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. 🙂
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.
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!
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.
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:
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.
There will be more news about ANNIHILATION ARIA soon, from art to endorsements to some travel plans and more! This novel has been a long time coming, serving as a back-burner project for several years as I was wrapping up Season One of Genrenauts and as I was developing and writing Born to the Blade with the team and Serial Box.
