A new science-fiction novel by the author of The Light Years.
MERCURY RISING
by R. W. W. Greene
Angry Robot, May 2022
(via KT Literary)
For the past 10 years, most of the folks on Earth have believed they are at war with the planet Mercury. Because of the distances involved, it’s largely been a cold war, lots of posturing with occasional blow ups and sneak attacks. In this alt-history, humans made it into space in the late ‘40s, with lots of flash and Buck-Rogers panache, thanks to the Oppenheimer Nuclear Engine. As a result, the planet was ready, in 1967 to fend off an initial invasion force. Most of the defenders were killed, but those that returned gave evidence and the world banded together for a common defense. But, war is profitable and there is more to the story about this so-called war than anyone knows.
Brooklyn Lamontagne is an entry-level thug who got into crime to support his Ma. When he gets in trouble with the law, he is given the option of time in prison or being deployed to the moonbase, part of the Earth defense against the Mercurian Menace. The truth will out and Brook is at the center of it all.
R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire USA writer with an MA in Fine Arts, which he exorcises in dive bars and coffee shops. He is a frequent panelist at the Boskone Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Boston, and his work has been in Stupefying Stories, Daily Science Fiction, New Myths, and Jersey Devil Press, among others. Greene is a past board member of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project. He keeps bees, collects typewriters, and lives with writer/artist spouse Brenda and two cats.
When a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits California, Ruby is trapped in a laundromat with Charlie, a boy she had her first conversation with only moments before. She can’t see anything beyond the rubble that she’s trapped beneath, but she’s sure someone will come save them soon. As the hours and days tick by, Ruby and Charlie struggle to stay hopeful—and stay alive. Ruby has only Charlie’s voice and her memories to find the hope to keep holding on. Will the two make it out alive? And if they do, what will they have lost to the earthquake? Riveting, tense, and emotionally complex, AFTERSHOCKS weaves together the terror and hope of a catastrophic event while showing the ways that disasters can change and unite us.
Everyone knows Miz Poppy, the vibrant reviewer whose commentary brightens the New Orleans nightlife. But no one knows Hollyn, the real face behind the media star…or the fear that keeps her isolated. When her boss tells her she needs to add video to her blog or lose her job, she’s forced to rely on an unexpected source to help her face her fears. When aspiring actor Jasper Deares finds out the shy woman who orders coffee every day is actually Miz Poppy, he realizes he has a golden opportunity to get the media attention his acting career needs. All he has to do is help Hollyn come out of her shell…and through their growing connection, finally find her voice.