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Dauntless
A couple of years back a fellow writer (John M. Davis) and I had an idea. Out of that idea came a universe that we shared and developed. We were excited by it and pulled out all the stops. I wrote a couple of books in this universe and he wrote a book in it. We had grand plans. Our ambitions had us slated to keep on filling this universe with stories and characters until we couldn’t do it any longer – and hopefully others would follow in our steps. Heck, I even put together a website that encouraged feedback and ideas in the form of new technologies, new characters, new… everything! And the submitter would then get credit and become a part of this universe as well.
Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? I still think it does… but if this is the first you’re hearing of it, then it must be obvious that it flopped. The books sales weren’t there. No for me, and not for John. We retreated to our more established series and universes / worlds / characters, knowing that we had an audience there and the ability to continue paying the bills that way.
But this universe never left me. The simple truth is that writing is a labor of love and passion for me. The income is a must-have as well, but I supplement it with a day job. After a couple of years of letting the characters languish, I knew I had to go back to them. I had to know what happened next. I had to share their victories and their pain. Even if that meant a couple of months spent working on something that didn’t sell in a system where I very much needed to make sales, I had to try. I was determined and, while I was sharing the experiences and lives of those characters, I was fearless.
It was only natural that the book be titled the very word that embodied those words : Dauntless. Dauntless is science fiction and adventure, but like any true sci-fi story, it’s about the people within its pages and how they live and think and feel. There are space battles and gunfights, amazing new technology and bitter feuds. Family rivalry, betrayals, and even a solar system-wide civil war. Dauntless was a pretty big undertaking, but it was sheer joy to write and, I have to say, even more fun to read. If you haven’t given the Terminus series a try yet — and I’ve seen the sales numbers so I know most of you haven’t— you really should give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
The crew of the Raptor must save an unruly princess from a solar system-wide civil war. A simple escort and run job — what could go wrong?
The Nelanian culture is based on aggression, war, and battling with themselves. Everybody’s got a stake in the war — profits and power to be had. Betrayal and sacrifice are justified under the pretense of the Greater Good. Earning a slightly dishonest paycheck has never been seemed so admirable.
Even the Princess Tor has been contracted to save has her own agenda… an agenda that doesn’t take Tor, his crew, or his ship into consideration. When escape is no longer an option there’s only one way left to get the job done. There’s no right or wrong side to this war, just a winning side. That’s the side Tor intends to be on.
Will there be more Terminus books – I plan on it! Not quite yet though. First I’m back into my Dark Universe setting, with Aden, Twyf… and so many characters I don’t dare to name them all or this will end up being far too long. The new book is titled Under the Dark and I have to say that I haven’t had this much fun writing a DU book in a long time… since the first trilogy, to be entirely honest. Honestly I’m hoping this book sets up a new three story arc. That’s my current plan, at least.
But that’s a month or more away, so to pass the time don’t forget to pick up Dauntless and get sucked into another amazing setting!
To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
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