The Hour has Come!

 Available Now, An Hour For Vengeance

Kirov Series Special Edition, Volume #68

From a Temporal Cyclone to burning ships struck by terrible new weapons of Imperial Japan in 2030, the War in Limbo continues right where Volume #67 left off. Karpov and Kirov have already seen what can happen when locking horns with this modern Japanese Empire, in a world made possible by Ivan Volkov. With Letters of Marque from Director Kamenski, he takes Kirov to sea again in waters swarming with ships of the Combined Fleet, and with Odo Nobunaga set on exacting revenge for the duplicity and betrayal of the Siberians when his war prize fails to function as expected.  Action from start to finish in this one, as Fedorov and Karpov hope to eventually find a way home to their Meridian in 2027.

Now on Amazon

An Hour for Vengeance, Kindle edition, $6.99

An Hour For Vengeance

 Kirov Series Special Edition #68

The Kirov Series Revisited….

 

Most fans of the Kirov Series know by now that the never ending story never really ended. The last two volumes of the main series were #63 Final Sortie, and #64 Journey’s end. Then, after over ten years dedicated to the mighty Kirov, John took a break and put out a five volume Epic Fantasy series, The Chronicles of Innisfail, basically looking for more readers in that highly popular genre. But ever since Game of Thrones, fantasy has been absolutely saturated, and it was difficult to get noticed.  So John then returned to his Keyholders Saga, which arose as a subplot in the Kirov Series when the character Sir Roger Ames hired one Ian Thomas to burrow beneath Churchill’s burial site to obtain his ashes so they could be compressed to make a diamond by services like Eterneva, EverDear, Lonite and many others. Ever since that, Sir Roger has been wagering that diamond in a number of games with wealthy adversaries. These men all seem to have mysterious keys that open highly engineered gates to hidden passages concealing rifts in time. So time travel is again at the heart of these stories, which end up being highly textured alternate histories.

Of course the keys soon become prominent in the Kirov Series as other characters begin seeking them out, like Elena Fairchild, and eventually Fedorov and Karpov as well. We learn how they are used in the Kamenski Device to open more and more features of that magic box. Meanwhile, Sir Roger leads us through four excellent alternate histories of famous battles from British History.  The first was Field of Glory (Waterloo), then Zulu Hour (Isandlwana). Returning to this series John added The Devil Ship (The Opium Wars) and then The Sands of Honor, (Sudan and Omdurman), with Sir Roger Ames again involved in both stories. These are books that are pretty much stand alone novels, so the Keyholder’s Saga can be read in any order.

Now then… the never ending Kirov Saga suddenly had an Encore, (Series volume #65) and that volume actually seemed a more appropriate way to tie things off for the series as a whole.  While it focused on the officers and crew, the vehicle was the airship Baikal, not the Mighty Kirov. But it did get us sitting in on the plans and plots of Karpov and Fedorov, and on a fairly wild mission to both polar regions.

Next John went back to the ship he devoted so much love, time, and energy to and put out two quick volumes a month apart. They were Clash of Empires, Kirov Series #66, where Director Kamenski recruited our heroes and their intrepid battlecruiser to clean up a mess caused by the disappearance of a Chinese warship. It was followed in just one month by War in Limbo, volume #67.

With Kirov fighting in just about every historical war possible, this time John took his imagination forward to the year 2030, and in a future made possible by Ivan Volkov’s interventions. In the War in Limbo, we learn that Volkov gave “the Bomb” to the Japanese a year before the end of WWII, and that enabled Japan to stage a surprise attack on Halsey while he mustered in Truk Lagoon. That ended the war by treaty instead of unconditional surrender for Japan, and voila, what do we have in 2030, a ravenously Samurai souled Imperial Japanese Empire dominating all the Western Pacific, but with modern day ships and missiles in their Imperial Navy.

Kirov gets marooned in this Limbo in volume #67, quite literally tossed aground on the island named Limbo by a big Typhoon. It is not long before the Japanese become aware of the ship, and they meet the same character that they encountered when this world was first introduced in the main series, Captain Sato. Things then take a darker turn, and things transpire that series fans never thought possible. Mid-way through this story there are dramatic events which cannot be revealed here. This puts both Fedorov and Karpov to the test, and they devise a plan to try and reverse their setbacks and escape this world.

The ending of War in Limbo presents an eerie stalking of the ship and crew by the force of Paradox, which appears as a massive Temporal storm. So while a physical typhoon begins the story, it is bookended by a Temporal Cyclone,  and that is where we left it last month. Well guess what mister prolific has for us in June. The Kirov Series gets yet another sequel, Series Volume #68, An Hour For Vengeance is coming soon, and while the other Encores were stand alone stories, this one connects directly to War in Limbo, picking up right where that story ended. The two volumes even share a similar cover design.

So this month the story takes off again, and puts us right back on the bridge of Kirov to resolve the ending of War in Limbo. Saying more about An Hour for Vengeance might spoil things for you, but needless to say, Karpov is pissed off with the Imperial Japanese Navy for what they put the ship and crew through, and he shows them what Mizuchi can really do. Coming this June, possibly around the 15th again, we get another Kirov fix that is utterly classic, and it looks like these books revisiting the series are becoming a stealth Season Nine. Like the four or five Star Trek spinoffs, there may be more to come as the Kirov series reboots in these tales. Don’t miss out! 

~ The The Writing Shop Press

Season 9: The Encore Series for Kirov

Volume 65: Encore

Volume 66: Clash of Empires

Volume 67: War in Limbo

Volume 68: An Hour for Vengeance

Available now: War In Limbo

 A Kirov Series Special Edition!

Available Now on Amazon!

Kirov has gone to many grim futures, but this one was one of the most dangerous. After preying on the Imperial Japanese Navy in WWII on many occasions, Karpov finds a pleasure cruise for the ship and crew runs afoul of turbulent weather, and they are marooned in Limbo after they are grounded by a massive Typhoon. Soon they are found by old enemies, made far more dangerous by the modern ships and weapons they now command. It is an enemy they have faced and fought before, the product of a twisted history that has spun off a new altered Meridian. Was Ivan Volkov responsible for this future? Though Volkov is dead, Kirov must now face and fight the new dominant Pacific power in the year 2030, not China, but a rejuvenated Imperial Japanese Empire that has risen from the ashes of WWII like a dark Phoenix.

The Empire has but one weakness, its center is unformed and the young Emperor in waiting has no real power. Instead the Empire is ruled by quarreling Daimyos who serve as Regents and command powerful fleets. While planning to begin new conquests, they remain bitter rivals, each maneuvering to gain face and force to propel them to the coveted rank of Shogun, a military dictator who will seize the reins of power and unite all the warring Clans.

One among them, Odo Nobunaga, has discovered a most unusual ship aground within his Regency, and he soon learns the secret of their tremendous power. As Odo maneuvers to gain possession of the the Kamenski Device, Fedorov and Karpov must negotiate with the Japanese to secure safe passage home to Petropavlovsk. But Mother Time has other plans for the ship and crew, and sets her mind on ending its offensive voyages once and for all. This brings Kirov to a fateful hour that no one aboard ever thought they would face.

This Kirov Series special Edition (Series Volume #67) is a stand alone novel focused on the ship and crew.

Kirov Goes to War in Limbo

 A Kirov Series Special Edition, Volume #67

Coming Monday, May 15th!

It was only a pleasure cruise, sun, white sand, and island girls, until a Devil in the Banda Sea finds Kirov and crew and casts them ashore into a grim future ruled by one of their their most ardent enemies, Imperial Japan.

When Ivan Volkov gave Japan the bomb a year before the Americans completed theirs in WWII, the Japanese Empire set a dangerous trap at Truk Lagoon that destroyed much of Halsey’s Fast Carrier fleet. As a result, the Pacific War ends by treaty instead of Japan’s unconditional surrender, and Japan survives to become a powerful modern day Pacific Power.

Yet the empire has a weakness, its soft and unformed center. The young crown prince will not take the throne for another five years. Until that time, the Empire is ruled by powerful Daimyos serving as Regents, each commanding fleets of modern warships. In a brilliant depiction of this modern day Japanese Empire, rival Clan leaders struggle to obtain the best new ships and further their own devious aims while also fending off the incursion of the United States Navy into the neutral Zone in the Central Pacific. The Americans set their sights on recovering both Truk and the Marianas, and a new modern day clash at sea is imminent.

Enter Kirov, the ship and crew once again cast into this strange and dangerous future in the year 2030. Grounded and marooned by a terrible storm, Typhoon Setan, the ship’s hull is under repair when the Japanese Captain Sato appears with a heavy cruiser and three destroyers. He remembers this old nemesis, for he has fought Kirov before, just three months earlier when the Siberians last appeared on this Meridian. Tense negotiations ensue, which soon see Fedorov and Karpov swept into the convoluted Imperial intrigue between clan leaders when the head of the local Regency, Odo Nobunaga, discovers Kirov is the ship that has plagued Japan for decades, Mizuchi. Realizing Kirov is indeed that ship, Odo soon learns the secret of its tremendous power, and strives to take it for his own.

Meanwhile, the Toki-Akechi Clan that Odo commands must face down another old enemy, the United States Navy. Odo struggles to bring other rival clans into the war and forge a union in the face of this powerful enemy, and we get a tale that is reminiscent of a modern day Shogun, the title Odo seeks as military dictator to unite the entire realm.

It’s the most comprehensive look at this altered future yet, a Meridian engineered by the late Ivan Volkov. This time, Kirov is lost in a crucible of fate, and brought to a fateful hour when they must finally face the consequences of their meddling in the business of Mother Time, and Imperial Japan. With the Kamenski Device damaged, they cannot simply flee to safe waters elsewhere, and now Kirov fights a harrowing battle with the Japanese. As their missile count thins, they also face an even more serious threat that cannot be defeated by Zircons—for their plan to escape this world leads to Paradox.

 Coming Monday, May 15th!

A Kirov Series Special Edition, Volume #67

Clash of Empires!

 AVAILABLE NOW - Kirov Series #66 ~ Clash of Empires

After ending the Kirov Series last year, author John Schettler has been sneaking out stand alone novels based on the ship and crew, and putting them out as "Special Editions."

The first was Encore, appropriately titled, and a book that became Kirov Series #65. This spring we will get two more stand alone novels, each one a specific mission that needs a warship to resolve. While Encore was a jaunt to the distant future on the Airship Baikal, the next two books will be centered on the ship and crew, and they will be a mission to the past in Clash of Empires, released April 15. Next month, we get another book, one complete mission for Kirov and crew entitled War in Limbo. So if you have had an urge to walk that deck again, these two books will be just what you need.

OTHER NEWS on Website and Email.

The hosting company for my web site and email service notified me that they are getting out of the hosting business altogether. So there I was, with a 400 page web site that suddenly needed to find a new host.

I’ve been wanting to simplify the web site for some time now, and so this was a good reason to start. Here’s what I have done.

1)      The web site has moved

I’ve registered a new Domain, which is now “writingshop.press”

In the short run, I pointed the old writingshop.ws at a much leaner web site at www.writingshop.press.

Anyone typing www.writingshop.ws will get forwarded to the new, much simpler web site. It will showcase my various book series, and announce new releases, but I will no longer create a page for each series book. I’ll probably expand this site in the months ahead, but for now it just has a home page and one subpage—ah, simplicity. And also because of this move…

2)      My email has changed

I can now be reached at: John@writingshop.press 

In the short term I think mail sent to John@writingshop.ws will still reach me, but it will soon phase out, so you should switch to the .press email address to contact me reliably.

3) About Clash of Empires

 Clash of Empires marks a return to the Kirov Series for stand alone books that involve one mission or sortie, and these will be intensely focused on the ship and crew. In Clash of Empires, the book also takes us to the period of the Boxer Rebellion (1900) as Kirov goes back after a missing Chinese super destroyer, Anshan, pictured above. Clash of Empires will stand Kirov series Volume #66, (Encore being #65), and it will be followed next month with series Volume #67 War in Limbo. Again, this will be one sortie by Kirov, mostly focused on the ship and crew, and it will have some very dramatic events.

What can I say? Paraphrasing Michael Corleone: “Just when you think you’re out, I pull you back in!” After Kirov’s cameo appearance in Sands of Honor, I just needed to walk that deck again, and I hope you support these volumes, as they will probably decide whether or not there will be any further cruises on Kirov in the months and years ahead.

Thank you all for your interest and support for my books. I hope I’m giving you something good in return.

 

Best Regards

John Schettler