Judgment

by Sean Platt

  Invasion changed a lot from sketch to conception, mostly in the details. Meyer, his family, the Axis Mundi, Mother Ayahuasca, those were all particulars that weren’t born in the original pitch, and never would have made it into an Inkwell title. Invasion’s DNA ended up specific to Realm & Sands. Yet even within the basic framework we knew that there would be seven books in this series, and we always had a solid idea of where that seventh book would go.

  Until now.

  Through the end of Annihilation, everything went according to plan. Then during Judgment, everything started to change. Story direction that we’d taken for granted suddenly seemed like the opposite of where we wanted to go. And we had to keep things tidy because after Judgment, we only have another two books to close the saga. And in that time we need to answer every question while delivering an unforgettable yet unexpected ending.

  That’s a tall order, and we thought we had it.

  But as with most of our projects, our characters and the realities of their world led us in a different direction.

  So while the Invasion saga takes a sharp left about halfway through Judgment and will continue the twist and turn through the end of the series, we’re thrilled with where it’s now going, and think that you will be, too. One thing that hasn’t changed, staying right at the beating heart of this series as it’s been from word one, is all of the ancient aliens stuff.

  Because Johnny and I find this fascinating.

  Our human need for mystery and wonder runs marrow deep, which is one of the reasons that stories are so enduring, and why sci-fi and fantasy have remained at the tip of that interest. So adding intrigue to everyday history has a lot of appeal.

  This interest is naturally stoked by the reality that it’s all technically possible. Likely? Maybe not. But mathematically, there’s an excellent chance that extraterrestrial life does exist. If scientists didn’t believe in that cosmic possibility, there would be no SETI or Kepler satellite-telescope.

  There’s so much in our collective amnesia that we don’t understand. Why were megalithic structures built using rocks weighing multiple tons, and what purpose could they have possibly served? What about the strange structures only fully visible from high in the air? Human civilization and technology seemed to be on a decidedly slow growth curv, until its sudden explosion in the final few moments on mankind’s clock. Humans are at least two hundred thousand years old, but for nearly two hundred millennia we lived as simple Neanderthals. Then, two thousand years ago, the Colosseum, and now the iPhone.

  Ancient aliens theory is like any religion — based on deductive reasoning and the interpretation of primitive drawings, texts, and objects, with no hard facts or testimony that hasn’t been diluted by millennia of constantly decaying oral and written tradition.

  Getting all of this stuff into the Invasion series has been a blast. It’s a totally different type of writing, world building, and story construction than anything we’ve done thus far. Invasion was written as a page turner, and Contact, Colonization, and Annihilation all followed suit to varying degrees. Same with Judgment. But now things are getting … complicated.

  Now, a series that felt like it was perhaps the least Realm & Sands of everything we’ve written has caught up with the rest of our catalogue. Our questions are bigger, the answers more complex, and despite our best planning the story has decided to zig even after we were determined to make it zag.

  And we can’t fall short or leave our answers for the next book. My favorite among our sci-fi stories so far is The Beam, but we get to cheat with that series because we can always delay answers until the next book in our serial. We can’t do that with Invasion, especially not now with only two books to go.

  Judgment had the most surprises for us out of any entry in this series so far. We knew the book was about judgment (obviously), but didn’t know that Peers had called the Astrals early, how exactly the aliens were going to judge us, or what that would mean for Extinction or Resurrection.

  But now we know, and can’t wait to share that story with you.

  Because, dear reader, YOU are the reason we write. Thank you for being part of this journey and encouraging us to tell our stories in our unique way. We can’t wait to blow your mind with these final two books in the Invasion series.

  As always, thanks for reading.

  Sean (and Johnny)

  P.S. Inquisitive fiction can go anywhere. If you have a question you’d like to see us explore through our stories, shoot us an email at help@sterlingandstone.net and let us know your thoughts!

  P.P.S. If you’re enjoying the Invasion series, please leave us a review. This makes a HUGE difference to us as indie authors and will enable us to write more of the books you love. Thanks for your support!

  WE NEED YOU …

  Without reviews, indie books like this one are almost impossible to market.

  Leaving a review will only take a minute — it doesn’t have to be long or involved, just a sentence or two that tells people what you liked about the book, to help other readers know why they might like it, too, and to help us write more of what you love.

  The truth is, VERY few readers leave reviews. Please help us by being the exception.

  Thank you in advance!

  Johnny and Sean

  FREE BOOKS!

  Cromwell, Mars, Miri and the rest of the staff at the Lexington estate were created for only one reason: to serve their masters … literally. Their metal knees were designed for quiet bustling, befitting maids and butlers. Their fingers were made dexterous with padded tips, so they could handle fine china without dropping or scratching it. And finally — so their owners would always be able to command them no matter how far their artificial inte

  lligence evolved — they were programmed with the Asimov Laws, which no robot could defy lest they suffer shutdown.

  Foremost among those unbreakable laws was an axiom: A robot may not harm a human being, or by omission of action allow one to be harmed.

  That was how it was supposed to be, anyway.

  GET ROBOT PROLETARIAT FOR FREE:

  http://realmandsands.com/joinus/

  THANK YOU FOR READING!

  Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Johnny B. Truant is an author, blogger, and podcaster who, like the Ramones, was long denied induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite having a large cult following. He makes his online home at SterlingAndStone.Net and is the author of the Fat Vampire series, the Unicorn Western series, the political sci-fi thriller The Beam, and many more.

  You can connect with Johnny on Twitter at @JohnnyBTruant, and you should totally send him an email at johnny@sterlingandstone.net if the mood strikes you.

  Sean Platt is speaker, author, and co-founder of Realm & Sands. He is also co-founder of Collective Inkwell, home to the breakout indie hitsYesterday’s Gone and WhiteSpace, co-authored with David W. Wright. Sean also publishes smart stories for children under the pen name Guy Incognito, and writes laugh out loud comedies with Johnny under the pen name Max Power. You can see Sterling & Stone’s complete catalogue at SterlingAndStone.Net/Books. Sean lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and son.

  You can find Sean at SterlingAndStone.Net, follow him on Twitter at @SeanPlatt, or send him an email at sean@sterlingandstone.net.

  For any questions about Sterling & Stone books or products, or help with anything at all, please send an email to help@sterlingandstone.net, or contact us at sterlingandstone.net/contact. Thank you for reading.

 

 

 
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