Science Fiction Double Feature - By Lisabet Sarai

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the BOREALIS SERIES is alive and well

BOREALIS 7 - BLACK DRAGON, one of my sci-fi romance novellas published by Desert Breeze, just received 5 kisses from TwoLips Reviews.

Merrylee really liked it. She says: "I love the Borealis novellas, and in particular, this one by Vijaya Schartz. As always, her action-packed, well-plotted out prose kept me glued to the pages of Black Dragon from start to finish."

This series is available in KINDLE, NOOK, at ARe, and at Desert Breeze Publishing.

ABOUT THE BOREALIS SPACE STATION:

In orbit over a deserted outpost at the edge of conquered space sits an aging space station under the control of the Trans Planetary Protectorate. It's name is Borealis and it is slowly falling apart as the Protectorate funnels its massive resources into the border wars, and keeping the outlying systems in line, as insurrections break out.

BLACK DRAGON:

A gambler is cheating in a den of the Borealis space station, and Lieutenant Zara  Frankel intends to catch him in the act. She always gets her man, but this one could prove more than she can handle.

Captain Czerno Drake, code name Black Dragon, has come under cover to break his innocent uncle from the most secure penitentiary in the galaxy, on the Borealis space station. He will stop at nothing to succeed, even enrolling the help of the lovely straight arrow TPP enforcer. When Zara realizes that she's been used by a shrewd but seductive rebel, her reaction surprises everyone, most of all herself.

Other reviewers joined the chorus:

"I like the balance of humor and danger in this story, and the action kept me glued to the pages...  I enjoyed watching as suspicion turned to admiration, and admiration became the first flickers of love between Czerno and Zara... Pick up a copy of Borealis: Black Dragon, by Vijaya Schartz, and enter a world of adventure, romance, and a spoiled cat named Marshmallow." - Long and Short Reviews - 4½ books rating - sensual

"Vijaya Schartz is known for her strong female characters and Zara is no exception...  gives the reader lots of action and a sweet love story." - Single Titles Review - 4½ stars

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Noah's Ark is a finalist! - by Vijaya Schartz

Not that I should get any credit for it, but the cover of NOAH'S ARK is a finalist in the EPIC Ariana Book Cover Contest in the Science Fiction category. Winners will be announced in March 2013.

The cover was designed, like all the others in this series, by Jenifer Ranieri, the talented cover artist for Desert Breeze Publishing. In 2009, when the first book in this series was released, WHITE TIGER, it won the Ariana and the Quasar awards for the best overall eBook cover of 2009.

Crossing my fingers for NOAH'S ARK

Download it in kindle at: http://amzn.com/B007QHHIL4

Oh, and this is the prequel to the series, what happened before Book One. Here is what the book is about:

When Trixie's star freighter, Noah's Ark, drops out of jump space in an uncharted part of the universe, she believes the M-class planet on her viewer represents hope and salvation for her motley crew and the ragtag settlers aboard her ship.

Kostas, ex Space Marine, the expert survivalist recruited for this expedition, doesn't believe in coincidences, and knows that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Everyone on this voyage to seed a new planet with life, is running from something, and harbors dangerous secrets... including Trixie, who vowed to never let a man control her life again. As for Kostas, he would get lynched on the spot if anyone suspected who he really is.

But on this seemingly abandoned planet, others are watching, herding them for evil purposes... And when the truth emerges and secrets unravel, Trixie and Kostas will have to fight for survival, for freedom, and for the right to love...

Reviews:

"Filled with action, adventure, greed, betrayal, and love... Having read the other books in the series, I was anxiously awaiting the prequel and Schartz delivers. She engages the reader right from the opening. Her writing style is crisp and easy to read. Schartz excels at world building as she layers the humans' discoveries... The dialogue adds a rich authenticity to the story. It's the little touches which bring the humanity into the story from Viking the cat to Tabor's horseback riding lessons... " 5 stars - Amazon (Steph).

Enjoy the read!

Vijaya Schartz

Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Watching Warehouse 13 - by Vijaya Schartz

Imagine a warehouse where all the most secret and the most dangerous devices, scientific, alien weapons, or magic artifacts, are stored and protected from the wrong hands. This secret facility is hidden under a mountain, and the innocent entrance looks like an old-fashioned barn. Who would search for powerful artifacts in a barn? Of course, the barn leans on a mountain side, and the enormous facility is hollowed out in the rock under the mountain range.

This steampunk, sci-fi, paranormal series is fun and engaging, and sometimes dramatic and gruesome. The romance between the two protagonists is lacking, although there were attempts at romance in previous seasons. I guess that's why the creators introduced a new fresh character, Claudia. She fell in love but her love interest was killed in a previous episode.

Not to worry, this is Warehouse 13, and the young man can be revived... although there will be a price to pay.

In a typical episode, an artifact is missing, or an artifact is sighted somewhere in the world, wreaking havoc, and our two FBI special agents have to retrieve it, often pry it off the hands of some bad guys bent on world domination. The plots are full of adventure. Saving the world is a daily occurence. Sometimes it requires going back in time to undo some evil... always at a price, though.

I'm watching religiously on SyFy on Mondays.

FUN WATCHING EUREKA! - Too bad it's being cancelled

I'm a sci-fi freak. Whether or not there is romance in it. And I have to say that most of the time, there is. Right now, I'm really enjoying season five of EUREKA on the SyFy channel on Mondays. Although the setting is contemporary or only slightly futuristic, I love the concept. The writers also do a fabulous job at stellar dialogue, the situations are as often funny as they are dramatic, and always full of action and intriguing suspense.

The Eureka concept:

Somewhere in a tucked away mountain range is a small town, which is nothing but ordinary. A bunch of  scientists live there, working on a myriad of top secret scientific projects, including spaceships, artificial intelligence, supercomputers, time travel, talking houses, flying cars, reviving the dead, constructing biological entities... you name it, they are working on perfecting the prototypes.

Of course, as in all good stories, everything that could possibly go wrong does, and often with epic consequences. Try going back in time and changing a few things during WWII, then come back to a different present with lots of surprises.

What I also like about the show is that the characters are so human, corky, and torn by impossible ethical conflicts. And they still dare fall in love despite the consequences.

In yesterday's episode, a new thread started where the evil seems to be in the machine. In a town where you can build human bodies and imbue them with the electrical impulses of an existing human mind, someone is building replicas and taking over the town... to be continued.

Not all the characters are geeks. Sheriff Carter is just a good guy with an inferiority complex. Who wouldn't feel inadequate among all these geniuses? His character is the perfect plot device to educate us muggles in lay terms when necessary.

That's why I'm so bummed that the SyFy channel did not renew the show for the next season. There won't be a season 6. I sure hope they make a movie. In any case, I will be watching the reruns.

Vijaya Schartz

Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Ray Bradbury has left us - Rest in peace - by Vijaya Schartz

Science Fiction author extraordinaire Ray Bradbury was born in Illinois in 1920. He wrote his first short stories in his teens, and the Hollerbochen's Dilemma, was first published in 1938.

Since then, he wrote eleven novels and over 600 short stories, novellas, essays, even screenplays, and children's stories. The novel everyone remembers is Fahrenheit 451 (1953), a dystopian, science-fiction portraying a world where books are banned and burned at that specific temperature. That story became a movie in 1966.

But for us authors of science fiction, Ray Bradbury was a symbol. He broke the mold and dared writing about hot political issues in a science fiction context, and many of his stories are moral tales.

Ray, we shall miss you at the many conferences and conventions where you still appeared despite your advanced age. And the ideas you developed in science fiction are still inpiring new authors to cross boundaries and write about true human conflicts in an entetaining way.