Fans of the Kassini universe of books may have spotted that I released a new book in that story world, Fleet Rats (Dropzone #1), at the end of January 2023. Now, I’m happy to announce the second book in that series is here – Parasite (Dropzone #2).
The book continues my new military sci-fi series of novels, set in the same universe as my previous sci-fi books – Conversations With Droids, The Kassini Division and Rise Of The Exiles – but it takes place in 2841, a half-century before the events of the other books.
In it, we follow one squad of misfit human and alien soldiers working for a secret Agency. These renegade troopers, led by a not-entirely-human, not-entirely-trustworthy and not-entirely-sane squad leader, are attempting to survive a series of 10 drops in exchange for their freedom.
Parasite tells the story of the squad’s second mission. It continues from directly where Fleet Rats (Dropzone #1) left off, with the same characters, in the same universe.
As ever, it has exceptional artwork by Kat Bastow, with help this time in the form of a couple of elements created using the Midjourney AI.
Here’s the blurb for the second book…
Contact lost. Trouble found.
The Vektor’s Landing safari park has rare animals from all around the galaxy. It has lush forest bathed in ultra-golden sunlight. It’s a paradise – and it’s one of the most exclusive tourist destinations in the whole of the Elemental empire.
Or at least it was, until it went completely quiet…
Something has gone seriously wrong: which makes this a job for the Sleeper Agency. Fresh from the baptism of fire that was their first mission, Hoffman’s Revenants – a band of misfit human and alien soldiers led by the enigmatic Virgil Lovell – have been sent down to the surface to investigate.
Their mission? Rescue as many breeding pairs of the park’s priceless lizards as they can… oh, and find out what happened to the 1,500 tourists who have completely vanished. All of which would be fine if the Agency didn’t keep changing their mission orders every five minutes.
It would probably also help if someone hadn’t just sent a fleet to nuke the park from orbit…
Strap in for the second instalment of the Dropzone series of military sci-fi adventures set in the Kassini universe, for fans of Starship Troopers, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Aliens and other classic sci-fi.
NOTE: If you’re interested in the story but haven’t yet read Fleet Rats, please do so first… as this is not a standalone tale!
Visual promo TBC…
I’m writing the Dropzone series alongside my Kassini story cycle because I wanted to write a self-contained series of books that closely follows the lives of a single set of characters.
Whereas The Kassini Division, Rise Of The Exiles and their sequels deal with a cast of characters in a rapidly evolving, politically charged space-opera setting, Dropzone offers readers a series of fast-moving, slightly shorter books in more of a military sci-fi scenario. Both series pay respectful homage to the SF films, books, games and TV I love.
As I said before, each story in the series pays implicit homage to a specific classic of the science-fiction genre. With each book, you can look forward to the Sleeper Agency squad being sent on missions with potentially familiar themes: for me, the fun lies in playfully referencing these classics while re-imagining some of the same concepts in the Kassini universe.
Here’s a quick read with more info about Fleet Rats (Dropzone #1) and Parasite (Dropzone #2). I hope you enjoy them… and if you’ve read and enjoyed my Kassini books, I strongly suggest you give Fleet Rats and then Parasite a whirl, as there are many shared aspects you’ll instantly recognise.
If you enjoy these or indeed any of my books, tell your sci-fi-loving friends and please leave a positive review on Amazon.
