Extreme SF Bundle

I remember the moment vividly: I was reading Runners World, and an essayist mentioned that while running a race, a person nearby collapsed. The essayist was appalled that she (he?) had a momentary thought— Should I just leave the person there and keep trying for my personal best?—before stopping to help. The essay was about how bad the person felt for the thought.

I can’t remember the author of the essay (and am too pressed for time to try to find it) but I remember my writer reaction. That zing of recognition, of a story coming together in my mind. Only for some reason, I knew that this situation had to take place on the Moon at an extreme marathon, being run outside of the dome. And the person doesn’t just collapse, the person who falls dies.

That’s the opening to my second Retrieval Artist novel, Extremes. The book does standalone. It got great reviews, and really solidified the series for me.

And now that book is in a Storybundle which J. Daniel Sawyer first conceived as an extreme sf sports bundle. Now it’s just extreme sf, but that’s nifty cool too.

I’ve read three of the books besides my own. Dean (Wesley Smith) just finished Star Fall last month. It also features a running race, but it makes my Moon marathon look pale. These folks are running across a huge spaceship–and it takes them weeks. (Fortunately, they do it in relays.) The book is about a space mystery, and is totally nifty.

Kevin J. Anderson’s Climbing Olympus is a cool Mars-based sf novel. Impossible to put down, the details are great too, because Kevin climbs mountains as a hobby.

The third book I read is Fiction River: Risktakers. It’s filled with all kinds of risk-taking protagonists, from Dan C. Duval’s “Play The Man” (chosen as one of the best mysteries of the year) to Lee Allred’s “Side Bet,” which every gamer will love.

The bundle includes other wonderful writers, from Mike Resnick to Blaze Ward. So take some armchair adventures with the Extremes SF Bundle. It’s better than trying to run on the Moon–or at least, less expensive.

Oh, speaking of expense: $5 will get you 5 books. $15 will get you all of them. Plus you can donate to some charities benefiting writers, if you would like.

And…since we’re three days away from the end of the Kickstarter, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it. There’s a great deal in the heart of the Kickstarter now. Because we’ve been hitting our stretch goals, that $5 reward–which was initially for 1 ebook edition of Fiction River—will now get you 4 books: 2 Fiction River volumes and 2 Fiction River Presents volumes. If we hit the remaining stretch goal, you’ll get an additional volume. So right now–4 books for $5. Maybe, if we’re succeed at hitting the last stretch goal, 5 books for $5.

If you’ve been wanting to sample Fiction River, that’s how to do it. (Or you can pick up the Extreme SF Bundle and get Risk Takers. Or the Epic Fantasy Bundle and get Unnatural Worlds.)

And because I must, here’s another video from Fiction River. It’s not the sf ones (I used those), so I opted for the Mysterious Stories of Fiction River. Enjoy!