I’m very pleased to be participating in another SFWA bundle with StoryBundle. This time, Annihilation Aria is available alongside seventeen other books as a part of the Expansive Futures StoryBundle. You can get eighteen books for a contribution of $15 or more, and your money goes to paying the authors a well as benefitting SFWA, which has done great work during the pandemic to support authors in need!
The audiobook for Annihilation Aria, published by Dreamscape Media and performed by Chris Andrew Ciulla and Caitlin Kelly, is now available!
You can get the audiobook as a digital download, mp3 CD, and as a traditional audio CD.
It’s available on:
Audible
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Apple
and more!
Here’s the first chapter as an excerpt to whet your appetite!
And if you’ve already read Annihilation Aria, please consider writing a short, honest review at your retailer of choice and/or Goodreads! Reviews help readers decide which books are and aren’t for them and makes it more likely that Aria will find readers that will enjoy it. 🙂
Annihilation Aria has been out in the world for one week now, and it’s been a fabulous whirlwind. I started writing Aria in the spring of 2015, and worked on it on and off for several years before making the final revisions and selling it in 2018.
The book’s road to publication has been longer than most (the longest for me being Shield & Crocus, which started as a short story at Clarion West in 2007 and published as a novel in 2014). I’m so glad to have the book out in the world, and especially to have something fun and diverting and hopeful to offer during this ludicrous hurricane of a year.
Annihilation Aria is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Kobo, Apple, Indiebound, and wherever else books are sold. The audiobook edition (digital audio, CD, and mp3 CD) will release this Friday the 31st.
Here’s a quick roundup of all of the activity from the last week. There was a lot, and it’s easy to miss things given how hectic life is right now for a lot of people.
My Favorite Bit essay at Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog.
The Big Idea essay at John Scalzi’s blog (whatever.scalzi.com).
Launch day chat with Gregory A. Wilson (from Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron).
Guest Post at Cat Rambo’s blog.
What I Love About Annihilation Aria (by Aria’s editor Kaelyn Considine).
Ask Me Anything at r/Fantasy on Reddit (concluded).
Live Reading & Interview with Parvus Publisher Colin Coyle.
This Wednesday (tomorrow) I have an online reading & discussion with fellow author Valerie Valdes (Chilling Effect, Prime Deceptions), hosted by The Ivy Bookshop. Starts at 6:30pm Eastern Daylight Time. If you haven’t already bought your paperback of Annihilation Aria, please consider getting a copy from The Ivy in appreciation of their support!
And *next* Wednesday, I have an AMA at r/Books on Reddit, kicking off at 1pm EDT.
In the weeks following, we’ll be continuing the Blades in the Dark miniseries “The Case of the Cindered Seal” at Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron as well as (hopefully) some other actual play excitement.
And as a reminder – if you’ve already read the book, please consider writing a short, honest review at your retailer of choice (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.). Reviews help readers decide whether a book is right for them and allow the book to better find its way into the hands of the folx that will most enjoy it!
Thanks to everyone that has bought, read, tweeted about, and/or Annihilation Aria already – you helped make this last week an amazing and exciting time, and I’m very eager to see the book continue to make its way in the world.
The day long-awaited has finally come! Annihilation Aria aka [REDACTED NOVEL] is live and ready to purchase in ebook and paperback formats. The audiobook from Dreamscape Media will follow soon on July 31st.
Annihilation Aria is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Kobo, Apple, Indiebound, and more!
Here’s what people have said about Annihilation Aria so far!
“[A] bright and exciting space opera […] Underwood’s prose is brisk and funny without ever sacrificing his skilled sf world building. Highly recommended for fans of action-packed space opera and anyone else looking for a fun and fast-paced read.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“This fantastically fun series launch harkens back to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy[…] The interpersonal dynamics are delightful, however familiar they may be, and the tightly constructed world, cinematic fight scenes, and ambitious scope combine to evoke a sense of wonder. This is a rollicking good time.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This is pure space opera, wild and wacky and silly and strange, high-stakes and deeply personal all at once. I could not be happier to have read this book. Recommended for fans of AXIOM by Tim Pratt, TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE (the RPG) published by R. Talsorian Games, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Marvel Studios), and KILLJOYS (SYFY Channel).”
—Seanan McGuire, author of the
October Daye and InCryptid series
“Underwood takes us for an intense ride through a cacophony of alien civilizations in conflict. This is an exuberant space opera that dares us to lose ourselves in battle songs and nonstop action. I can’t sing its praises enough!”
—TJ Berry, author of SPACE UNICORN BLUES
and FIVE UNICORN FLUSH
“Fast, fun, inventive! ANNIHILATION ARIA is a wild, delightful ride for fans of explosive space fantasy like Thor: Ragnarok.”
—Valerie Valdes, author of CHILLING EFFECT
“If the characters of The Mummy had been transported onto the Millennium Falcon, ARIA would be the result—a rollicking space opera, both literary and musical, with a diverse cast and strong relationships.”
—Gregory A. Wilson, author of GRAYSHADE
“Annihilation Aria is a classic 80s science-fiction novel with all those troublesome sexist bits stripped off. It’s got that simplified, pulp, curl-under-the-covers reading that reminds me of being a kid, wolfing down exciting adventures.”
— Ferrett Steinmetz, Nebula Award nominee and author of AUTOMATIC RELOAD and THE SOL MAJESTIC
Here’s a quick overview of some events/activities I’m doing to promote the book over the next few weeks!
July 21st (today!)
GMing a Star Wars actual play session at Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron at 10am EDT (postponed)
My Favorite Bit essay at Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog
The Big Idea essay at John Scalzi’s blog (whatever.scalzi.com)
Guest Post at Cat Rambo’s blog.
July 22nd
Ask Me Anything at r/Fantasy on Reddit (all day)
July 24th
Live reading from Annihilation Aria at 9pm EDT (details forthcoming)
July 29th
Online event with Valerie Valdes, hosted by The Ivy Bookshop (6:30pm EDT)
August 5th
Ask Me Anything at r/Books on Reddit (all day)
A note about the future of this setting: Annihilation Aria is listed as Book One of a series, but it will be a stand-alone unless there are enough sales to justify a sequel.
If you want more books in the series, please tell your friends and fellow readers that might enjoy it!
I’m very proud of it and can’t wait to see it find a readership and bring some respite to people during this uncannily trying year.
We’re just eight days away from the release of ANNIHILATION ARIA! I sold the book back in the fall of 2018, so it’s been a long time coming.
You can read the first three chapters at Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2020/07/09/read-the-first-three-chapters-of-michael-r-underwoods-annihilation-aria/
Pre-order your copy from your favorite local bookstore or via Bookshop.org and support indie bookstores, who could especially use the help given how many are still closed to in-store browsing or only doing mail-order.
If you pre-order, not only will you get the book as soon as possible, you’ll also help tell bookstores that there is more demand for a book, which then tells the distributor and the publisher that there is more demand, which means that they are more likely to be able to put additional resources into promoting the book.
My promotional efforts have already started to ramp up, with guest posts, podcast appearances, and more. Here’s a quick round-up of what I’ve been up to lately:
Writing From a Trope Wish List at The Qwillery.
On the Functional Nerds podcast.
Playing in “The Case of the Cindered Seal” actual play miniseries for Speculate at Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron.
In the next few weeks, I’ll have a lot more, including AMAs at two different subreddits, panel appearances this weekend for JulyCon, running a Scum & Villainy actual play miniseries, guest posts around the SFF blog-o-sphere, and more. This is my first book release since 2016, so I am trying to pull out all of the stops, even with the weirdness of launching a book during a global pandemic.
You can find more info on ARIA and pre-ordering here.
Parvus has revealed the fantastic cover art for ANNIHILATION ARIA, created for us by Tom Edwards.
It brings all of the flash, all of the space opera energy, and I love it so much.