C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Legacy of Pandora (Shan Takhu Legacy: Book One) by Eric Michael Craig

by

Featured Sci-fi: Legacy of Pandora (Shan Takhu Legacy: Book One) by Eric Michael Craig

FREE as of June 8, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada (Full-price: Germany, Australia)

Apple, B&N, Kobo, GooglePlay

Stranded beyond the edge of civilization.

One crew. One secret. One shot at survival.

Commander Jephora Cochrane and the crew of the Jakob Waltz stumble upon a secret lost to time — a half-billion-year-old relic that could change humanity’s path through history.

Cut off from civilization and surrounded by uncertainty, Cochrane must lead his crew through chaos, betrayal, and shifting loyalties toward a discovery powerful enough to rewrite the past and change the future.

But with danger closing in and no one left to trust, survival is far from guaranteed. If Cochrane can’t navigate the maze of hidden agendas and keep his crew alive, humanity may never learn the truth.

Legacy of Pandora is Sci-Fi Suspense at its best. If you loved The Expanse, or The Arrival, be sure to grab yours today!

Featured Sci-fi: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

by

Featured Sci-fi: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

$1.99 as of June 8, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, Canada (Full-price: United Kingdom, Germany, Australia)

Apple, B&N, Kobo, GooglePlay

HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente’s wildly funny space opera spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic song competition…and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth.

A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.

Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species.

This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing.

Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.

Featured Fantasy: Tomb of the Queen (Jayne Thorne CIA Librarian 1) by Joss Walker

by

Featured Fantasy: Tomb of the Queen (Jayne Thorne CIA Librarian 1) by Joss Walker

FREE as of June 8, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, B&N, Kobo, GooglePlay

A librarian. A spell book. And a magical terror organization set on controlling the world.

Librarian Jayne Thorne enjoys her quiet life of tea and books. That is, until she finds a spell book in the Vanderbilt University archives that accidentally gives her access to a magical dimension.

Now she’s hunted by a magic-wielding terrorist group, and the only way for her to survive is to team up with a secret branch of the CIA. Her first mission: Go undercover at Trinity College Library in Dublin and determine if the Book of Leinster is actually a magical necromantic grimoire.

With the help of a handsome Irish kickboxer, Jayne uncovers the truth of her unexpected spell book: The Irish manuscript is one of five grimoires that can raise five dead, master magicians, and secure their totems of power. With these totems comes the power to control the world.

But the spell book isn’t the only thing with secrets in Jayne’s new life. Danger lurks in every corner and Jayne must rise to meet her fated role…or perish alongside the rest of the world.

A Discovery of Witches meets Mercy Thompson, with a splash of Indiana Jones and Gilmore Girls, in this award-winning contemporary fantasy adventure.

Featured Fantasy: Cities of Smoke & Starlight (Gate Chronicles Book 1) by Alli Earnest

by

Featured Fantasy: Cities of Smoke & Starlight (Gate Chronicles Book 1) by Alli Earnest

FREE as of June 7, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

A science fantasy series perfect for those who loved the world of Divine Rivals, wanted to soar with Jim Hawkins in Treasure Planet, and wished Rogue One had a romantic hate-to-love subplot.

Two tortured souls. One world on the brink of war.

Kase Shackley is an embittered hover pilot still reeling from the night his sister died in his arms. He’s a screw up in every sense, so when a pilot nearly dies on his watch, he faces serious charges. Seeking to clear his name, he flies a ragtag crew to a lost and dangerous land from which they might never return. If only he didn’t have to work with the infuriating bookshop girl who insulted him with Shakespeare…

Hallie Walker, top scholar at the University, is jaded by the glittering society she’d always dreamed of joining. Raised in the mountains, she fled to the city to forget her painful past. When she loses her bookshop job and the promise of school tuition, she agrees to a top-secret government mission if only for the promised substantial sum upon her return. Now if she could just ignore the ungrateful, arrogant prat of a pilot…

In a world of hoverships and crumbling First Earth artifacts, it’s up to Hallie and Kase to accomplish the impossible: secure an alliance with an elusive, mystical race to help defend against a kingdom with dangerous technology and ancient magic. If they fail, the war will be lost before it even begins.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: A World Apart Complete Series Books 1 – 4 by Robert D. Armstrong

by

Featured Sci-fi: A World Apart Books 1 - 4 by Robert D. Armstrong

99¢ as of June 7, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US (Full-price: United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia)

From USA Today bestselling author Robert D. Armstrong comes the complete series, A World Apart.
 
She crossed the stars to put the war behind her.

For veteran fighter pilot Captain Victoria Belic, the Kelton Wars on Earth were over. She had earned the callsign Lioness in humanity’s last stand against the machines. By the end, the enemy knew her name.

But victory left scars. Victoria tried to bury the Lioness with the ghosts of everyone she could not save.

Then came the chance to colonize a new world. A chance to leave the wreckage of Earth behind and help build something better. 

When Victoria woke, she was on a world she did not recognize, and her reputation had beaten her there. And now, the machines that destroyed Earth were coming for them next.

But the machines made one critical error:
They came for the last pride of humanity.
And woke its Lioness.

Featured Science Fiction: The Galactic Mage by John Daulton

by

Featured Science Fiction: The Galactic Mage by John Daulton

FREE on Most Vendors
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

Altin Meade is a sorcerer with a curse. Seeking to avoid a looming doom, he sets his magical sights on the stars—a quest that will likely bring about the very consequence he’s seeking to escape.

Far across the galaxy, Ensign Orli Pewter of planet Earth has a looming doom of her own—one of loneliness, depression and, worse, a race of genocidal aliens known as “Hostiles” seeking to destroy humanity. Trapped aboard a spaceship she never asked to be upon, Orli is in a fight for both her life and her sanity.

Worlds apart, Altin and Orli share a destiny, but neither knows the other is alive. The Hostiles know. And they have other plans.