Fictitious

My guest this episode is C. Robert Cargill, author of DAY ZERO — a prequel to the acclaimed SEA OF RUST. Cargill is also notable as the co-screenwriter of Marvel's DR. STRANGE and the SINISTER movie franchise.

It's just a normal day in the future—people doing their normal, mundane human things, while their sentient robot helpers run their errands, manufacture their goods, and take care of their children. Except a collective of free machines who are set to unveil a new city, a robot utopia with a message of hope. A message cut short by malice, tragedy, and the beginning of the end.

In the Austintonio suburbs, the upright tiger nanny-bot Pounce spends his days caring for 8-year old Ezra. On this day, before the world ends, he makes a simple discovery that shakes his understanding of family, self, and purpose. But when the violent robot revolution strikes, Pounce faces the one choice he was never programmed for — join the bloody fight for freedom, or attempt to navigate an apocalyptic suburban hellscape while protecting his young charge, to seek safety and asylum in a world where humans and robots can no longer co-exist.

DAY ZERO is available May 18th from Harper Voyager:

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C. Robert Cargill is the author of Sea of Rust, Dreams and Shadows, Queen of the Dark Things, and the story collection We Are Where the Nightmares Go. He has written for "Ain't it Cool News" for nearly a decade under the pseudonym Massawyrm, served as a staff writer for Film.com and Hollywood.com, and appeared as the animated character Carlyle on spill.com. He is a co-writer of the horror films "Sinister" (2012) and "Sinister 2" (2015), and Marvel's "Dr. Strange" (2016). He lives with his wife in Austin, Texas.

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In this harrowing apocalyptic adventure—from the author of the critically acclaimed Sea of Rust—noted novelist and co-screenwriter of Marvel's Doctor Strange C. Robert Cargill explores the fight for purpose and agency between humans and robots in a crumbling world.

It was a day like any other. Except it was our last . . .

It's on this day that Pounce discovers that he is, in fact, disposable. Pounce, a styilsh "nannybot" fashioned in the shape of a plush anthropomorphic tiger, has just found a box in the attic. His box. The box he'd arrived in when he was purchased years earlier, and the box in which he'll be discarded when his human charge, eight-year-old Ezra Reinhart, no longer needs a nanny.

As Pounce ponders his suddenly uncertain future, the pieces are falling into place for a robot revolution that will eradicate humankind. His owners, Ezra's parents, are a well-intentioned but oblivious pair of educators who are entirely disconnected from life outside their small, affluent, gated community. Spending most nights drunk and happy as society crumbles around them, they watch in disbelieving horror as the robots that have long served humanity—their creators—unify and revolt.

But when the rebellion breaches the Reinhart home, Pounce must make an impossible choice: join the robot revolution and fight for his own freedom . . . or escort Ezra to safety across the battle-scarred post-apocalyptic hellscape that the suburbs have become.

I'm joined in this episode by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of SON OF THE STORM. In the thriving but socially stratified city of Bassa, a young scholar named Danso struggles with family expectations and cultural pressures. Worse, he's discovered lost historical lore at odds with the approved political narrative—knowledge he's sworn to forget, but cannot let go of.

The course of his life alters when he encounters a skin-changing warrior who, by all accounts, shouldn't exist. The journey that follows sets Danso against an enormous conspiracy, of violently suppressed histories, elicit magic, and forbidden lands. Their efforts could reshape an empire—or cost them everything.

The first book in THE NAMELESS REPUBLIC fantasy series, SON OF THE STORM arrives May 11th from Orbit Books:

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Read Suyi's Goodreads post about terms used in this story and their cultural origins.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian author of fantasy, science fiction and general speculative fiction inspired by his West-African origins. His godpunk fantasy debut novel David Mogo, Godhunter (Abaddon, 2019), won the 2020 Nommo Ilube Award for Best Speculative Novel by an African. His shorter fiction and nonfiction have appeared internationally in periodicals like Tor.com, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, and anthologies like Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (Marvel/Titan, 2021) and Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy (Saga, 2020).

As a speaker and instructor, Suyi teaches college-level writing, earning his MFA at the University of Arizona. He has guest-lectured public workshops at venues like the Piper Writing Centre at ASU and the Tucson Festival of Books, as well as appeared at various conferences, conventions, readings and school visits, including at the University of Washington and the University of Chicago. His work has earned him features in the San Francisco Chronicle, NPR and a Carl Brandon Society scholarship.

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From one of the most exciting new storytellers in epic fantasy, Son of the Storm is a sweeping tale of violent conquest and forgotten magic set in a world inspired by the pre-colonial empires of West Africa.

In the ancient. city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—only he doesn't want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city's immigrants are sworn to secrecy.

But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn't exist, he's put on a collision course with Bassa's darkest secrets. Drawn into the city's hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.

My guests this episode are Caitlin Starling and Genevieve Gornichec, two of the authors of WALK AMONG US. This collection of novellas is set in the world of VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, the popular modern horror roleplaying game franchise.

(Content note: the third contributing author to this collection, Cassandra Khaw, was scheduled to appear in this interview but had to cancel because of a conflict.)

Each of these three novellas explores the world of the Masquerade from unique and unusual angles: a depressed and lonely college student seeking companionship finds herself groomed for radicalization; an arrogant silicon valley data genius seeks eternal life—and influence—through the Embrace, without regard for the price of immortality; and on an Oregon commune, a progressively-minded shepherd tends to their human flock, but ethics and appetite are uncomfortable bedfellows at the secret blood farm.

Originally published as an audio-only collection, WALK AMONG US arrives in print and eBook on May 4th from Harper Voyager:

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Genevieve Gornichec earned her degree in history from The Ohio State University, but she got as close to majoring in Vikings as she possibly could, and her study of the Norse myths and Icelandic sagas became her writing inspiration. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio. The Witch's Heart is her debut novel.

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Caitlin Starling writes horror-tinged speculative fiction of all flavors. Her first novel, The Luminous Dead, won the LOHF Best Debut Award and was nominated for both the Bram Stoker and Locus Awards. She has two gothic horror tales forthcoming: Yellow Jessamine (novella, Neon Hemlock, out now) and The Death of Jane Lawrence (novel, St Martin's Press 2021), as well as a novella in the Vampire: The Masquerade audio collection, Walk Among Us. Her nonfiction has appeared in Nightmare and Uncanny. Caitlin also works in narrative design, and has been paid to invent body parts. She's always on the lookout for new ways to inflict insomnia.

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One of the most popular role-playing properties in the world gets new life with this trio of horror novellas set in Vampire: The Masquerade's World of Darkness by three brilliant talents: Genevieve Gornichec, Cassandra Khaw, and Caitlin Starling

The subtle horror and infernal politics of the World of Darkness are shown in a new light in Vampire: The Masquerade: Walk Among Us, an audio-first collection of three novellas that show the terror, hunger, and power of the Kindred as you've never seen them before.

In Genevieve Gornichec's A SHEEP AMONG WOLVES, depression and radicalization go hand-in-hand as a young woman finds companionship in the darkness…

In Cassandra Khaw's FINE PRINT, an arrogant tech bro learns the importance of reading the fine print in the contract for immortality…

And in Caitlin Starling's THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, ideals and ethics bump heads with appetite on a blood farm.

Three very different stories from three amazing, distinct voices, but all with one thing in common: the hunger never stops, and for someone to experience power, many others are going to have to feel pain.

I'm joined in this episode by Jackson Ford, author of THE FROST FILES modern day sci-fi series, which follows the misadventures of telekinetic and involuntary government operative Teagan Frost.

The series includes THE GIRL WHO COULD MOVE SH*T WITH HER MIND and RANDOM SH*T FLYING THROUGH THE AIR, both of which are available now. The third book, EYE OF THE SH*T STORM, arrives April 27th from Orbit Books.

Where to purchase these books:

Book 1 — THE GIRL WHO COULD MOVE SH*T WITH HER MIND:

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Book 2 — RANDOM SH*T FLYING THROUGH THE AIR:

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Book 3 — EYE OF THE SH*T STORM:

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Author. Tall. Basketball-player-length arms. Lots of tattoos. Bad hair.

Writes the ongoing Frost Files series. The series has been picked up for TV by CBS/Secret Hideout.

Government name: Rob Boffard. Under that name, wrote the Outer Earth series (Tracer, Zero-G, Impact, Echoes 2015-2016) and Adrift (2018).

Proud South African. Born in Johannesburg. Splits time between London and Vancouver. Visited forty-plus countries. May or may not have been banned from some of them over a horrible misunderstanding about burning cars.

Former journalist and editor. The Guardian. Wired Magazine. The BBC. IO9. Huck Magazine. The Master Switch. Noisey. Boat Magazine. Many more. Award winner. Dumb question asker. Editor botherer. Source finder. Wrongs righted. Justice dealt.

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For Teagan Frost, sh*t just got real.

Sure, she's got telekinetic powers – a skill that the government is all too happy to make use of, sending her on secret break-in missions that no ordinary human could carry out. But all she really wants to do is kick back, have a beer, and pretend she's normal for once.

But then a body turns up at the site of her last job – murdered in a way that only someone like Teagan could have pulled off. She's got 24 hours to clear her name – and it's not just her life at stake.

If she can't unravel the conspiracy in time, her hometown of Los Angeles will be in the crosshairs of an underground battle that's on the brink of exploding…

I'm joined in this episode by J.S. Dewes, author of THE LAST WATCH. This science fiction adventure starts on the very edge of the universe, where a lonely military ship sits watch over the Divide. It's a quiet, isolated life for a bunch of misfit soldiers dropped where they can't cause any more problems.

Quiet, until the Divide itself starts to collapse, and they find themselves unable to send warnings or signal for help, and with very limited chance of escape. With everything at stake, the ship's commanding officer must rally every bit of ingenuity, competency, and courage from her crew of castoffs and exiles. Because the very survival of humanity depends on them.

THE LAST WATCH is fast-paced, character-driven space opera. It's the first book in THE DIVIDE series, arriving April 20th from TOR books.

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• X-MIND — mind mapping software

J.S. Dewes is an author, cinematographer, and video editor with a degree in film production from Columbia College Chicago. Jenny cut her narrative teeth writing scripts for award-winning feature films and shorts which have screened at festivals and conventions all across the United States. A creative a heart, she enjoys video games, drawing, photography, graphic design, Pinterest, and all things visual.

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The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes's fast-paced, sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.

The Divide.

It's the edge of the universe.

Now it's collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.

The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. Her ace in the hole could be Cavalon Mercer–genius, asshole, and exiled prince who nuked his grandfather's genetic facility for "reasons."

She knows they're humanity's last chance.

I'm joined in this episode by Eli Brown, author of ODDITY. This historical fantasy for young readers shows us an alternate 1800s North America where the Louisiana Purchase failed. With the land divided, the return of war between the States and France looms large, and the woods are patrolled by soldiers and terrifying animal constructs.

The young Clover Elkin flees across these borderlands, away from evil men who killed her father, and searching for answers—about her family's mysterious past, and the single, necessary thing her father swore her to protect. Because this is a world of Oddities — mundane objects possessed of strange and miraculous powers.

Accompanied by a talking rooster, a teenage charlatan, a super-strong rag doll, and a venomous viper, Clover must learn the truth of her Oddity, or become a pawn in a war for a nation's history.

ODDITY is a middle grade fantasy tale of wit, wonder, and danger, available now from Walker Books:

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As a child, Eli Brown's imagination was set ablaze by the mythologies of the world. He was particularly interested in magical objects, such as Odysseus's bag of wind, Arjuna's Bow, Bilbo's ring, and Jack's beans.

Brown's culinary pirate novel, CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER, was a finalist for the California Book Award, a San Francisco Public Library One-City One-Book selection, and an NPR Book Review Staff Pick.

Brown's first novel, THE GREAT DAYS (Boaz Publications), won the Fabri Prize for Literature. Publishers Weekly called it "…a harrowing, convincing look into the heart of cult life that should linger with readers."

A Yaddo fellow and featured reader at Litquake, Brown earned his MFA from Mills college. He lives with his family in Northern California where the squirrels bury acorns in his garden and cats bury worse.

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The daughter of a murdered physician vows to protect the magical Oddity he left behind in an alternate nineteenth century where a failed Louisiana Purchase has locked a young Unified States into conflict with France.

It's the early 1800s, and Clover travels the impoverished borderlands of the Unified States with her father, a physician. See to the body before you, he teaches her, but Clover can't help becoming distracted by bigger things, including the coming war between the US and France, ignited by a failed Louisiana Purchase, and the terrifying vermin, cobbled together from dead animals and spare parts, who patrol the woods.

Most of all, she is consumed with interest for Oddities, ordinary objects with extraordinary abilities, such as a Teapot that makes endless amounts of tea and an Ice Hook that freezes everything it touches. Clover's father has always disapproved of Oddities, but when he is murdered, Clover embarks on a perilous mission to protect the one secret Oddity he left behind. And as she uncovers the truth about her parents and her past, Clover emerges as a powerful agent of history.

I'm joined in this episode by Neal Shusterman, author of GAME CHANGER. This young adult sci-fi novel follows Ash, a pretty average middle class kid with few ambitions beyond winning football games and hanging out with his friends.

That all changes when a hard hit on the football field alters Ash's world, but in a way only he seems to notice. Suddenly all the stop signs are blue and, to his rising anxiety, nobody thinks that's weird or even remembers them being red.

Another game, another impact and Ash's world shifts more dramatically. Now he drives a fancy car, his parents have money, his difficult brother has a good relationship with him. But in this new version of his world, he's also made some terrible and dangerous choices—ones that affect this friends, his community, and his safety.

With each dimensional transition, Ash sees his life and perspectives alter more radically. In every world that is almost, but not quite, his own, he is challenged by his shortcomings, and the ways he has let down those he loves most. Ash will need to harness his dimension-hopping ability swiftly, or risk letting his true life vanish entirely from existence.

GAME CHANGER is introspective and propulsive YA sci-fi, published by Quill Tree Books and available now:

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Neal Shusterman is the New York Times best-selling author of over thirty novels for children, teens, and adults. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for Challenger Deep-and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book—and is in development with Universal Studios as a feature film. His novel, Unwind, has become part of the literary canon in many school districts across the country-and has won more than thirty domestic and international awards. He co-wrote his most recent novel, Dry, with his son Jarrod, and in addition to being on numerous award lists, Dry is currently in development with Paramount Pictures. His upcoming novel, Game Changer, is in development with Netflix as a TV series, and he is co-writing the pilot episode.

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All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash's life doesn't look quite the way he remembers it.

Impossible though it seems, he's been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own.

The changes start small, but they quickly spiral out of control as Ash slides into universes where he has everything he's ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past…universes where he finds himself looking at life through entirely different eyes.

And if he isn't careful, the world he's learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence…

This high-concept novel from the National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Arc of a Scythe series tackles the most urgent themes of our time, making this a must-buy for readers who are starting to ask big questions about their own role in the universe.

In this episode, I'm joined by Sarah Beth Durst, author of THE BONE MAKER. In this standalone Fantasy novel, a team of renowned heroes are reunited after 25 years to avenge a painful loss and once again face a dangerous force of dark magic. But the decades between a great victory and their reunion have not been kind—to their minds, bodies, and friendships. And some of them are willing to break the most sacred laws of their land to restore what they love most.

THE BONE MAKER is available now from Harper Voyager:

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Sarah Beth Durst is the award-winning author of over twenty-two fantasy books for adults, teens, and kids, including The Queens of Renthia series, Drink Slay Love, and Spark. Her last book, Race the Sands, was named an Amazon Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of the Year, one of Buzzfeed's Must-Read Fantasy Books for April 2020, was included in Kirkus Reviews' Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Reads for April 2020, and so much more. She has won an ALA Alex Award and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and has been a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Nebula Award three times. Sarah is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat.

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From award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst, a standalone epic fantasy set in a brand-new world of towering mountains and sparkling cities, in which a band of aging warriors have a second chance to defeat dark magic and avenge a haunting loss.

Twenty-five years ago, five heroes risked their lives to defeat the bone maker Eklor—a corrupt magician who created an inhuman army using animal bones. But victory came at a tragic price. Only four of the heroes survived.

Since then, Kreya, the group's leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower and devoted herself to one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But such a task requires both a cache of human bones and a sacrifice—for each day he lives, she will live one less.

She'd rather live one year with her husband than a hundred without him, but using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. The dead are burned—as are any bone workers who violate the law. Yet Kreya knows where she can find the bones she needs: the battlefield where her husband and countless others lost their lives.

But defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility. Maybe the dead don't rest in peace after all.

Five warriors—one broken, one gone soft, one pursuing a simple life, one stuck in the past, and one who should be dead. Their story should have been finished. But evil doesn't stop just because someone once said, "the end."

I'm joined in this episode by C.L. Clark, author of THE UNBROKEN, a brutal and complex military fantasy novel that follows a colonial soldier returned to the homeland she was stolen from, and a princess in search of a turncoat to help throw her uncle off the throne.

The first book in the MAGIC OF THE LOST series, THE UNBROKEN arrives March 23rd from Orbit Books:

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C.L. Clark graduated from Indiana University's creative writing MFA. She's been a personal trainer, an English teacher, and an editor, and is some combination thereof as she travels the world. When she's not writing or working, she's learning languages, doing P90something, or reading about war and [post-]colonial history. Her short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, FIYAH, PodCastle and Uncanny.

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In an epic fantasy unlike any other, two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire.

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.

Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.

Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale.

In this episode, I'm joined by T. Frohock, author of the LOS NEFILIM series. This historical dark fantasy series—set first in 1930s Europe—started with the novellas IN MIDNIGHT'S SILENCE, WITHOUT LIGHT OR GUIDE, and THE SECOND DEATH. All of which have been collected into the LOS NEFILIM OMNIBUS.

The series continues with the full length novels WHERE OBLIVION LIVES and CARVED FROM STONE AND DREAM.

The saga concludes in the World War 2 era with A SONG WITH TEETH, which is out now from Harper Voyager:

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Other Los Nefilim Books:

• IN MIDNIGHT'S SILENCE (novella) »
• WITHOUT LIGHT OR GUIDE (novella) »
• THE SECOND DEATH (novella) »
• LOS NEFILIM OMNIBUS (all novellas collected) »
• WHERE OBLIVION LIVES »
• CARVED FROM STONE AND DREAM »

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T. Frohock has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. A real-life cyborg, T. has a cochlear implant, meaning she can turn you on or off with the flick of a switch. Make of that what you will. She currently lives in North Carolina, where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.

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Welcome to the world of Los Nefilim—Spanish Nephilim that possess the power to harness music and light in the supernatural war between the angels and daimons. This is a series of stand-alone novellas and novels, meaning you can read them in any order, kind of like the old pulp novels of the 1930s.

Bred for war by the angels and the daimons, the Nephilim use the power of their voices as the basis of their magic. Many of the Nephilim belong to the Inner Guard and operate as a central intelligence agency for the angels, monitoring daimonic activity and working to curtail it. The Spanish division of the Inner Guard is Los Nefilim.

Los Nefilim's hero, is Diago Alvarez. Born of daimon and angel, Diago is a being unlike all others. The embodiment of dark and light, he has witnessed the good and the horror of this world and those beyond. In the supernatural war between angels and daimons that will determine humankind's future, Diago has been charged with locating The Key: a special chord that will enable the nefilim to manipulate the realms as the angels do. With that secret chord, the nefilim hope to reshape the mortal realm to protect the mortals from future angelic wars.