a company that allows writers, artists, inventors and businessmen to pitch their ideas to the general public and find investors (for detailed background info and tips read this Wired article). If an author can make a compelling pitch, they might be able to convince some people to assist in the cost of preparing their novel for publication.

Our very own Rob Steiner is attempting to secure funding for his novel, Umbra Corps, via Kickstarter. Here's his pitch:



If you visit his Kickstarter page, you'll see how much money Rob is hoping to raise and what "thank you gifts" you'll receive from him based on the amount of your investment.

Afterwards, check out how other authors are pitching their projects and consider utilizing Kickstarter for your next work. Be sure to let your friends and readers know what you're trying to do by posting to your blog or Facebook or even tweeting. You never know who believes in you enough to help publish your next book!

The Last Key by Rob Steiner

In Rob Steiner's, The Last Key, Raven Labrend is a Novice Dahkshari, an Order of Faith on the continent of Andea. He and his mentor, Jalen Drummond, are tasked with escorting Seala Mesalek, a Duke's daughter and heir, to a peace treaty signing between the kingdoms of Andea and Loquath. The ceremony is to be held at her uncle's castle. It should come as no surprise that the journey is fraught with perilous adventure.

The modern fantasy genre evolved out of fairy tales, legends and mythology. It peaked with Tolkien and his success spawned many imitators, good and bad. As such, we've all been exposed to these stories and are familiar with the elements that go into a high fantasy story: swords and magic, mythical creatures, kings and queens, valiant heroes and fair maidens, and the titanic struggle between good and evil. It would be all too easy for Steiner's story to simply follow that well-worn path and for his characters to fall into two-dimensional stereotypes, but they don't.

Steiner's characters have a measure of depth to them. Raven, is the valiant hero who wants nothing more than to emulate his mentor, Jalen, and to do that he must respect the strict rules of the Dahkshari. But he struggles with a painful childhood memory that drives him to seek justice even if it means bending the rules. Seala is the fair maiden, but she's an educated idealist among the nobility who's unafraid to engage Raven in a debate over the freedom to practice one's Faith. Furthermore, she takes pains to demonstrate to Raven that she's no fragile flower and won't be swayed by a handsome face.

Seala's uncle, Duke Thallan Brael, is cast as evil but he's not a cartoon villain. He was a decorated war hero during the war with Loquath. Sadly, Loquathi soldiers murdered the Duke's wife and children right before his eyes. For him, signing the peace treaty is a big mistake as his heart burns with revenge.

Ferahtu could be considered for the cartoon villain role, but he's more complex than that. His malevolence possesses a dark logic. He helps Brael to see that the end justifies the means. Sacrifices need to be made for the greater good and Ferahtu is all to eager to execute those hard decisions for him. Brael is in possession of one third of the Reaping Key, a powerful source of magic that a millennium ago nearly destroyed the world when one man possessed all three pieces. With Ferahtu's help, he seeks to reclaim the other two pieces and use its power to completely destroy Loquath.

The Last Key is more complicated than a simple quest journey. One of the sub-plots involves the practice of Faith. In Steiner's world, Faith is a form of magical energy; the life essence granted to all living things by the Patrons. It can be used to heal, protect and even destroy. There are various schools of Faith in which people may enlist to learn how to properly harness it. However, there's always someone who doesn't like school. These people are considered heretics and are hunted as criminals. Steiner puts Raven in an awkward situation, as the Novice must decide whether or not he should accept the help of a band of heretics or turn them over to the authorities.

There's plenty of action and at least one fight scene was so vividly choreographed that I had no trouble visualizing it blow by blow. But at no point did I feel like it was overdone. However, the body count is high. Many a character, both major and minor, meets an untimely end. While it makes for a grim story, under the circumstances, it's realistic.

Mythical beasts are used sparingly and to great effect. The Gryphons are noble, yet prideful creatures. The Renders are terrible monsters and Steiner doesn't spare us any details to their grotesque creation or their eating habits.

The Last Key is a great fantasy story. Steiner has crafted a world where politics muddy the boundary between good and evil and forces the characters to find a clear path to solve a world-shattering crisis. His characters rise above stereotypes and engage each other with realistic dialogue that comes naturally to them. And they evolve. Although it is only his first novel, The Last Key clearly exemplifies Steiner's mastery of writing high fantasy. He is one to watch.

Fantasy fans should go buy his book now from Amazon or Smashwords. Read more about Rob and The Last Key at his website.