The internet isn’t entirely kitten photos, Facebook spying, and “journalists” projecting politics though their navel lint. There are damn good writers using the ‘net to sell books. Their stories evade the big publisher’s tragic myopia and deliver awesome to long ignored throngs of readers. It behooves us to buy their stuff. Otherwise they’ll quit writing and become bums or real estate agents; even worse, we’d have to go back to reading whatever dross is pushed by the marketing droids in the big publishing houses (self help vegan cookbooks and sparkly vampires?).
I applaud independent writers’ accomplishments and endlessly appreciate that the universe of e-books gave them the freedom to write for the sheer joy of it. To a certain extent I’m guilty of it too. I love annoying people with my serial involving disco wielding squirrels. I’m sure every word makes an English Professor somewhere weep on his tweed jacket. The world needs satire, irreverence, and a little spark of enthusiasm. (No, the need didn’t go away just because Mark Twain made a living in 1885.)
So here’s a list of folks with writing skillz I’ve personally noted. Please support them by buying their books.
Note: Most of today’s choices are appropriate for a summer’s weekend and appeal to a lowbrow libertarian like me. Not every book has to be Dante’s Inferno and require footnotes. It’s nearly June so set down your priceless illuminated manuscript (which is meant for January) and enjoy a couple of “beach books”:
The Grey Man Series.
This is on my summer reading list.
I haven’t read them yet. Also they’re more likely to be serious Westerns than the satirical bullshit listed below. But how can I pass up a sale like that? Incidentally OldNFO’s Blog was on my links but vanished. I have no idea why. I’ll rectify that shortly.
The Wrongthink Sci-Fi Giveaway. (This was the deal of the century!)
The bad news is I got all these sweet sweet books for free but didn’t post it to my blog in time. The good news is they’re not that expensive. I’d already bought half of them full price anyway and you should too. Where else are you gonna’ get that much entertainment for less than the price of a pizza?
One of the “Wrongthink” authors is Robert Kroese. I’d already discovered him when I read (and bought full price… I love ya’ man!) his three book fantasy series: Dis. My favorite, and the first one I read, was Dis-enchanted:
Read it!
The new series I discovered through his devious Wrongthink marketing (and have since purchased) was the Starship Grifters series. This is the space saga of the pathologically humorous risk taker Rex Nihlo and his overworked robot Sasha who tries to keep them alive.
Read it!
The series has the flavor of Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and who wouldn’t love that? Incidentally, the naming of a parrot in Kroese’s Aye Robot had me laughing my ass off. Well done sir!
Read it!
Another “Wrongthinker” who’d I’d already read at length is Michael Z Williamson and his Freehold Series. Less humor but more shit getting blown up. Perfect summer reading.
Read it!
Honorable mention for kids:
If you have a kid that is soon to be released from the meat-grinder that is public school, I recommend the two book series Memory Boy by Will Weaver. It’s not humorous but it’s a perfect kid’s post apocalyptic story. It was well received by adults and kids alike at the Curmudgeon Compound. Get your kid some books with a little survivalist flavor before schools turn them into snowflakes.
Honorable Mention For Post Apocalyptic Football:
For post apocalyptic libertarian satire you might want Trulbert!: A Comic Novella About the End of the World As We Know It by Mitch Berg.
Don’t let the serious looking book cover fool you, it’s pure joy on every page. Berg covers the collapse, the market price of rabbit skins for buying cappuccino, and the inevitable Presbyterian uprising. Things really get out of hand when the Vikings square off against the Packers in response to their historic atrocities and it looks like Minneapolis may be destroyed (hint: the beer supply is crucial).
None of these have squirrels… but other than that, they’re great escapist books.