As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Falcon’s Call

The Falcon Trilogy - Book 1

by Mike Waller

Falcon's Call - Mike Waller - Falcon Trilogy
Part of the The Falcon Trilogy series:
  • Falcon's Call
Editions:ePub - First Edition: $ 4.99
ISBN: 9780648275510
Pages: 448

Reader's Favorite Gold Medal Winner 2019
B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree 2019
Chill With A Book Premier Award 2019

In a heart-pounding battle for humanity's survival, one man holds the key to a glorious future or utter extinction.

In a race against time, Earth and Mars race to claim a derelict alien ship as it enters the Solar System, both aware that whichever planet succeeds might in so doing achieve technological advantage over the other. But who should they send? Joe Falcon, an unlikely candidate, never saw himself as the "right" person. Accompanied by a crew of misfits, each fleeing their own personal demons, he questions why he should be the chosen one. But destiny calls, and he can't ignore it.

When Joe's survey vessel, Butterball, rendezvous with the mysterious visitor, he encounters a ship so colossal that exploring its vast expanse is impossible. The alien craft responds to his presence in awe-inspiring and unsettling ways, yet no signs of its inhabitants can be found. Everything Joe and his team witness defies explanation, shrouded in deception and uncertainty. Joe soon realizes he and his crew are expendable and cannot take anything or anyone at face value, including the alien ship’s owners. Unbeknownst to Joe, their every move is being scrutinized and analyzed.

But the true threat to humanity isn't the awe-inspiring spacecraft—it's something far more perilous. Unbeknownst to Joe, he holds the power to determine the destiny of two worlds, launching humankind into a glorious future or hurtling them towards oblivion.

Immerse yourself in Falcon's Call, an electrifying journey into the unknown, paying homage to the timeless classics of science fiction. Prepare for unexpected twists, captivating characters, and a hero driven by genuine compassion. Mike Waller delivers a must-read novel that will leave you breathless. Grab your copy of Falcon's Call today and let Joe Falcon's odyssey ignite your imagination.

Excerpt:

No larger than a baseball, it moved at a pace several times that of a high-velocity bullet. Spawned of a cataclysmic conflict between three larger asteroids, it streaked mindlessly through space, oblivious to either destination or destiny.

Far ahead, a swarm of small, sand-grain-sized meteoroids, the result of a freak impact between two of the adversaries, heralded its coming. An even more unlikely second collision, a glancing blow between the third contender and rubble from the first two, sent the rock in the swarm’s wake, on the identical course despite odds in the trillions to one.

Contrary to popular belief, objects in the asteroid belt are not densely packed. They are in reality far apart and collisions are rare. The region of space through which this wanderer and its precursors now passed was almost empty.

But not quite!

READ MORE

* * *

A hot, tropical sun beat down on brilliant, white sand. Salt spray swirled along the waterline as a warm, murmuring breeze drifted in from the vastness of the South Pacific Ocean. The sounds of children’s laughter drifted up from the water's edge, mixed with the raucous skirl of seagulls.

Joe Falcon half-opened his eyes. A young woman clad in a brief, suggestive, white bikini strolled across the beach towards him.

A glance in his direction.

A warm, friendly smile.

Helen, his beautiful wife of just a week, with her soft, gentle voice and the look of an angel.

A week? It seemed like a day.

He watched her approach. Life was satisfying, becoming better by the minute.

A split-second blink.

When his eyes opened again she was gone, the sand where she walked smooth and undisturbed. From somewhere nearby the rat-tat-tat, staccato rattle of an automatic weapon shattered the harmony, followed by the shrill, piercing whine of a siren.

Something smashed hard onto his head.

“What the f…?”

Joe’s forehead struck the solid, unforgiving bulkhead of the captain’s cabin. Weightless, he struggled to regain equilibrium, his eyes blind in the pitch dark, ears ringing to the noise of the ship's breach alarm. He reached out wildly in the darkness, one hand falling on the latch of the bathroom door.

Seconds earlier, he’d been reclining in the hot Australian sun, luxuriating in the soothing, caressing breeze of a time long gone but still cherished; a moment of bliss, a hard bang and a rude awakening.

The beach dimmed in memory as, with eyelids squeezed tight, Joe battled to silence the persistent gremlin breaking rocks behind his temples. Every few seconds a sharp, machinegun rattle echoed through the structure around him.

Something was not right.

The dim emergency lights flickered on and Joe's brain tumbled back to reality. The faint, ever-present vibration was absent, the accommodation wheel motionless. When rotation ceased Joe's body had continued, inertia launching him from his bunk. Deprived of the small but crucial centrifugal gravity he had drifted without waking across the tiny room and into the opposite wall.

With a gentle push against the bathroom door, he floated across to the crisis locker and his emergency suit, and then dragged the stiff fabric over his limbs as best possible in the zero-g.

Satisfied at last—he had not done this for a long time—he clipped the bubble helmet to his belt, planted his feet on the near wall and tapped the com-patch.

“Sarah? What in God's name…?”

“Meteor shower, Boss.” The voice belonged not to his first officer but to Terry Caldwell, the second engineer. “We bin hit! Micro-m’s”

“You're joking, right?”

“Wouldn’t do that, Boss.”

Joe whistled through his teeth. The source of gunfire in his dream now made sense; the irregular pings sounding through the toughened alloy structure of the ship were minute, sand-grain-sized meteoroids hitting the outside of the accommodation wheels.

Chances of being in the path of a meteoroid swarm were billions to one, a once in a lifetime event if at all. Unlikely, Joe thought, to happen again before he died.

“What's our status?”

“Not too bad, Boss. Sizes less than two millimeters, mostly. We got maybe three hundred hits overall but the old girl can handle it. Only a few bad ones: three on the reactor module, four on fusion-drive two, three more on the tanks, and six on the spine. No damage to the crew areas.”

“The accommodation wheels aren't turning. What happened to the power?”

“We lost the feed from the reactor,” Terry replied. “I got us on backup now.”

“Good man. Engines?”

“Unit two's got a few hits. It can be repaired, I reckon, but we might need a dock.”

“Anyone outside?”

“Yeah. The guys are out on the rock, 'round the back. They should be safe. External links are down, so Sarah's going out after them. She's in the lock now.”

Joe grunted acknowledgment. The vessel was tethered to the surface of an irregularly shaped asteroid approximately three hundred meters across, the latest target in their never-ending treasure hunt through the Asteroid Belt. The 'guys', Carl Geddes and Peter Stanley, had been out taking core samples and soundings for analysis in the lab.

A rock like this was not generally worth the effort but Carl had requested more time to check it over, muttering something about it being part of a planetary body, probably Mars, which somehow ended up here in the Belt. Unlike the typical metallic or carbonaceous asteroids in the area, this one was igneous rock.

Chunks of Mars thrown off by meteor impact often turned up on Earth, but how such a massive piece found its way out here Joe could not imagine—hardly surprising since it was not his field. He was Navy or had been once.

“Are you alright, Sarah?”

“Yes, Captain,” the voice of his first officer replied over the intercom. “Almost ready to go out now.”

“Sounds like the shower's over.”

“I wouldn't be going otherwise. Oh, hang on, I may not need to. The boys are coming around the rock now.”

Joe smiled—his first officer was younger than every one of the ‘boys’ on the ship by several years. “Good. Be careful. Terry, I'm on my way up. Are all the crew in suits?”

“You bet, Boss.”

Joe berated himself for leaving his com-patch off, stared at it for a moment, tapped it off again and then pulled himself through the doorway into the corridor.

Dim emergency lights illuminated the interior of accommodation wheel number one, throwing dark, surrealistic shadows on the curved walls. Near-silence haunted the motionless structure, the constant drone of the ventilation replaced by an almost indiscernible shush from the backup system.

Joe's nose wrinkled at the faint, ‘canned’ odor of the air. It felt cold. He shivered and then decided it was his imagination. The temperature was normal but the cool, bluish, secondary lights cast an unnatural pall that fooled the senses.

Opposite the door, a window looked toward the bridge and forward docking module. All was motionless beyond the polycarbonate pane, confirming the lack of wheel rotation. Joe launched himself at the exit ladder and floated up to the central spine, ignoring the rungs. Without gravity, they were superfluous.

An open hatch in the hub led up to the corridor within the spine of the ship. Joe glanced aft; a few meters away another rotating sleeve, also motionless, marked the ship's secondary wheel. The cargo-zone access hatch beyond was shut. Joe guessed Sarah had secured it on her way to the service bays.

Nothing else appeared compromised other than the lights, suggesting damage was limited to the electrics, tanks and engine. A lucky escape; the situation could have been far worse.

As Joe entered the bridge Terry turned, his battered, scar-covered face showing obvious concern. That face always intrigued Joe. At some point in the past, it had undergone considerable involuntary re-arrangement. Joe did not ask; it was not his business. That’s how it was in the Belt.

“Any hull breaches?”

“The engine module, tanks and upper work bays,” Terry replied. “The shower hit mostly aft of the wheels. Bit of luck, hey Boss?”

“Engineering?”

“We lost … oh, hang on … got a faint pressure drop in wheel two.” Terry peered briefly at a read-out above his head. “A pinhole breach—easy fixed.”

“Fine. Engineering?”

“Oh, right. One engine out. Reactor’s okay. One of the bigger buggers tore straight through the casing on the primary power loom forward of the radiation shield. A broken piece of the case must’ve taken out the power cables. Mari and Sam are getting ready to go now.”

Joe nodded. Marius Pine and Sam Bright, the ship's chief and electrical engineers, would sort the mess soon enough. Joe took a great deal of pride in Butterball's crew. They did their jobs expertly, neither needing nor expecting orders. Joe pulled himself into the command chair.

The mineral prospecting ship Butterball began life as a long-haul supply freighter built for the Earth to Mars cargo run before the Resources War. Little more than a long, spinal gantry connecting the bridge and docking module to the aft engineering units, she resembled a giant stick insect in space. The backbone contained an access corridor and formed the conduit through which ran high-voltage lines delivering electricity from the reactor to all other parts of the ship. Those cables now lay in shreds.

The view on the command screen currently looked aft towards the radiation shadow shield. Behind the bridge module, two counter-rotating habitat wheels contained the living and working quarters for the crew. With the loss of power, the vessel now functioned on batteries alone, and the rotation of both wheels had stopped.

Further aft, removable work and cargo flats sat around the spine. From there, the business of mineral surveying and prospecting took place. In the bottom, forward work bay Marius and Sam were getting ready to begin emergency repairs.

Long streamers of liquid spewed into space from two of the many tanks lining either side of the gantry between the upper and lower flats, diffusing into rainbow clouds of crystallized, frozen vapor. Butterball's lifeblood boiled away in a cloud of glittering diamonds.

“Xenon numbers three and seven,” Terry confirmed. “There's still enough to get home once we carry out repairs, but only just. We still got one fusion engine, so we should be solid, Boss.”

Joe's heart sank. The ship's main engine was a xenon-ion drive that provided low but constant thrust and used little fuel. This allowed her to accelerate at a slow, steady rate, ideal for her original intended purpose of freighting between Earth and Mars but useless for working the asteroids.

Above and below the primary engine were twin deuterium-tritium fusion boosters, fitted during the refit for faster maneuvering near targets in the Belt. One was now out of action, so Butterball would have to rely more on the ion drive, making close-quarters work more difficult.

Joe cringed as the proximity alarm let out a loud, chilling wail.

Something unseen slammed into the still functional number-one booster. At enormous velocity, the baseball-sized meteoroid punched through the unit, reducing it to a twisted mass of scrap metal as the impact wrenched it from its mountings. Alarms screeched as the ship automatically cut the wrecked unit off from the reactor.

Joe slumped back into his seat, took a deep breath and waited for his heart to stop pounding. If the rock had struck a meter or two lower, it would have hit the ion drive. A few meters further forward and it would have taken out the reactor and killed them all.

It was a frighteningly close call.

“Shit,” he murmured. “Trip's over.”

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Anthony Elmore for Readers'Favorite on Amazon wrote:

Falcon's Call, written by Mike Waller, is a nail-biting, fantastical science fiction thriller that puts you on the edge of your seat.

Joseph Falcon, a retired naval officer and now the captain of a freighter spaceship named "Butterball," was exploring an asteroid deep in the solar system when he was called back to a space station named Kepler. Once he got back, he got the shock of his life. A UFO had been sighted not too far from where he had been exploring, and his new objective was to find out if the spaceship was derelict, or if it still had living inhabitants on board. With his new, history-changing objective, will Joe Falcon and his crew of what the world usually called "misfits" have what it takes to embark on the most important mission in the history of mankind? Or will they fail and miss out on this once in a lifetime anomaly?

Falcon's Call by Mike Waller was a very deep, mind-boggling, but very exciting book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. It had many twists and turns, making it very hard to put down. The characters were well defined, and each played an important part in making the story come alive. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. With its fascinating different aspects, it had away of keeping you on your toes. The science fiction Star Wars meets ET theme made this an awesome read. From murder to mayhem, this book has it all!

Reviewed by Judge, 7th Annual Writer's Digest Self Published eBook Awards.

What impressed me so much about Falcon's Call is Mike Waller's ability to defamiliarize the familiar. Even in a futuristic space adventure, Waller had his finger on the reader's expectations alongside the crew's experience. Incorporating present-day aspects like predicting Mandarin and English as main Earth languages, referencing sky walks (p. 200), and especially grass on the Minaret all allow significant world-building for Falcon's Call, but also enforce an existential experience.

The novel benefits from an immediately strong characterization of Joe Falcon. And yet, Waller allows Joe to preserve core elements while shifting his perspective as the plot continues, which builds believability. No matter how many points of view Waller presents -- Joe, Jake, Ruth, etc. -- Joe always remains the central focus that grounds the reader. Overall, Waller has written an engaging and fun interstellar read.

Judge, 7th Annual Writer's Digest Self Published eBook Awards. on Amazon wrote:

What impressed me so much about Falcon's Call is Mike Waller's ability to defamiliarize the familiar. Even in a futuristic space adventure, Waller had his finger on the reader's expectations alongside the crew's experience. Incorporating present-day aspects like predicting Mandarin and English as main Earth languages, referencing sky walks (p. 200), and especially grass on the Minaret all allow significant world-building for Falcon's Call, but also enforce an existential experience.

The novel benefits from an immediately strong characterization of Joe Falcon. And yet, Waller allows Joe to preserve core elements while shifting his perspective as the plot continues, which builds believability. No matter how many points of view Waller presents -- Joe, Jake, Ruth, etc. -- Joe always remains the central focus that grounds the reader. Overall, Waller has written an engaging and fun interstellar read.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

by Mike Waller

AWARDS
B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree 2020 READERS FAVORITE International Book Awards 2021 - Bronze Medal
LITERARY TITAN Silver Medal 2021
READERS FAVORITE 5 star review 2020

Sometimes, death is necessary. Two thousand years after the Great Diaspora, humanity has spread across the Orion Spur, the human domain fractured and diverse, divided into numerous small federations, empires, dictatorships, and a thousand unaligned and lonely planets. On one of those small worlds, a plant grows, a weed that feeds the addiction of many and the greed and avarice of a few, and kills without favor. Lazarus Hawk, ex-soldier and ex-mercenary, convicted of a crime of terror he did not commit, and sentenced to life on an airless prison moon from which there is no escape, has been offered a way out. It’s a chance. A good chance. To accept the offer, all he has to do is die. Forced to undertake a mission against his better judgment, Hawk finds himself teaming up with the locals of a small, backward world, and Abbie Renner, a young Guarda officer searching for the source of the drug Hellfire, and prepared to go to any lengths. This time, she has gone too far. This time she needs help. Can Hawk overcome the mistrust and reticence of a small colony world to accomplish the mission he has been forced to undertake in return for his life? If you like great, classic science fiction, you will love this new work by multi-award-winning author Mike Waller, an action-packed dive into the world of a galactic mercenary driven by the ghosts from his past. Grab a copy now and join Lazarus Hawk in his search for justice for a remote colony world.

Excerpt:

Peace reigned in the quiet hours of the early morning, when few citizens graced the shadowed walkways of the entertainment district of Attika City. In the dim cafes and restaurants that lined the even dimmer mall, a handful of late stragglers from the previous evening's festivities clung to that final drink, a stimulant to give them sufficient impetus for the journey home.

The showers had passed, but the street still ran slick with runoff that streamed away to the drains from the last downpour. Steam rose in the warmth of the night, while high above, the dark clouds parted briefly to reveal a pale, full moon before closing in once again to shroud the city. Rain fell frequently on this planet but the locals loved it; took pride in the fact, since most human-occupied worlds were dry and desolate.

READ MORE

A row of antique street lamps—not too bright, so as to maintain the ambiance of the precinct—cast dim pools of reflected light from the wet sidewalks. Faint sounds of laughter drifted through the night, interspersed with farewells as a few late-nighters took advantage of the break in the weather.

The peace shattered as something slammed at terminal velocity into the pavement, impacting with such force as to pound a dent several centimeters into the plascrete surface.

For a moment, silence.

A nearby patron rose to her feet and peered over the restaurant railing towards the source of the disturbance. For a brief moment she stood motionless, and then raised both hands to her face.

A piercing scream shattered the peaceful mall.

Officer Callon Follet, post-sergeant of the Attika Guarda, peered down at the ruin. The sheer force of impact left little recognizable of what had once been a human soul, perhaps a young woman. The corpse was crushed almost beyond recognition, every bone broken, the skin pulverized and gore spattered for several meters around. A dark, congealing mass pooled in the depression created by the fall.

Follet raised his eyes towards the face of the adjacent skyscraper, the tallest building on the planet. It soared to over a thousand meters, and due to the height most of the windows were incapable of opening sufficiently for a body to pass through. Only at the top was exit possible, from any one of a dozen penthouse floors each with a private balcony open to the air, or from one of several sky-car pads at the summit.

Those high places all featured safety-glass barriers around the outer perimeters, but anyone could scramble over given determination and something to climb on. An acknowledged safety hazard, they existed only because the owner of the monolith all but owned the city. He got what he wanted. He was untouchable.

The sergeant stared up into the darkness and swiped a few stray drips of moisture from his face as a trauma arbeiter, white and reflective in the dim light, exited a nearby ground-unit and glided across to the scene of the incident. It paused for a moment beside the remains, opened a hatch on its side and extended small probes.

“You know what I need,” Follet said.

The drone acknowledged in a disturbingly human voice and extended a probe into the congealing blood. Dropping the sample into a liquid-filled vial, it gave a shake and waited until the liquid turned bright blue.

Hellfire, sir. Exceptionally high concentration, death inevitable. More information will be available following a detailed examination.”

Follet nodded and turned his attention to the diminutive figure standing a few meters behind him. His new partner, junior officer Abigail Renner, was fresh from the academy. Tonight was her first on the job, her first call to her first incident.

What a goddamned, awful mess, he thought. “Sorry to throw this at you on your first trip out. We try to ease newbie's in, but this is just ... unexpected, that's all.”

The girl did not reply, her attention fixed on the ruin on the pavement.

Hellfire,” Follet said, “is the nastiest addictive drug we've encountered on the circuit. Damned stuff shows up more every month and we have no clue where it comes from.”

His partner did not respond. Since their first meeting she had shown none of the first-day nerves so typical of raw recruits. At the station she had presented as cool, calm, aware of her circumstances and confident in her abilities, but now she resembled a child in a strange and hostile environment.

Shock, perhaps?

Of medium height—Follet guessed about one-fifty-five centimeters—the blue-black Guarda uniform made her appear smaller than in reality. With her dark-brown hair tucked under a standard issue peaked cap she looked younger, more boyish, than her twenty standard years. She could almost be his daughter. Her green eyes glanced up at him briefly before returning to the scene on the pavement.

“The trouble with this stuff,” Follet continued, “is the small doses. The common form is tiny grains, like highly processed sugar. One tenth of a gram gives you a thrill the like of which you've never experienced before: extreme ecstasy, a feeling of being the ruler of the world and so on. With luck, you can have your high and get away with it. Two tenths and you get an even more unbelievable trip, and become addicted for life with no chance of a cure.”

Abbie Renner nodded, her eyes still glued to the body.

“A third of a gram and you're as good as dead. It starts with an overpowering sense of dizziness, other-worldliness and heightened awareness, then superiority, and you think anything is possible. If you're near water you decide you can breathe under it and you drown. You can walk through fire and not burn. High up and you can fly, and...”—Follet returned his gaze to the victim, now in the process of being scraped into a carry-case by the arbeiter—“...you get an irresistible urge to do just that. Then you die.”

He turned back to his young protégée. She had not spoken since their arrival and had not moved closer to the body. Follet observed her more closely and realized her lack of response was not shock as he had at first assumed. The look in those eyes was one of intense anger.

Damp from the moisture in the air, her face showed little of the confusion and revulsion expected of a raw recruit exposed to such horror on her first night out. This young woman stood firm, stolid despite her young years and diminutive appearance, her brow furrowed, her jaw set and her gaze locked on the scene.

“But you're aware of all that, aren't you? I'm not telling you a damned thing you haven't heard before.”

Renner gave a curt nod and exhaled forcefully, as if she had been holding her breath.

“You alright? You can handle this. Take another breath and tell me what you know about this stuff.”

The young officer took a slow breath in and then breathed out again with a long, protracted sigh. “It's why I joined the Guarda,” she said. “My brother died from the drug two years ago, when I was eighteen. He was one of the first, they told us. Took too much and tried to stop a speeding maglev by standing in front of it with his hands up. It couldn't stop fast enough. I decided then to join the force and track down whoever is responsible for his getting the drug.”

Follet studied his young sidekick; for a raw recruit she had one heck of an agenda. He knew little about her other than the information on her data sheet, but she impressed him as a woman of intelligence and resourcefulness. A powerful, unrelenting determination lurked behind that angelic, heart-shaped face. This young lady came with a purpose.

“You’re aware they set up a special division to deal with this problem? Have you considered applying?”

“Yes. I applied from the academy but I was told to come back when I had a year or two of experience. They don't take graduates until they prove they can stomach the work.”

Follet turned and looked again at the black stained depression in the plascrete, all that remained now the arbeiter had finished its work.

“I can understand that.”

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Literary Titan on Amazon wrote:

HAWK: HELLFIRE follows Lazarus Hawk and Abigail Renner as they are tasked - more like forced in Hawk's case - to track down the source of a vicious drug known as hellfire. Set across planets with humanity in fractured societies, the convicted felon, and Guarda officer, team up to overthrow a dictatorship in the small world that created the worst drug known to humanity.

As a fan of science fiction, the intergalactic setting with numerous planets, alliances, and empires that spans across the galaxy sparked the deep love I have for the genre. This was not at the forefront of the novel, but it was wildly creative, executed finely, and fits its needs for the story. The journey through space and planets was fun and each planet exuded a unique culture without diverting attention away from the story.

Our protagonist, Hawk, was a great character to follow with his own scars and motives that moved the plot forward. Hawk was very likable, being more of an anti-hero type with a complicated past as an ex-soldier, ex-mercenary, and framed convict, but the novel reveals his strong morals and his kinder nature than usual mercenaries. This made following and rooting for him easy.

Mike Waller's writing style was a joy to read. Every line seemed to jump at you and scream action with his strong choice of active verbs. Waller had a smooth and digestible style that blasted every sentence forward with momentum and didn't distract from the story with flowery writing.

The story of HAWK: HELLFIRE was an adrenaline-pumping action piece, complete with drug lords, cops and corrupt government officials. It was hard to put it down at times and had me guessing where it would go next. The effects of the 'hellfire' were intriguing and well implemented, and it was interesting to see what people did under the influence and how our characters had to deal with it. It all comes together with an extremely satisfying ending to an exciting, but ultimately uplifting novel. Perfect for science fiction fans looking for a gritty and entertaining space opera.

Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers Favorite on Amazon wrote:

Far too many Military Science Fiction novels are long in the telling, with overly complicated plots and in this respect, Waller has pitched HAWK: Hellfire just right. Creating a vivid sense of time and place that wholly transports us to Scenna, a world that feels alive and lived in whilst managing to engage our imagination to the fullest. Characters are well nuanced and multi-layered whilst battle scenes are succinctly crafted without being repetitious.

As is most often the case with Science Fiction novels, it's the journey that matters more than the destination and it's certainly true of Mike Waller's novel. Yes, the familiar genre tropes are evident but he never allows them to spiral into unearned sentiment though his masterstroke is the character of Hawk himself as he struggles with the implications and consequences of his past and present actions. Original and compelling science fiction from Mike Waller, HAWK: Hellfire is highly recommended!
Review by BOOKVIRAL

Mike Waller's science fiction novel Hawk: Hellfire is set on planets in the Confederation Guarda and on Scenna, a remote and independent planet. Krystian Hauken, or Hawk, is imprisoned on an airless moon for a crime he did not commit: A deadly explosion on his home planet of Arkeden. He seizes the opportunity to escape in exchange for a mission to oust dictator Basa from Scenna. Hawk has extensive and formidable skills from his military and mercenary past. Abigail Renner, a Guarda officer on Attika, is determined to find the source of an extremely addictive deadly hallucinogenic drug, Hellfire. When she discovers a freighter transporting Hellfire, she tracks it in a Guarda stealth spaceship to Scenna. Hawk's and Abbie's paths cross in Scenna. The Scenna rebel leader Sarnai has only limited weaponry to fight General Basa. Hawk's plan to attack Basa must be successful and will require extraordinary teamwork and courage.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mike Waller's Hawk: Hellfire for its key characters, Hawk, Abbie, and Sarnai, and for its richly imagined setting. Hawk, Abbie, and Sarnai are driven by different motives. I liked the development of the key characters, how their life experiences influence them, their courage in fighting Basa, and how the challenges on Scenna change them. Hawk comes to terms with his mercenary past. Abbie shows herself to be extraordinarily resilient and capable of leadership beyond that of a Guarda officer. Sarnai must consider Scenna's ability to defend itself against off-world greed for its rare metal resources. I liked the involvement of Scenna's ordinary people and how Hawk builds trust and teamwork. Finally, I loved the vivid and richly imagined history of humanity's expansion from Earth into deep space, and the impact of quantum drives on interstellar expansion. Hawk:Hellfire is a terrific science fiction tale, full of action, and is thought-provoking!


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Murder, Heresy, and Other Mishaps

by D.C. Fergerson

Murder, Heresy and Other Mishaps - D.C. Fergerson - The Wicked Instruments
Editions:Kindle - Second Edition: $ 4.99

The road home has a few bumps in it.
Leanna makes her way out of exile to take back her throne. She has the plan and the determination to fight. But when Jonathan is imprisoned in a foreign city, getting back to Kingsfield may prove more difficult than she thought.

With no money and no army, Leanna may be in over her head. The life of everyone she cares about is on the line, and she must call in every favor and ally to take her city back. Can she succeed before anyone figures out the magical secrets of her manor? Will she be condemned to live life in a frozen wilderness?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Goblins, Parents, and Other Monsters

by D.C. Fergerson

Goblins, Parents and other Monsters - D.C. Fergerson - The Wicked Instruments
Editions:Kindle - Second Edition: $ 4.99

Ruling a city isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
Leanna has been governing the great city of Kingsfield for less than a year, and it’s already making her crazy. Audience Day is full of insane people making wishes, there’s a goblin infestation in town, and a ghost on the loose in the slums.

But when a new group against Leanna starts recruiting conspirators in the shadows, Leanna must decide if ruling is what she really wants. Caught between that and her estranged family demanding audience, Leanna needs to put all the pieces together. Will she separate her allies from her enemies before it’s too late?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Princess and the Holy Juggernaut

by D.C. Fergerson

The Princess and the Holy Juggernaut - D.C. Fergerson - The Wicked Instruments
Editions:Kindle - Second Edition: $ 4.99

The truth can be sharp and pointy.
Priestess Trixi is ready to reveal her god’s truth to the world, whether they like it or not. As she prepares to see her vision made real, only one thing stands in her way. A halfling that won’t die summons an ancient weapon, determined to kill the priestess.

Friends betray them. Their pasts are hunting them. Hillbillies are trying to date them. But when Leanna and Trixi need each other the most, can they come together and see the great pilgrimage through to the Magic City?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Singer and the Charlatan

by D.C. Fergerson

The bar for heroes just got lower.
Leanna Moonbody dreams of playing a concert in the Saul Amphitheater. Trixi has a vision from her god to take thousands on a pilgrimage. When a chance encounter puts them together, they realize how much they need each other.

With a lovesick noble and a deranged halfling that won't die on their tails, they'll need help. Employing a motley crew of rejects, they take off running to realize their dreams. But when they're forced to stand and fight, can they be heroes?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Unwinding Clock

by D.C. Fergerson

There is no tomorrow.
The timeline is fractured. One madman is at the center of it all. The only way to stop him is for Cole Jensen and Gemma Walker to travel across time and undo the mess he's made.

There are no do-overs. Failure means erasure from the timeline. Can they set things right?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Seventh Iteration

by D.C. Fergerson

The Seventh Interation - D.C. Fergerson - The Time Incursion
Part of the The Time Incursion Trilogy series:
Editions:Kindle: $ 4.99

Cole Jensen and Gemma Blake are trapped in a time loop that spans decades. As a plot unfolds somewhere far into their future, time travelers begin crashing into their loop.

With attacks mounting and Cole seemingly at the center of it all, will he find out the truth so many previous versions of himself have missed?

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Incursion

by D.C. Fergerson

Gulf War veteran Cole Jensen returns stateside to start life as a civilian. When he gets a visit from the Federal Bureau of Temporal Affairs, his life is turned upside-down. Fleeing from this shadow government organization throws him into the past.

His life is saved by Gemma, a mysterious woman from the future that is also a fugitive from this Bureau. On the run through time, they’ll try to piece together why they’ve been marked for erasure.

Everywhere they go and everything they touch runs the risk of incursion, bringing agents down on them. Can they find the truth before their very existence is erased from the timeline?

Published:
Genres:

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

In Shadows

by D.C. Fergerson

COMING SOON
In Shadows - D.C. Fergerson
Editions:Kindle: $ 4.99

Some nightmares don’t end when you wake up.
Jack Layton is recovering from the car crash that killed his wife. Wracked by guilt and drowning in grief, he isolates himself - until he discovers her final letter. She describes visions and creatures in the darkness that threatened to drive her mad.

Now Jack sees them, too.

Struggling to hold on to his sanity, Jack digs deeper into the wreck that shattered his life. Was their accident even an accident at all? The truth is waiting for him in the dark - if he's willing to pay the price.

What did his wife see? Why are these creatures haunting him now? What are the secrets that lie...in shadows?

Genres:

About the Author

The Master of Kung Fu and Friendship was born in the smog-wastes of New Jersey, then journeyed to a mountain in Asia. There, he learned of the power of friendship, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is Kung Fu.

He now resides in a dojo in North Carolina, where he has sired a future champion with his Mistress of Friendship. He writes of fantasy and humor, strong women and dragons.

He is the author of The Wicked Instruments series and The Dragon's Dream Saga. His biggest influences are the greats in humor - Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.