Publisher:
Dreamspinner Press
Authors:
J. Scott Coatsworth
Cover
Artist: Anne Caine
Length: 85K,
# pages
Format: eBook,
Paperback
Release
Date: 2/17/17
Pairing:
MM
Price: TBD
Genres: sci
fi, mm romance, gay sci fi
Blurb:
Jameson Havercamp,
a psych from a conservative religious colony, has come to Oberon—unique among
the Common Worlds—in search of a rare substance called pith. He’s guided
through the wilds on his quest by Xander Kinnison, a handsome, cocky wing man
with a troubled past.
Neither
knows that Oberon is facing imminent destruction. Even as the world starts to
fall apart around them, they have no idea what’s coming—or the bond that will
develop between them as they race to avert a cataclysm.
Together,
they will journey to uncover the secrets of this strange and singular world,
even as it takes them beyond the bounds of reality itself to discover what
truly binds them together.
Excerpt:
Rain hit the plas and ran downward in little rivulets,
separating and rejoining like branches of time as the
storm whipped itself into a frenzy over Oberon City.
Xander Kinnson lay on his bed, head thrown back, watching
the tempest with a laziness that belied his inner turmoil and pain. Alix had
left him and gone missing. A year had passed, and
still he had a hard time accepting that simple fact.
His dark wings with their jet-black feathers were stretched
out lazily to each side of his supine form, their tips extending past the edge
of the bed. His chest heaved slowly up and down, and he breathed easily, as if he were utterly relaxed.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Below the
surface, under the deception of skin and sinew, his heart beat at a thunderous
pace, and his mind raced for answers to Alix’s fate that slipped beyond his grasp.
The handsome trick he’d brought home rested his warm hands
on Xander’s thighs, his hot mouth engaged elsewhere. Xander smelled the deep,
masculine musk of him, slipping a hand absently through the man’s dark, tousled
hair as the rain increased to a thundering downpour
against the plas. The drops glistened, each an individual universe of
shimmering light before running quickly out of sight.
A flash of lightning illuminated the room, thunder
indicating how close it had been. As the heavy rain pounded
against the arco’s walls, Xander rode the wave of pleasure higher and higher.
Despite himself, he rose quickly toward climax, drawn up on the tide as the
trick worked his cock. Unable to stop himself, he thrust his hips almost
angrily upward into the man’s willing throat. Closer,
closer….
He reached the crest, a pleasure so intense it burned
through him like phosphorous, a white-hot fire.
Lightning
flared again across the wet, black sky, followed by thunder so close it shook
the bed. The storm had reached a fever pitch outside, and he arched his back in
the air one more time, his wings rustling beneath him. As if in concert with
the storm, Xander came, the release of his orgasm radiating from his hips along
his spinal cord and down through his toes and the tips of his wings.
The
rush of elation washed away his cares for a few brief moments. Xander
shuddered, shivered, and shuddered again, and it was over.
For
a while, he drifted in an oblivion that was blessed in its emptiness. The rain
fell in a steady beat against the window, and he forgot to wallow in his pain.
His mind floated free, with no responsibilities, nothing to worry about for
those brief moments between sex and real life. This was what he needed. This
lack of thought, this pleasurable oblivion where he could just be.
When
he opened his eyes at last, the nameless trick was staring down at him,
expectant.
“You’re
still here.”
“I
can do more, if you’d like,” the man said with a grin. Like Alix, he had no
wings—a lander man.
Xander
glared at him, annoyed. He was handsome enough, tall, dark-haired, with blue
eyes and a light complexion. Strangely, he reminded Xander of Alix. The hair
and eyes were wrong, but there was something about him, and that annoyed the
hell out of Xander, for reasons he didn’t care to examine too closely. “Get
out,” he said with a dismissive wave.
The
man frowned. “I thought—”
“Oh
right, your pay.” Xander took the man’s arm and slitted him a hundred crits
from the wrist reader embedded in his own. Then he waved the trick away. “We’re
square. Now get the fuck out of my flat.”
The
man gathered his own clothes, but Xander didn’t give him time to put them on.
Instead he hustled the trick out of the irising door, palming it closed on his
hurt and angry expression.
I really have become a bastard,
he thought, staring at his dim reflection in the shiny black door. It had been
a long year.
He
tapped the cirq in his temple with his left hand, and called out to his PA.
“Ravi, any messages for me?”
Buy Links Etc:
Dreamspinner
- eBook: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/skythane-by-j-scott-coatsworth-8154-b
Dreamspinner
- paperback: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/skythane-by-j-scott-coatsworth-8155-b
Amazon: Coming
Soon
Apple: Coming
Soon
Barnes
& Noble: Coming Soon
Kobo: Coming
Soon
Smashwords:
Coming Soon
iBooks: Coming
Soon
5 out of 5 stars
Skythane is a new science-fiction romance from author J. Scott Coatsworth. I'd hazard a guess that this is possibly the first book in a series...well at least I'm hoping it's the first book in a series because I absolutely loved this story. Skythane features some of my favorite science fiction elements and a handful of very well written lead and supporting characters. Add in a touch of romance, which helps make this my second 5 star book of the year.
Our two lead characters, Xander and Jameson, are polar opposites, or so they seem at first. Xander is a skythane, a winged resident of the planet Oberon. Xander also straddles what I'd call the gray line, he's neither good nor bad, he's all about surviving this world that's not quite friendly for someone with wings. Jameson is a psych and travels to different worlds helping others. He was raised in a conservative religious colony by conservative religious parents who expect him to follow tradition and marry a nice girl and have children.
Xander and Jameson are thrown together on this mission to find more pith and what's causing the shortage of this substance. Along their adventure, things start occurring that indicate Oberon is heading for destruction. On their journey their joined by Quince, who knows both men but doesn't share that with them for a little while, and Morgan, a feral boy who Xander stumbles on while separated from the others. Then there is Xander's attraction to Jameson, who attempts to ignore that because of his upbringing.
So from the start of Skythane we're introduced to the authors world-building and creation of a very strong back story laced with Oberon's history. The author also creates detailed images through description of the areas that the group is travelling through. Adding in action, adventure, internal and external conflict which spurs on character growth and you've got what I'd consider the best elements of a science fiction story. Of course this is all rolled into one book but all that information doesn't overload or detract from the story. Of course, I forgot to mention that there's a prophecy tucked within the story and that involves both Xander and Jameson.
While the romance is there it is almost a secondary aspect instead of the main focus of the book. I'm completely okay with that because the events occur over a short time frame of maybe a week or less. It still is enough to pull Xander and Jameson together and weave the beginnings of a fated relationship, and even left me satisfied with where their relationship lies by the end of Skythane.
I could probably go on and on about the story but I'd rather encourage you to go pick this book up and read it for yourself. There are so many things that I think you'll enjoy about Skythane that reading it is the only way to get the full effect. I highly recommend this book and hope that the author plans more within this world and even with these characters.
Three
Things to Send the Author You Love
(And Three You Shouldn't)
(And Three You Shouldn't)
J.
Scott Coatsworth
I'm a
relatively newly published author - my first short story came outin mid 2014,
and Skythane is my first full-length novel. I have yet to receive my first fan letter
in the mail, though I did have my first fanboy enounter at GRL in Kansas City
last October. I’m still walking on air over that one.
But just
in case you are thinking about going all fan crazy for me, here's a list of
things I would love to receive from my fans:
1) Fan
Art. Go wild.
Paint a picture of Xander and Jameson from Skythane, and show off Xander's
gorgeous black wings. Send me a winged bust, or a charcoal sketch of Oberon in
half phase. Let your imagination run wild. I have only one exception to this
rule—we’ll deal with that below.
2)
Anything Chocolate. This
works for almost any author, in my experience. You almost can't go wrong with
chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. But not so dark that it should only be
used for baking.
3) Your
Questions About the Book. Let
me know what you thought. Tell me what you are dying to find out in book two,
and I'll tell you you'll just have to wait and see. But it will make me feel
really good to hear that you’re interested.
On the
flip side, there are a few things you should probably never send to your new author
idol:
1) Your Scathing Criticism. Okay, so you read my book and you
fricking hated it. We have this marvelous thing called the internet now, and
you can reach out through it directly and tell me just how much you hated it.
But you
shouldn’t.
You see,
authors are people too. We writemostly for the love of it—God knows the
majority of us will never get rich at it. And we are sensitive types. Your
email, while giving you temporary satisfaction, could easily send me into a
tailspin that might take weeks to recover from. Because we want you to like our
stories, and when you don’t, it hurts.
Do you
really want to be responsible for sending me on a three week Wild Cherry Pepsi
and Oreo binge?
2) Macaroni Fan Art. Fan art is awesome. We authors
love fan art, as stated above. But macaroni fan art is almost never okay. I
don’t feel like I should have to say this, but there it is.
You know
who you are. And you know why.
3) Your Underwear/Bra/Belly Button
Lint. We love our
readers too. You guys are the people who make what we do possible. But there is
something to be said for keeping a little professional distance between us. In
some cases, an entire state.
I hope
this simple gifting guide will help the fan who really wants to reach out and
touch their favorite authors… without leaving a stain.
:)
——————
My new
novel, Skythane, is just out – and it combines my love of sci fi and secret
reveals and MM romance. I hope you enjoy it!
Author
Bio:
Scott has been
writing since elementary school, when he and won a University of Arizona
writing contest in 4th grade for his first sci fi story (with illustrations!).
He finished his first novel in his mid twenties, but after seeing it rejected
by ten publishers, he gave up on writing for a while.
Over the ensuing
years, he came back to it periodically, but it never stuck. Then one day, he
was complaining to Mark, his husband, early last year about how he had been
derailed yet again by the death of a family member, and Mark said to him
"the only one stopping you from writing is you."
Since then, Scott
has gone back to writing in a big way. He has sold more than a dozen short
stories - some new, some that he had started years before. He is currently
working on two sci fi trilogies, and also runs the Queer Sci Fi
(http://www.queerscifi.com) site, a group for readers and writers of gay sci fi,
fantasy, and paranormal fiction.
Website: http://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jscoatsworth
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