substrate wars

Reviews, New Paperback: “Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2”

Nemo's World: The Substrate Wars 2

Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2

Now available from Amazon as a trade paperback in lavish (and kinda pricy) 6″x9″ format.

Kindle format here.

Two more reviews today:

5.0 out of 5 stars
A thrilling continuation of the Red Queen.
March 19, 2015
By M. Cunningham

Red Queen left me wanting more – especially wanting to find out if the young, idealistic rebels win out over the existing government. Nemo’s World answered my desire and more. I found it an engaging read that had plenty of action but also well-thought-out details of what might make an ideal system of governance which would grant the most freedom to the most people and really allow the human race to reach its fullest potential. We can only hope that the future will bring us young rebels as envision by the author’s wonderful tale.

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Queen on Steroids March 19, 2015
By Donald W. Campbell
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

A great sequel. Action starts right off, and doesn’t stop until the last page. Often times the sequel is a little less, and frankly, when I started this one, my thought was after all the clever ideas in Red Queen, there couldn’t be a lot left, just plot/character development…

I was wrong. This volume takes off from the ending of Red Queen, and fully fleshes out the skeleton of ideas from the first volume. You start out wondering how they could possibly make things work, and they succeed. Great expansion of both the hard science and the social science, epic struggle between Darkness and Light, and just enough teases to make you eager for the next installment.

Must read!

If you haven’t read the first in the series, Red Queen: The Substrate Wars 1, it’s best to start there.

First Review: “Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2”

Nemo's World: The Substrate Wars 2

Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2

It makes me nervous waiting for the first review, which often sets the tone for others that follow. So I’m happy to see someone stepped forward to toss me this bouquet:

5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting, Well Detailed, More than a Space Opera
March 17, 2015
By Akiva
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

The Substrate wars continue! Will Justin, Steve and Samantha’s breakthroughs succeed in leading humanity to a new age and spreading throughout the galaxy, or will Dylan and the existing government complex – a United States that takes current trends to their logical conclusions of a hyper-tech-enforced surveillance state and politically correct state where deviant opinions, even in science facts, are criminal – will they nuke our freedom and liberty minded heros and regain control? The author includes some Heinlein style cultural and political moralizing, but keeps it short enough and sufficiently within the story context to not be overbearing.

The story moves along at a nice pace, keeping me interested enough to lose some hours of sleep. The tech details are well fleshed out and detailed, which might be slightly off-putting to those without a tech or science background, but as someone who works in hi-tech I thoroughly enjoyed.. Cool that the author actually provides footnotes with references at the end of the book to explain science and tech concepts and details that are important ideals in the story. Really puts the Sci in SciFi. The story definitely is more than your average space opera.

The story reaches a solid conclusion, but then includes a few surprises…the openings for the next book. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next volume in the series.

If you haven’t read the first in the series, Red Queen: The Substrate Wars 1, it’s best to start there.

“Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2” – Now on Amazon

Nemo's World: The Substrate Wars 2

Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2

Nemo’s World: The Substrate Wars 2 is now available in Kindle format on Amazon.

In Red Queen, student rebels discovered quantum matter transmission and used it to escape US Homeland Security. Nemo’s World has them battling the governments of the Earth to dismantle the doomsday devices and police states that are suppressing freedom and endangering humanity’s future.

Marketing blurb:

In this thrilling sequel to 2014’s Red Queen, the student rebels have escaped Earth, but the US and Chinese governments continue to try to copy their discovery of quantum gateways to find them and destroy the threat they represent to security interests. The rebels hold off Earth government attacks and continue to develop the new technology, which will change life for everyone and open a million habitable planets for colonization.

Samantha and Justin are the romantic couple at the center of the rebellion, and their fellow rebels include anarchist cyber-geeks from the Grey Tribe and some of their former professors. The rebels recruit a PR specialist from London, Daniella Pink, and begin a campaign to fight the propaganda governments have used to paint them as dangerous terrorists. When the US effort to copy their technology, led by Samantha’s former boyfriend Dylan, gets too close to success, the rebels destroy his multibillion dollar secret lab carved into a Colorado mountain. The Homeland Security surveillance the rebels suffered under in Red Queen is reversed, and the US President and security agencies discover they must go to great lengths to avoid the rebel’s listening ears.

Nemo’s World continues the cat-and-mouse game with the governments of the world as young rebels learn to use the weapon that will change the world, and unlock the universe for mankind. If they live long enough to use it!

Start the Revolution

Even Dogs Have Had It (via Neal Asher)

Even Dogs Have Had It (via Neal Asher)

I went after Neal Asher hoping to get a blurb from him, but he’s not in the reading mood for excellent reasons. His Owner series is both really good and features a villainous EU superstate, which looks like an even worse version of Red Queen’s velvet-gloved tyranny.

It’s interesting to note that his depiction of a murderous future EU triggers an urge by some readers to downgrade the books on Amazon. The safe choice of setting your story in some far future with no resemblance to current politics lets those who are strongly partisan avoid seeing any of their own beliefs as responsible for the villainy, and likely increases the lifespan of the book’s sales since events are unlikely to date the book, but loses a lot in immediacy. Thrillers set in the present tend to rely on conspiracies to explain how evil can exist in supposedly democratic societies, but the really interesting question is how evil arises from those very democratic impulses under the influence of media and partisan propaganda.

One of the things I’m trying to do with Substrate Wars is show that even people who mean well and are acting morally within the framework of their societies end up enabling evil under the pressure of incentives and tribal loyalties. As a current example, we have the attempt to scapegoat CIA workers implementing (sometimes badly) “enhanced interrogation” techniques on a handful of jihadists, which is reason enough for partisans to call for war crimes trials. Meanwhile, the current administration is responsible for the deaths of perhaps 2,000 civilians in faraway places like Pakistan, which is apparently fine by those partisans. Jail and mistreatment for a few people, or death from the sky for thousands? Either both are war crimes, or neither is.