Happy
Thanksgiving everyone. Yes, I know today is an American Holiday, but
you can still make yourself a turkey sandwich and think good
thoughts. Unless you're a Canadian, they already had their
Thanksgiving, and probably just now recovering from L-tryptophan
poisoning.
In
The Vampire of Rome news, despite several delays, for which I
apologize profusely, the print version is almost ready. My proof copy
is on the way, and barring any layout issues or my suddenly insisting
on revising the slaughter of the stuffed animals scene, I expect that with-in ten days, the print
version of The Vampire of Rome will be available for purchase. Also my excellent director is busy working on the book trailer for The Witch's Lair, expect that within a month or so.
I
am working on two different books, there is a military thriller I am
just getting started on, more details to follow, and I am mentally
plotting out some key scenes on The German King's Shade, book number
five in The Inquisitor Series.
I first read NeroMancer waaay back in High School, yes I am that old,
(my Fiftieth birthday is on the 29th buy one of my books
for a birthday present, or send me a pony, or a star-ship), and like
many, many others was blow away. I have since then read many other
pale imitators, but none held the rawness, the deep concepts wrapped
around a compelling story the way Gibson's book did, until now.
I've know Geronimo Bosch for a while, I've read his books, they are sublime works of storytelling that pull me in and do not let me go until I hit the words, “The End.” I can not recommend them highly enough. If you want to see how to tell a great story, if you want to see how to explore concepts like “freedom and governance,” or “Where are the limits of power,” or “what defines someone as criminal,” if you want to read a darker version of William Gibson, then The Dominion City Blues Series is for you. You are leading a less fulfilling life if you have not read Geronimo Bosch, but I'll let him tell you himself, take it away Geronimo -
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| Fool's Sacrifice
and
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DOMINION:
A lawless city of ten million desperate souls. The State ignores the
struggles of the dispossessed, but crushes any who challenge its
rule.
G-Boy
is a delinquent graffiti artist and ace pilot working the airborne
auto theft trade who finds his life threatened when he teams up with
a slick newcomer, a girl named Spider. She's tech savvy and scopes
all the angles, but comes wrapped in a web of secrecy and bad luck.
After they lift a haul of booby-trapped vehicles and their partners
in crime are blown from the skies, they find themselves under
suspicion from their gangland boss and painted as terrorists by the
authorities who govern Dominion City.
As the net tightens around them, G-Boy is presented with a dilemma. Face punishment for his crimes or accept a fool's sacrifice by taking the hand of a mysterious stranger offering escape. But, at a price.
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| Fool's Sacrifice
and
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Excerpt:
G-Boy
made straight for the Pegasus Speedster he’d clocked on Drum’s
Palmprint, disregarding the sham scene of resistance unfolding around
him. Once inside, the PACK stick activated the controls. “Good
Morning Doctor Uberhalser, please prepare for your journey while we
await connection to the Grid.” He looked up in time to see the duo
of attendant Crazy 8’s that were monitoring the locale being taken
out by Spider; spinning wayward and fried from her Shuriken strike.
As she joined him in the vehicle: “Would all passengers please
ensure they are securely harnessed before we travel commence.”
Touching
the tiny PACK stick into manual override, the Pegasus hummed into
life, living up to its name and taking to the air, rising through the
green and orange smog of the cityscape before them. “Doctor
Uberhalser, while you are considered a priority client,” the
soothing female voice of the traffic control network emanated from
within the steering stem, “it is to be remembered that use of the
manual override facility is not advisable during this busy period of
the day.”
“Get
her to shut the fuck up.” G-Boy demanded as he gunned the Zooter
over the tower-top and down into the sprawl and hum of the rush hour
below.
Spider
went about her work, PalmTex connecting to the PACK Nav in the
Speedster itself and Central Bank remotely.
“I
give it about ninety seconds stat before we’re Buzzed for those
Crazy 8’s. Ten seconds longer and Pegasus here realises we aint
Uberhalser.” G-Boy was zipping through busy fly lanes on the Good
Doctor’s priority.
“Who
are they calling for Dummies? Like it aint personal; during rush
hour??!!?” This was Spider spitting, but without distraction.
“Hey,
we got a lucky break: A Doctor with a hot ass rocket; Priority
clearance. We might just make it - Diagnostics? Security gizmoes..?”
“It’s
top of the range. Some weird shit I aint seen before: water jettison
- override, blister bomb in roof compartment – deactivated.
Windscreen will blacken as soon as Doctor Uberhalser gets in touch,
which will be before the Buzz arrives. Well weird; unusually rapid
communications zipping around about these Wings, mang.” G-Boy
banked sharp right and dove down through three lanes of traffic. “Way
to get us noticed, soldier.” The windscreen darkened to black in an
instant and Pegasus ComsTex filled the void. “Here’s Uberhalser.”
A
shiny-faced respectabloid appeared on screen where the outside world
had been, replete with a shiny grey smock against a plain beige
background; dull, even for a recorded message. His recorded voice was
no more inspiring; “Please desist from your actions. They are
futile. You have stolen a Class Zero State Vehicle and are currently
being monitored as a Priority One Pursuit Target: Report to Central
Bank for instruction.” The image flickered and the message started
over.
G-Boy
flew through a busy junction, VekTex enabled but busting shit to
luck, he tailspun an OldsMobile into the ensuing carnage left in the
Pegasus’ wake. Ploughing through more grouped Crazy 8’s the
Speedster emerged from the raging InCity Spillway into less chaotic
routeways.
“Weird,
weird shit... No. It’s wired like a bomb. It’s basically a bomb.”
Where
a traffic stream had slowed entering an OutCity tributary, G-Boy ran
the stately rocket into the front end of the lead wagon. Grabbing the
PACK stick, he exited the Speedster, leaping onto the roof of the
jalopy he’d smashed into with thirty or more stacks of Floaters
moving between him and the ground. Reaching round through the window,
he grabbed hold of the female passenger by the hair and had almost
dragged her through the window when the door came open with her.
G-Boy now addressed the driver, “Get out now, or I drop your
fucking wife.”
Spider
aided in the transition of bodies and, once in possession of the
flying shitheap, left the terrified couple on the booby-trapped
rocket to their likely deaths.
Spider
was unimpressed: “That wasn’t the most intelligent thing I’ve
seen you do, back there. I say ‘It’s a bomb’ and you crash us
into the nearest available hunk o’ trash.
“Calculated
risk...” Replied G-Boy tersely.
“Calculated?”
She couldn’t conceal her incredulity. “We should be dead, mang.
Dead as dead is dead.”
“...And
we’re not. Things are looking up. With a little luck... those Wings
blow up... takes the heat off us.” G-Boy pitched the Skymma into a
steep descent against Grid regulations and without the Good Doctor’s
priority exemption it was a move likely to draw Buzz Cops on their
tail. “Time to see if the chute is compatible with this baby, cuz
she sure won’t be outrunning no Buzz.”
The
parachute provided by Tex threw a blanket of excessive data out to
Central Bank regarding their vehicle’s status and position on the
Grid, covering everything from code violations to machine override
functions; the recently skidjacked auto would appear simultaneously
in numerous nearby sectors and its location would require determining
prior to being isolated from the Grid. It was hoped this would
provide them with sufficient time to earth the wagon and hole up at
ground level before the Buzz arrived on the scene. Spider piggybacked
the chute onto the owner’s PACK, enabling the chute to open its
barrage of techno verbiage and re-direct attention temporarily from
them.
“Why
did that sucker not blow up in our faces,” Spider’s indignation
showed no signs of abating. “Is it on a timer? Fuel gauge
activated? Or remotely, by the Doc himself...?”
“Someone
out to kill the Doctor...?”
“No.
That’s the weird part. The bomb wasn’t rigged up or planted. It
was incorporated into the design.”
“Maybe
it’s a standard feature. I don’t make a habit of lifting State
Goonmobiles, so I wouldn’t know...” G-Boy grounded the skidjacked
flyer in as smooth a motion as the old zooter would allow and the two
emerged onto the causeway in a seedy, half-derelict, semi-industrial
MidCity sector.
Thirty
storeys above ground level, an explosion carved apart the early
morning rush hour, flaming debris cascading earthward in a domino
avalanche effect. In Spider’s wider eyes, G-Boy caught reflected
fiery pinwheels and secondary explosions. “If this is a set-up, I
only hope Drum and the others make it out alive.” Her uplifted gaze
contrasted starkly with her deflated demeanour.
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| Fool's Sacrifice
and
|
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website: GERONIMO BOSCH
twitter: @boschgeronimo |
Motivations: G-Boy, when we first meet him, is motivated by survival. The Dominion OutCity is a lawless world ruled by gang culture and he's just doing his best to get by. But, he's also using drugs to blot out the trauma of the past. Gradually, G-Boy comes to see that even the underworld, with its cosy little rackets, is in peril. His motivations change as he is introduced to the bigger picture: a strongarm State coming down hard on the largely defenceless, less privileged, inhabitants of the OutCity. G-Boy is enlisted as a member of an insurgent group, standing against the tyranny of State rule. His dilemma then becomes whether or not to trust the motives of the insurgency.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
G-Boy's initial strength resides in his reckless, devil-may-care
attitude. Needless to say, this also becomes a weakness. Later, he is
provided with a tech upgrade; a new piece of kit, a game-changer.
This, too, turns out to be a strength which is not without its
downside. In terms of other weaknesses, alongside his predilection
for narcotics, he would really benefit from being a better judge of
character.
Philosophical
Issues: Isn't life as a human being all about desire to control and
our reaction to control? Isn't the ideal of love really about meeting
someone within this framework with whom these desires and antagonisms
can find the nearest thing to equilibrium and consensus? Well that's
pretty dry and wouldn't be much of a story on its own, right? So,
G-Boy is caught up with these issues - but in a heightened reality.
And I find it more interesting to confuse who the good guys and bad
gals are. Like, is it really ethically sound to encourage someone to
endanger their life for political ends?
Offbeat,
Obscure References: No 80's references, I'm afraid. It was a cool
decade to be a kid growing up though. Real fond memories. There are,
however, plenty of song titles scattered throughout my work. Some are
from bands that would have been around in the 80's, like Devo
certainly. Look out for Captain Beefheart, Pavement, etc.
When/Why:
I started writing FOOL'S SACRIFICE in 2008, playing around with the
germ of an idea. I got serious about it and knuckled down in 2012,
figuring out how to turn it into a novel. While it is a
self-contained story, by the time I finished writing it in 2014, I
knew there was enough left to explore in a series. I've since
published three novellas looking into the backstories of characters
from the novel. As for the why: I think we're moving back into a time
of greater inequality in the 'West' and seem to think that
scapegoating the poor for the failings of neo-liberalism is a
rational way forward. I beg to differ. Add in the 'War on Terror'
plus the tech divide and you've got yourself some fertile ground for
a novelist. Some people say that Science Fiction has had its day, all
the tropes are played-out, the future caught up with us - The Future
is Now! Again, I beg to differ...
What
Next?: The next book in the DOMINION CITY BLUES series is ROGUE'S
REVENGE.Preview: ROGUE'S REVENGE follows Zee, a female operative of the insurgency, in the aftermath of events in FOOL'S SACRIFICE. The OutCity is in turmoil. All the underworld structures are breaking down. The forces of State appear to have their foot firmly on the neck of the insurgency. But the tech advantage which the insurgents possess is developing all the time. Will it be enough...?
Available:
ROGUE'S REVENGE will be available Spring 2017. I'll be releasing
extracts and running offers through the website prior to release.
There's just the small matter of a wedding to look forward to in
between. I'm pleased to say that someone is finally making an honest
man of yours truly!
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| Fool's Sacrifice
and
I
give the entire series my highest recommendation, if you like a good
meaty story to wrap your mind around, this is the series YOU MUST
read.
You
want dark, you need your tales gritty? May I suggest?
Still Free
Junior Inquisitor Book One
Soulless Monk Book Two
The Witch’s Lair Book Three
Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8
The Vampire of Rome Book Four
Amazon The Vampire of Rome
Smashwords The Vampire of Rome
Nook The Vampire of Rome
Kobo The Vampire of Rome
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