SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club discussion

So I got tired of not finding fun military sci-fi to read, something with laughs AND meaningful action, so I took seven months of evenings and wrote one myself! I tried to mix "Starship Troopers" with "Catch-22", wondering what would happen if soldiers had extra cloned bodies to jump to after getting killed, under calloused commanders who never met a suicide mission they didn't like.

The result: "Infinity Squad: They're willing to die to free your planet from alien invaders. More than once if necessary."

Some call it the best $2.99 they've ever spent on an ebook, I call it my horribly inadequate retirement plan, and some reviewers have said it reminded them a lot of "Old Man's War", which I'm halfway through right now and finding it pretty awesome.

Only in ebook form, so I thought this group would like to know!

Thanks,
Shuvom

sounds awesome.

And now it's listed as the #60th best military sci fi of all time?
What?:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/34...

Whatever, as long as I'm always beating Battlefield Earth on that list, I'm happy.

sounds good, downloaded and will read soon

I always check reviewers other reviews and didn't find any telltale signs of the "Friends and Family" syndrome. I added it to my wish list and will certainly "Look inside" when I get some free time.

It really sounds like a cross between Old Man's War, which I absolutely loved and Battle star Glactica, where Cylons would resurrect into a new body at their death.

John,

Thanks! Everyone keeps comparing it to "Old Man's War" but what I tried to do is set Catch-22 in a Starship Troopers type world and added some Ocean's 11 for fun.

The new BSG was one of my all time faves, but the grittiness kept getting in my eyes so I made Infinity Squad a little lighter, I hope.

Hope you enjoy it!
Shuvom

Actually, it's #45 on the list now. Heading over to check it out now.

I just bought this one, looking forward to read it, thanks!

I just finished IS last night and rated it on Amazon this morning (****). Books have to be really great or written by Larry Niven to get 5 stars. Don't take that wrong tough. IS is a very solid effort which is something that I've found to be rare in the realm of self published authors. I believe that it is your first book?

It did have a Starship Troopers with a touch of Cylonism feel to it.

Did you submit this to any publishing houses before going with the self published route? I've seen much worse published.

One thing that really caught my attention were the beings that controlled the jump gate. My advice would be to step back how ever many years it was when first contact was made and work up a story on that. I can't remember the name for these creatures but there is a mystique much like the Vorlons from B5.

John,

Thanks for the honest review! 4 stars is still awesome!

It's my first published book. I firmly believe that all authors have to write 2-4 BAD books before they write their first good one. You don't want to see the stuff I have from my high school, college, and later writing years that I'll NEVER publish!

Didn't submit to any real publishing houses- do folks think I should try?

And yeah, everyone in my writer's group wants to know more about the Benefactors- but the fun for me is not telling them!

Thanks again for your time reading it!

Shuvom

I think that you're crazy if you don't submit this to try get published with a big publishing house. It is very well polished without the typos and bad grammar which will get a rejection very quickly. What's the worst that can happen? You get a rejection letter? I've got a folder of those.

The Benefactors should provide for some very good future material. I look forward to reading more about them.

Just to throw in one of my pet peeves. I see so many books out there that make references like "Book 1 of the saga". or "The Chronicles>. Authors often have ideas that extend well beyond the current story which is a necessity but I wholly believe that every book should stand on its own and the author's focus should only be on the effort at hand. When I see self published books with saga or chronicle in the title, I move pass it up.