The Warbler Books

Draftshares: Young Adult Fiction

June 2, 2016 No Comments

Draftshares continues with YA novels as today’s focus. Take a look at these drafts and, as always, help out by offering feedback! Project Human: I, Robot meets Divergent meets Real Steel as a rogue android prototype joins forces with a human girl in a brewing political war. First in a YA speculative fiction/dystopian duology set in the year 2120. Sparked: What happens when mean girls get superpowers and have to save the world? The Artist and the Automaton: The fate of an automaton-inhabited utopia for artists ties to an unsuspecting, frustrated young woman and her mouthy assistant. At the same time, their tale is told to a young girl whose future ties to the story itself. Star Light, Star Bright: A falling mech. A comet. A thief wielding lightning. A team of teens with attitude. A dragon’s fury. A destiny that was never yours to have… Moving’s fun, right? The Sally Forth Intrigue: Janie’s a ghost, stuck quoting GHOSTBUSTERS, and

Draftshares: Humor, Nonfiction, Other

May 31, 2016 No Comments

For the next batch of noteworthy drafts, we turn to the humor and nonfiction genres. Take a look, and offer feedback if you can! So You Might Be a Vampire: (Humor) Nobody told Bob when he became a vampire he’d have to keep his shitty job. He’s average looking, not rich, not pale and blood is a drug, not a food. There are over 101 ways to suck at being a vampire, and Bob is living proof. Presenting Complaints: (Humor) A disastrously run NHS hospital is threatened with takeover by an amoral private health concern. Dr Tom Rysarian – shallow, selfish, and monumentally lazy – becomes embroiled in a last-ditch effort to save his place of work from privatization. Try not to fall off the Long Gray Line: An autobiography by David Howard on “[his]” progression from Plebe to graduate at West Point.” Holding Their Ground: (Romance) When no one is watching, history repeats

Draftshares: Science Fiction

May 30, 2016 No Comments

Greetings, friend of the Warbler! There’s a fun thing going on in the Inkshares community this week, wherein projects in the “draft” phase are being highlighted. I’m joining in this endeavor, and throughout the week you’ll see a few posts showcasing some of the exciting drafts on the platform. Today’s focus is Science Fiction. Part of the philosophy of Draftshares is to offer feedback on these drafts, so check out these drafts and let the authors know what you think One: I’d be remiss not to mention my own draft in the science fiction genre. A little boy in Gaza and a little girl in Sderot share a single consciousness. Military experiments, corporate greed, and religious extremism will permeate this novel. The Seventh Aspect: A compassionate alien scientist must prove humans are worthy of learning the truth about God – or be forced to exterminate us. The Cora Chronicles: Genesis:

Octavia’s Brood – Walida Imarisha & Adrienne Marie Brown

May 26, 2016 No Comments

A few weeks ago, I attended a rally in support of Bernie Sanders just north of Oakland, in Vallejo, California. At the rally, I heard a sentence that struck a deep chord within me: An idea does not have to be radical to be revolutionary. It’s a simple statement, sure, but it has legs. I imagine that, during the height of the civil rights movement, there was a portion of the American population that felt the idea of racial equality was radical. But thinking about it, were people asking for anything completely new? No. They were asking to have the rights of protection, access, and representation that already existed for a majority of Americans. I don’t mean to say that radical action wasn’t taken in the name of revolution. Rather, that the desires of the movement were not radical, though they were certainly revolutionary. I think that our current politics are

Featured Author: Elayna Mae Darcy

May 23, 2016 No Comments

Happy Monday to you, friend of the Warbler! We start of the week by featured Elayna Mae Darcy, whose book, They are the Last, is currently funding on Inkshares. I want to find a single piece of the summary to point out as awesome, but I can’t beat Elayna at her own game. Take a look at her fantastic synopsis and tell me, with a straight face, that you don’t want to read this book. You can find Elayna on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and read more about her book at theyarethelast.com. About They are the Last: Piper Anderson thinks she’s alone in the world: she is forgotten and left to lose herself at Edgemont, a juvenile detention center seeking to jolt the humanity from its children, leaving them as emotionless – but obedient – shades of their former selves. All hope seems lost. Until Kath, her godmother who mysteriously disappeared years before,

Central Station – Lavie Tidhar

May 20, 2016 No Comments

I thought it would be difficult to find a book at good as Hannu Rajaniemi’s Collected Fiction this year, but Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station, also published by Tachyon, has overtaken it for the top spot in my list this year. By a tiny margin. For me, Central Station was more than a good—or even great—book. It was an important book, for several reasons. The first is that it is some advanced science fiction that breaks through a number of barriers in the genre, which I’ll dig into below. The second is that it was written by an Israeli author and takes place in Tel Aviv. Representation in speculative fiction has been a hot topic for the last few years, and I’ve been rather appalled by the backlash in some areas of the community at the idea of diversity in sci-fi and fantasy. I love reading fiction precisely because of the extraordinary opportunity

Featured Author: Amanda Orneck

May 19, 2016 No Comments

Amanda Orneck, author of Deus Hex Machina, is stopping by The Warbler today to talk about her book and its recent induction into the Sword and Laser collection. You can follow Amanda on Twitter and Facebook, and read more about Deus Hex Machina at deushexmachina.com. About Deus Hex Machina: Deus Hex Machina is the story of Isidore RAM, a hacker working as a Sister of the Circuit for the Church of Technology. She is what is known as a hexer. One night during her rounds in the virtual world known as the Grid, the code mysteriously changes around her, sparking a mystery that leads her from the digital landscape into a dystopic cyberpunk Orange County. Isidore is forced headlong into a world of intrigue that results from the death of her mentor and the search for something called “Artifacts”. Along the way she befriends a mech gang leader more interested in selling the artifacts Isidore is looking

Featured Author: Matthew Gladwin

May 13, 2016 No Comments

Two featured authors in one day?! What is this madness? Well, this one is a competitor in the Inkshares / Geek & Sundry contest, which ends in three days. So, here’s Matthew Gladwin’s Amalgamated Memoirs of a Future Imperfect, which I hope piques your interest as much as it does mine. About Amalgamated Memoirs of a Future Imperfect: When our first encounter with extraterrestrial life finally occurs, and nothing goes according to plan, how can we possibly know what the repercussions will be? Reporter Lillian Chuang has a front row seat, but even she has no idea what to expect next. But as the reader will soon discover she is not alone, as NCO Paul Steiner, branch manager Rojer Hendrix, hunter band-leader Yuri, retired general Administrator Yan and Empress Joyce Regina Delecoix continue to deal with the effects of first contact thousands of years after they come to pass. Laced with critiques

Featured Author: Jonathan Dital

May 13, 2016 1 Comment

Today’s featured author, Jonathan Dital, is another author originally from Israel on Inkshares, something that makes me exceedingly happy to see. His book, And the Wolf Shall Dwell, sounds like an excellent and action-packed spy novel. Go ahead and check it out on Inkshares! About And the Wolf Shall Dwell: John is a regular Joe, a foreigner working in the city of London, like many others. On a cold London morning, in a train station, a man bumps into him and later finds his death. This incident thrusts him into a world of espionage, politics and Jihadi terrorism, and sets him in an adventure which he did not choose. A spy thriller as such, the novel is more than just action, but also a dive into the world of International Politics. Aiding a retired MI6 agent, Adam Grey, John finds himself unraveling a political scheme that ranges out of the scope of his

Featured Author: Evan Graham

May 10, 2016 No Comments

Hello, friend of the written word. Today, The Warbler features Evan Graham, whose book, Tantalus Depths, is an entrant in the Inkshares / Geek & Sundry contest, which is set to wrap up at the end of this week. This book sounds like a video game I want to play. Go ahead and check it out, as well as some of the other entrants Evan listed below. About Tantalus Depths: Mary Ketch and the crew of The Diamelen signed on to a simple survey mission to the distant planet Tantalus 13. The trip was little more than a formality; a government-mandated check-in to ensure that the artificially intelligent, self-constructing SCARAB base was functioning correctly as it lay the foundation to a new mining colony. What they found was much less mundane. Mysteries abound on Tantalus. The mining base SCARAB is building looks like a luxury hotel. A solid sheet of pure platinum

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