Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Rogue: Assembly Will Be Released On December 14th, 2023

 

This is a repost from my main site. www.randolphlalonde.com

Like the headline says, Rogue’s first book, set in the Spinward Fringe Universe, will be out on all major ebook sellers on December 14th. A release in print will follow on Amazon shortly after. Most of the book is already available in the Ream Library if you’re subscribed at any level other than free. (Ream is like Patreon, only it’s designed for writers and their readers).

You can preorder the ebook on most of the sites linked below.

Ream Stories
Smashwords
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Overdrive
Google Play (The ebook and audiobook will release on December 14th)
Rakuten Kobo (Coming soon! Please check back after the 7th of December)
Amazon US UK AU CA DE FR ES IT NL JP BR MX IN

Now, more about the book. This was originally a way for me to tell stories about gunslingers in space. As I considered what I wanted to write about in the Spinward Fringe Universe but hadn’t yet, a very long list of things and stories along with locations and events started to form. I considered my main character, Rogue, and what might challenge her, give her a chance to succeed, fail, and grow. After that I looked back at the list and picked a few things to start with, planting my main character in New Zero, a city with as much potential as Rogue.

Before I knew it I was writing from her perspective, inviting you in using her voice and enjoying the adventure. For people new to the Spinward Fringe Universe, Rogue is a character with a pragmatic origin.

During a tricky situation Alice Valent, a soldier who was trying to save allies, created a decoy using an android. The decoy had to be perfectly convincing and powerful enough to carry out an important mission, so she was created using the most advanced technology on hand. They copied Alice’s consciousness into the machine and sent it off as part of a hostage trade.

It worked, but while the android decoy was on its mission, something awakened, adding something unique to Alice’s consciousness that could only exist in a complex machine. Rogue was born, and Alice let her leave so she could begin a life of her own.

This is where Rogue starts walking along a path that will challenge her, introduce her to new friends, locations, characters that range from the familiar to new. There’s a fair dose of comedy in this adventure too because it fit really well along with the fast paced adventure at the core of the novel. The book is shorter than regular Spinward Fringe novels (and cheaper!), because they’re written like feature films or double episodes of an hour long television series. Regardless of length, there’s a very firm beginning, middle and ending that is satisfying on its own.

I don’t actually know if this will become a series, but I plan on repeating that pattern if it does. Whether or not there are more of these will be up to you, and I’ve planned ahead just in case there’s a demand. I may write another one or two either way, because working on this was so much fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

And now for a bonus. While I was writing this short novel (it’s about 63,000 words), a friend of mine, Patrick D Emond who is a talented composer, released a fantastic track called Migration. I must have listened to it dozens of times while writing sections of this book, so give it a listen. Youtube Link