The TANGENT KNIGHTS trilogy is 65% off through December 11!

GraphicAudio is now offering the entire Tangent Knights audio novel trilogy as a single set, and from now through December 11, the entire set is available at a 65% discount! You can get 21 hours of full-cast, fully dramatized audio, the equivalent of an entire season of tokusatsu action, drama, and comedy, for only $23.09 as a download or $41.95 in MP3 CD format. That’s the entire trilogy for close to the price of a single book.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-series-set.html

Oh, and if you’ve already gotten the first one or two books, or if you want to try the first one before committing to the rest, the three volumes are also discounted individually, to $8.00 for download and 14.68 for CD.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/our-productions/series/tangent-knights.html

If you’ve been hesitant to give my audio novels a try, now’s your chance to discover how fun they can be!

TANGENT KNIGHTS 3: GEMINI ASCENDANT is out!

Today’s the day! Tangent Knights 3: Gemini Ascendant, the epic conclusion to my tokusatsu-inspired full-cast audio drama trilogy from Graphic Audio, is now on sale as a download (with MP3 CD release to follow in mid-December).

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-3-gemini-ascendant.html

At the moment, it’s exclusively available at the above link, but it will soon become available at other audiobook sites such as Audible and Google Play. I’ll update links on my Tangent Knights page when the time comes. And I’ll update the page with annotations once I get a chance to listen to it myself and add the time codes.

Meanwhile, here’s a larger version of the nifty cover art from Amelia Grace Buff, which is my favorite of the three covers (click to enlarge):

I’m really happy that the complete trilogy is finally out. Tangent Knights is my first novel-length trilogy. The three Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations novellas were written as a trilogy, as were the three Hub stories collected in Crimes of the Hub. A couple of my Star Trek novel series have run longer than three books, but they were never commissioned more than two at a time. And I intend to add a third book to the Arachne duology if I can ever find the time. But Tangent Knights is the first time I conceived a complete trilogy of full-length works, wrote them nearly back-to-back, and saw the entire thing published fairly close together (about 15 months). It’s a milestone achievement in my career.

Although, since the three audio novels run about 7 hours each, that’s comparable to a full year’s worth of 24-minute episodes of Kamen Rider or Super Sentai. So you can see it as a complete trilogy, or as a complete “season” of a tokusatsu series.

Naturally, I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to do a second Tangent Knights trilogy/”season,” and I already have a premise in mind. But whether GraphicAudio asks for more depends on how well the first trilogy sells. So if you haven’t tried out Tangent Knights already, I hope you’ll give it a shot. Even people who aren’t fans of tokusatsu will find plenty of my usual hard science fiction concepts, worldbuilding, and humor, and I feel I’ve rarely if ever written anything with such potent and compelling character drama, or such cosmic scope. I’m really proud of this series, and the folks at GraphicAudio are great to work with. So I’d really love the chance to continue expanding the Tangent Knights multiverse.

Phase in!

Announcing TANGENT KNIGHTS 3: GEMINI ASCENDANT! (Updated with cover art)

GraphicAudio has posted the blurb for the concluding volume of my original audio drama trilogy Tangent Knights.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-3-gemini-ascendant.html

In a world where communication with parallel tangent Earths, known as “realms”, has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, college-student and fangirl Corazon Kagami continues to discover astonishing new facets to the abilities she’s unexpectedly acquired in the accident that transformed her into Tangent Knight Caprice, the foremost of a growing ensemble of armored super-warriors very much like the heroes and villains of her favorite tokusatsu shows.

After a very personal betrayal, Malika Ramos, AKA Tangent Knight Gemini, finds herself captive of a powerful agency that polices the multiverse for inter-realm threats. They intend to use her as the means to lethally put down what they see as a threat disturbingly similar to the one that all but wiped out the highly advanced civilization of the Cefal. The menace at hand is Malika’s teammate Cory Kagami, Tangent Knight Caprice. And many of Cory’s comrades-in-arms have begun to suspect the danger is real.

Caprice’s ever-evolving, ever more godlike powers have triggered an intervention that will pit warrior against warrior, as Caprice refuses to turn away from a destiny that may save her tragically damaged family, or lead to horrific multi-versal catastrophe.

Gemini Ascendant will be released as a digital download on November 14, and on MP-3 CD in mid-December. I’m glad the wait for Book 3 will be so much shorter than the wait for Book 2. As you can tell from the blurb, the story escalates to a truly cosmic level this time, and the personal drama and moral and philosophical conflicts reach new heights as well. Plus, as befits a tokusatsu series, there are cool new armors with amazing new powers! I’m really proud of how it turned out, and I really hope it sells well enough that I get to do a second trilogy.

You can pre-order Gemini Ascendant at the above link, and read my non-spoiler notes on my Tangent Knights page here. Cover art and more ordering links will be updated as they become available.

TANGENT KNIGHTS 2: TEMPEST TOSSED is out today!

Today is the release date for Tangent Knights 2: Tempest Tossed, the second installment in my trilogy of full-cast audionovels set in an original science fiction universe inspired by the armored superheroes of Japanese tokusatsu TV.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-2-tempest-tossed.html

Cover art by Amelia Grace Buff

GraphicAudio’s spectacular original super-heroic series powers on to new heights of action and intrigue, available in no other format!

In a world where communication with parallel Tangent Earths has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, college-student and fangirl Corazon Kagami continues to discover astonishing new facets to the abilities she’s unexpectedly acquired in the accident that transformed her into Tangent Knight Caprice, the foremost of a growing ensemble of armored super-warriors very much like the heroes and villains of her favorite tokusatsu shows.

Earth-shattering revelations about her technology magnate mother Morgan Herrera and her cyborg security team Fireforce have put Cory on the side of Matrix, the interdimensional law enforcement agency tasked with bringing Morgan to justice. Daniel Vajra, the Tangent Knight called Tempest, is increasingly driven by his pursuit of vengeance against those responsible for his sister Meera’s death, and an astonishing confrontation with Fireforce’s powerful new warrior pushes him over the edge. Tempest’s desperate use of dangerous, largely untested cutting-edge tangent tech weaponry in his vengeful quest sends him out of control, a menace to foe and friend alike.

You can hear a sample clip or buy the book at the above link, and an MP-3 CD edition will be available in mid-July. Of course, Book 1: Caprice of Fate is still available too: https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-1-caprice-of-fate.html

Announcing TANGENT KNIGHTS 2: TEMPEST TOSSED!

GraphicAudio has posted the cover and blurb for the second installment of Tangent Knights, my original audio drama trilogy.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-2-tempest-tossed.html

Cover art by Amelia Grace Buff

GraphicAudio’s spectacular original super-heroic series powers on to new heights of action and intrigue, available in no other format!

In a world where communication with parallel Tangent Earths has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, college-student and fangirl Corazon Kagami continues to discover astonishing new facets to the abilities she’s unexpectedly acquired in the accident that transformed her into Tangent Knight Caprice, the foremost of a growing ensemble of armored super-warriors very much like the heroes and villains of her favorite tokusatsu shows.

Earth-shattering revelations about her technology magnate mother Morgan Herrera and her cyborg security team Fireforce have put Cory on the side of Matrix, the interdimensional law enforcement agency tasked with bringing Morgan to justice. Daniel Vajra, the Tangent Knight called Tempest, is increasingly driven by his pursuit of vengeance against those responsible for his sister Meera’s death, and an astonishing confrontation with Fireforce’s powerful new warrior pushes him over the edge. Tempest’s desperate use of dangerous, largely untested cutting-edge tangent tech weaponry in his vengeful quest sends him out of control, a menace to foe and friend alike.

Yes, it’s been a long wait since Caprice of Fate came out last August, but Tempest Tossed is finally almost upon us. Tokusatsu fans who enjoyed Caprice of Fate‘s homages to Kamen Rider, Super Sentai/Power Rangers, and Ultraman will find even more to enjoy in Tempest Tossed. There’s a lot more Showa Era in this one, some oddly familiar locations, and some classic tropes I had enormous fun figuring out how to pull off in Tangent Knights‘ reasonably plausible hard-SF universe. More importantly, the story and character arcs get bigger and more epic with lots of intense conflict and emotion, ramping up both the drama and the comedy along with the action and danger, in the tokusatsu tradition. This story contains some of my favorite character writing that I’ve ever done.

You can preorder now at the above link, and the book will be released in digital download format on June 27, with MP-3 CDs available in mid-July.

TANGENT KNIGHTS 1: CAPRICE OF FATE is out today!

Today’s the day! The first book in my brand-new, original audiobook series Tangent Knights is now on sale from GraphicAudio, for an introductory price of just $4.99 if you buy digital!

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-1-caprice-of-fate.html

GraphicAudio introduces a spectacular original Super-heroic Action Series available in no other format!

In the year 2046, on the artificial-island arcology of New Avalon, Corazón “Cory” Kagami is a bright but impulsive college student who follows her passions, resisting the will of her mother, Morgan Herrera, head of a tech conglomerate responsible for astonishing breakthroughs. Morgan controls Catchfire Industries, and is effectively the ruler of New Avalon through her near-monopoly of its technology and through the numerous government officials she keeps in her pocket.

In a world where communication with parallel Tangent Earths has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, Morgan promotes a strong defense against threats from within and beyond this world, developing advanced personal armor and weaponry for her cyborg peacekeeping team Fireforce.

When Cory is accidentally empowered with the most advanced armor system yet, Morgan tries to renew her bond with her daughter and train her to be a hero, a decision she may come to regret. Cory Kagami, a fan of Japanese tokusatsu action entertainment, has her own ideas about what it means to be a hero.

© & ℗ 2021 Graphic Audio, LLC. All rights reserved.

Like I said last month, Tangent Knights is my attempt to do for Japanese tokusatsu superheroes (e.g. Kamen Rider, Super Sentai/Power Rangers, and Ultraman) what I did for Western-style comic-book superheroes in Only Superhuman, capturing the colorful, fanciful fun and adventure while grounding it in plausible science and characterizations. Unlike Only Superhuman, it’s aimed at a general audience, age 13-up. I’ve had enormous fun writing it, and the folks at GraphicAudio have been great to work with.

And there’s plenty more to come! I’m currently in the middle of writing a huge, epic action sequence for Book 3, which is also the scene where the deep, shocking secret underlying all the events of the series so far is finally revealed. And I’m still only in the first half of the book!

I’ll have more to say about the creative process behind Tangent Knights later, but for now I’ll give folks a chance to hear Caprice of Fate for themselves. At only $4.99 during this introductory period, it’s a great time to get in on the ground floor!

Announcing TANGENT KNIGHTS 1: CAPRICE OF FATE!

That big super-secret project I’ve been hinting about for months has finally been announced!

GraphicAudio introduces a spectacular original Super-heroic Action Series available in no other format!

In the year 2046, on the artificial-island arcology of New Avalon, Corazón “Cory” Kagami is a bright but impulsive college student who follows her passions, resisting the will of her mother, Morgan Herrera, head of a tech conglomerate responsible for astonishing breakthroughs. Morgan controls Catchfire Industries, and is effectively the ruler of New Avalon through her near-monopoly of its technology and through the numerous government officials she keeps in her pocket.

In a world where communication with parallel Tangent Earths has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, Morgan promotes a strong defense against threats from within and beyond this world, developing advanced personal armor and weaponry for her cyborg peacekeeping team Fireforce.

When Cory is accidentally empowered with the most advanced armor system yet, Morgan tries to renew her bond with her daughter and train her to be a hero, a decision she may come to regret. Cory Kagami, a fan of Japanese tokusatsu action entertainment, has her own ideas about what it means to be a hero.

© & ℗ 2021 Graphic Audio, LLC. All rights reserved.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-1-caprice-of-fate.html

Tangent Knights is an original series which I’ve created and written for GraphicAudio — a trilogy to start, but hopefully ongoing. Like my previous GraphicAudio releases, Only Superhuman and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder, it’s a full-cast audio novel with music and sound effects. But while those were adaptations of prose novels, Tangent Knights will be available exclusively in audio form.

Tangent Knights is hard science fiction with a superhero theme, in the spirit of Only Superhuman. Aimed at a general audience (age 13-up), the series is inspired by the transforming armored heroes of Japanese live-action tokusatsu (special effects) series such as Kamen Rider, Super Sentai (the basis for Power Rangers), and Ultraman, embracing not only their distinctive approach to superhero action but their sophisticated story arcs and nuanced characterizations — yet grounding them in (relatively) plausible quantum theory and technological extrapolation, including a fresh approach to parallel-world narratives.

This project has been a life-saver for me, coming along when I was desperately in need of new work and helping to pull me out of the deep financial hole I’ve been in for the past few years. It’s also been one of the most enormously fun things I’ve ever written, as I’ve tried to capture the lively characters, wild action, zany humor, impassioned melodrama, and rich plotting of tokusatsu while keeping it grounded and plausible. It’s been enjoyable to work in a new medium, to learn how to write with sound effects and dialogue subtext cues as an alternative to narration. I’ve also been very self-indulgent, loading the books with in-jokes and homages that toku fans will hopefully recognize, as well as plenty of science fiction worldbuilding and social commentary that I hope will please fans of my previous works. I’m really proud of this one, and I hope people enjoy listening to it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

Tangent Knights 1: Caprice of Fate will be released in CD and digital formats on August 3, 2021, with more to follow. You can hear an excerpt at the link above.