Nir Yaniv’s rollicking, madcap military sci-fi satire The Good Soldier

 Catch-22 meets Starship Troopers in Nir Yaniv’s rollicking,

madcap military sci-fi satire The Good Soldier

The Good Soldier by Nir Yaniv, a rollicking, madcap military sci-fi satire that’s been described as “M*A*S*H in outer space” and “Catch-22 meets Starship Troopers,” is the latest adult science fiction novel published by Regina, Saskatchewan’s Shadowpaw Press.

As U.K author and critic Adam Roberts (Jack Glass) puts it, The Good Soldier is “a rattling, SFnal updating of The Good Soldier Švejk via Starship Troopers (as it might be: Švejkship Troopers): funny, pointed, readable, a subversive depiction of the futility of war and a satire on the perennial logic of the military mind and the structures of the army.” It is also, he adds, “highly recommended.”

As The Good Soldier begins, The Imperial Navy has long been at war. It is a well-oiled machine, a mighty galactic power in which nothing can go wrong.

Enter Pre-Private Joseph Fux, self-proclaimed Idiot, Second Class.

When Fux arrives on board the light frigate UPS Spitz, things immediately begin to go wrong. It’s not Fux’s fault. It never is. Accidents just happen when he’s around, despite the best intentions.

And as the always-cheerful Fux bungles his way through one job after another, he throws the whole ship and its orderly crew into chaos. No one is left unscathed: not the responsible and lonely Lt. Lipton, grieving for his lost love; not the mercilessly logical Doctor Nightingale, who may or may not be Lipton’s current romantic interest; not the overzealous Ensign Berseker, or the pompous political officer, Commander Kapust. Not even the hidden, monstrous Captain.

Knowingly or not, Fux is an agent of resistance, his blind stupidity the only sane response to the insanity of war. Something’s gotta give, and the tiny spanner-in-the-works that is Fux threatens at last to destroy the entire machinery of the Galactic Empire . . .

More praise for The Good Soldier

“In this amiable satire of the gung-ho heroics of military sci-fi, Yaniv (coauthor of The Tel Aviv Dossier) sets a seeming simpleton against an immense empire, and the contest is hardly fair . . . (A)n amusing alternative to the usual run of martial marvels and battle-tested warriors. Military SF fans will enjoy this gentle roasting.” – Publishers Weekly

“Drawing on a tradition of anti-war fiction and his own military experience, Nir Yaniv meshes together classical American gung-ho SF with the delightful absurdism of European literature to create an unforgettable far-future fable for our times. Think M.A.S.H. in space, and you’ll come closest to capturing the spirit of The Good Soldier, but you’ll have to enmesh yourself in the (mis)adventures of Idiot-Second-Class Fux and company of the good ship Spitz to find out for yourself. This is one explosive novel you do not want to miss!” – Lavie Tidhar, award-winning author of Central Station and Neom

“A madcap dystopian satire that shoulders its way into the ranks of Bill the Galactic Hero and Catch-22, then stands sloppily at attention as it smirks in the face of an apoplectic political officer.” – Alex Shvartsman, Award-Winning Author of The Middling Affliction and Eridani’s Crown

About the author 

NIR YANIV (niryaniv.com) is an Israeli-born multidisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. He’s an author, a musician, an illustrator, and a filmmaker. He founded Israel’s first online science fiction magazine and served as its chief editor for ten years, after which he moved on to editing a printed genre magazine. He collaborated with World Fantasy Award-winning author Lavie Tidhar on two novels, including the “deranged sci-fi extravaganza” (per The Jewish Quarterly) The Tel Aviv Dossier, and his English- language collection The Love Machine & Other Contraptions was published by Infinity Plus in 2012.His most recent Hebrew novel, King of Jerusalem, was published in Israel in 2019. His short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Apex, and ChiZine, among others. 

Nir’s musical career includes soundtracks for film, dance shows, and theatre. His most recent work is the voice-and-drums animated album The Voice Remains (LifeArt Music, 2021). Nir has also directed several short films and music videos, both live-action and animated. 

About Shadowpaw Press 

Shadowpaw Press was founded in 2018 by Edward Willett. A member of Literary Press Group (Canada) and the Association of Canadian Publishers, Shadowpaw Press publishes an eclectic selection of books by both new and established authors, including adult fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, non-fiction, and anthologies. In addition, Shadowpaw Press publishes new editions of notable, previously published books in any genre under the Shadowpaw Press Reprise imprint.

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For more information:

Edward Willett

ewillett@sasktel.net

306-536-5421

www.edwardwillett.com

www.shadowpawpress.com

www.theworldshapers.com

Parade of Streetlights, a debut novel from Itua Uduebo

 

Parade of Streetlights 

A critically acclaimed debut novel of investigative candor all from a millennial’s point of view from Itua Uduebo 

Released and published by Read Furiously 

 

Life is lived between the checklists.

Parade of Streetlights is a captivating exploration of the millennial experience. Following a significant incident from his youth in Lagos, Kolawole Idowu always had a haunting desire to return to Nigeria and commit his time to making a difference. Within the course of a year, Kola explores his home of New York City and all aspects of his world with candor and humor. Kola is both self-conscious and observant as he encounters people on the streets of NYC and constantly struggles with the idea of what it means to be himself.

Parade of Streetlights is a deeply personal and introspective debut novel from author Itua Uduebo told in vignettes and featuring characters who are working through many personal absurdities.

This is a novel about the choices we make, the ways we restrict ourselves needlessly, and the freedom of embracing the authentic pursuit of happiness. Kola’s voice is a welcome addition to the literary canon and his story will stay with you long after the last page is finished.

 

About Itua Uduebo:

Itua was born in Lagos, Nigeria, reside in New York, NY, and graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Politics. He is currently working in the financial technology industry. His writing journey began in his college years and to date he has several essays, articles, freeform poems, and short stories published online and in print. His focuses are new adult fiction, urban literature, science fiction, thrillers, politics, racial justice, culture, and global affairs. Currently working on his second novel manuscript and always looking to take on new creative challenges. 

About Read Furiously:

In 2012, Read Furiously published its first title, the graphic novel series The MOTHER Principle. Today we dedicate our time and energies to publishing titles that offer a new perspective on the world through a roster of fascinating voices. 

Our goal at Read Furiously is to create a new generation of readers (lovingly referred to as “Furious Readers”) who view reading as a necessity for this busy world. We believe that reading is more than performative - reading is an activity that brings people together to help us make sense of where we come from and where we are going. Every Read Furiously title is curated carefully to reflect these values. 

With every title we publish, Read Furiously donates 5% of our net proceeds to various literacy programs and book-related charities, and we also invite our talented creators to do the same. We also work with Little Free Libraries and book donation programs throughout NJ. We understand that reading can be a form of activism and we take this responsibility very seriously. 

Through our published titles and community efforts, Read Furiously recognizes that reading is a personal and social act. If we are successful in combining the two, being a Furious Reader will be another way we can change the world - one book at a time. We strive to celebrate diverse voices and encourage a sustainable reading journey. 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Itua Utuebo, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.  We look forward to the coverage!

Isn’t She Great, a love letter to female-led comedies with a touch of pink by Elizabeth Teets

 

Isn’t She Great 

A love letter to female-led comedies brought to you with a touch of pink by comedian, screenwriter and author, Elizabeth Teets 

Released and published by Read Furiously

Based on Elizabeth Teets’s program series called “Isn’t She Great” at the Hollywood Theater, this anthology is a collection of the most beloved female-centric comedies and the audiences who adore them. From 9 to 5 to Romy and Michele to the iconic Elle Woods, the essays in this collection build on our devotion to these films and continue the conversation around funny women and how these characters have shaped so many talented writers. 

As Elizabeth Teets reminds us, there is a specific power in a funny woman. A woman who dares to laugh at the world and at herself. These movies made us strong and smart and sexy (and bend and snap a lot). At the end of the day, we remind ourselves when the world only tries to let us have a little money, a little confidence, a little joy - to go out and get the whole enchilada.

Isn’t She Great is for anyone who loves movies and feels the glamour in pink. Cult cinema and film criticism will never be the same. 

About Elizabeth Teets:

 

Elizabeth Teets is an Oregan born writer, comedian, screenwriter, and fashionista.  Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Repeller, Catapult, Reductress, and more. She lives in Los Angeles where she is waiting for her group chat to respond.

About Read Furiously:

In 2012, Read Furiously published its first title, the graphic novel series The MOTHER Principle. Today we dedicate our time and energies to publishing titles that offer a new perspective on the world through a roster of fascinating voices. 

Our goal at Read Furiously is to create a new generation of readers (lovingly referred to as “Furious Readers”) who view reading as a necessity for this busy world. We believe that reading is more than performative - reading is an activity that brings people together to help us make sense of where we come from and where we are going. Every Read Furiously title is curated carefully to reflect these values. 

With every title we publish, Read Furiously donates 5% of our net proceeds to various literacy programs and book-related charities, and we also invite our talented creators to do the same. We also work with Little Free Libraries and book donation programs throughout NJ. We understand that reading can be a form of activism and we take this responsibility very seriously. 

Through our published titles and community efforts, Read Furiously recognizes that reading is a personal and social act. If we are successful in combining the two, being a Furious Reader will be another way we can change the world - one book at a time. We strive to celebrate diverse voices and encourage a sustainable reading journey. 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Elizabeth Teets,  please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.  We look forward to the coverage!

Mark Morton’s debut YA novel, The Headmasters, from Shadowpaw Press February 6 2024

 

Mark Morton’s debut YA novel, The Headmasters, called “a brilliant science-fiction debut”
by Robert J. Sawyer, releases February 6 from Shadowpaw Press

 

Noted Canadian non-fiction author and long-time CBC columnist Mark Morton makes his debut as a novelist with The Headmasters, coming February 6 from Shadowpaw Press; a gripping, provocative post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult tale that asks the question, “How do you learn from the past if there isn’t one?”

Sixty years ago as The Headmasters opens, something awful happened. Something that killed everyone except the people at Blue Ring, a research facility in northern Ontario. Something that caused the Headmasters to appear. But young Maple doesn’t know what is was. Because talking about the past is forbidden.

Everyone at Blue Ring has a Headmaster. They sink their sinewy coils into your skull and control you, using your body for backbreaking toil and your mind to communicate with each other.

When someone dies, their Headmaster transfers to someone new. But so do the dead person’s memories, and if one of those memories surfaces in the new host’s mind, their brain breaks. That’s why talking about the past is forbidden.

Maple hates this world where the past can’t exist and the future promises only more suffering. And she hates the Headmasters for making it that way. But she doesn’t know how to fight them – until memories start to surface in her mind from someone who long ago came close to defeating the Headmasters.

But whose memories are they? Why aren’t they harming her? And how can she use them to defeat the Headmasters? Maple has to find the answers herself, unable to tell anyone what she’s experiencing or planning—not even Thorn, the young man she’s falling in love with.

Thorn, who has some forbidden secrets of his own . . .

Praise for The Headmasters 

“Mark Morton’s The Headmasters is a brilliant science-fiction debut from one of Canada’s best-loved nonfiction writers. This compelling YA novel is a spot-on updating of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic The Puppet Masters for the new millennium, with intricate world-building, a great science-fiction puzzle, and — ironic for a novel about suppressed memories — a main character you’ll never forget. I loved it.” — Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Downloaded

About the author 

MARK MORTON (markmorton.ca)i s also the author of four nonfiction titles: Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities (nominated for a Julia Child Award and to be reissued soon in a new edition from Shadowpaw Press Reprise); The End: Closing Words for a Millennium (winner of the Alexander Isbister Award for nonfiction); The Lover’s Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the Language of Love and Sex (republished in the UK as Dirty Words), and Cooking with Shakespeare. He’s also written more than fifty columns for Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture (University of California Press) and has written and broadcast more than a hundred columns about language and culture for CBC Radio. Mark has a PhD in sixteenth-century literature from the University of Toronto and has taught at several universities in France and Canada. He currently works at the University of Waterloo. He and his wife, Melanie Cameron, (also an author) have four children, three dogs, one rabbit, and no time. 

About Shadowpaw Press

Shadowpaw Press was founded in 2018 by Edward Willett. A member of Literary Press Group (Canada) and the Association of Canadian Publishers, Shadowpaw Press publishes an eclectic selection of books by both new and established authors, including adult fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, non-fiction, and anthologies. In addition, Shadowpaw Press publishes new editions of notable, previously published books in any genre under the Shadowpaw Press Reprise imprint.

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For more information:

Edward Willett

ewillett@sasktel.net

306-536-5421

www.edwardwillett.com

www.shadowpawpress.com

www.theworldshapers.com

Northwood Meadows Lifestyle, a collection of webcomic from Andy Chang

 

Northwood Meadows

Lifestyle 

A collection of webcomic that truly display life from an animal’s point of view from critically acclaimed comic artist, Andy Chang 

Released and published by Read Furiously

Now available from Read Furiously, Northwood Meadows: Lifestyle is a collection of webcomics from comics artist Andy Chang. 

Northwood Meadows: Lifestyle are slice of life comics as illustrated through a colorful cast of witty animals to be told in three panel comic strips.

In the beautiful place of Northwood Meadows, there lives an entertaining crew of animals (and one extraterrestrial). Phil the penguin is the unappreciated artist of the group, while Ana is trying so hard to live her best life. Ally is making the most of his time on Earth and Ted the turtle is terrified of it all, but still tries to “upgrade his shell.” Balancing out this chorus of voices is Bob, the source of reason in Northwood Meadows. 

Northwood Meadows: Lifestyle [ISBN 9781737175865] is listed as $13.99 and available wherever books are sold.

Read Furiously distributes through Ingram. Any retailers unable to order through Ingram, please contact us at sales@readfuriously.com to inquire about ordering directly from Read Furiously. 

Our goal at Read Furiously is to create a new generation of readers (lovingly referred to as “furious readers”) who view reading as a necessity for this busy world. We believe that reading isn’t a chore or something we do to show off to others; reading is an activity that brings people together to help us make sense of where we come from and where we are going. Every Read Furiously title is curated carefully to reflect these values.

About Andy Chang:

Andy Chang is an independent comic artist– based in New Jersey. He has made several children-friendly/all-age comics-such as Add-Zero and Adventures of Sniffy – prior to the creation of Northwood Meadows. 

His style of art was inspired by a mixture of Japanese Manga and the Sunday comics – whimsical and simplistic- but the stories he creates references a funny take on the reality of the everchanging daily life.

Andy lives with his wife and three daughters, who all provides unlimited resource of inspiration and aspiration for Northwood Meadows’ future comic art.

About Read Furiously:

In 2012, Read Furiously published its first title, the graphic novel series The MOTHER Principle. Today we dedicate our time and energies to publishing titles that offer a new perspective on the world through a roster of fascinating voices. 

Our goal at Read Furiously is to create a new generation of readers (lovingly referred to as “Furious Readers”) who view reading as a necessity for this busy world. We believe that reading is more than performative - reading is an activity that brings people together to help us make sense of where we come from and where we are going. Every Read Furiously title is curated carefully to reflect these values. 

With every title we publish, Read Furiously donates 5% of our net proceeds to various literacy programs and book-related charities, and we also invite our talented creators to do the same. We also work with Little Free Libraries and book donation programs throughout NJ. We understand that reading can be a form of activism and we take this responsibility very seriously. 

Through our published titles and community efforts, Read Furiously recognizes that reading is a personal and social act. If we are successful in combining the two, being a Furious Reader will be another way we can change the world - one book at a time. We strive to celebrate diverse voices and encourage a sustainable reading journey. 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Andy Chang, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.                 

 We look forward to the coverage! 

It Came From The Trees And other violent Aberrations, by Canadian author, Joel McKay

It Came From The Trees

And other violent Aberrations 

The newest segment of modern horror by Canadian author, Joel McKay 

The book is published by Birchwood Press and is available worldwide in print and e-book format

 

Tree planters on the run from parasitic insects. A physicist who has become the target of a murderous airline. Teenagers trapped in a museum with an eldritch horror. An escaped pit fighter thrust into a desperate stand at a sagging mountain fortress. And a luckless cowboy sailing across a sea of grass to the bloody resurrection of an elder god. Welcome to Joel McKay's It Came from the Trees and Other Violent Aberrations, a collection of five page-turners as strange, disparate and bloody as their titles suggest.

So, grab a stiff drink, turn the lights down low, settle into your favorite reading nook and enjoy this brief but memorable collection of tales from one of the newest voices in Canadian pulp fiction.  

It Came From the Trees: and Other Violent Aberrations eBook : McKay, Joel: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store 

More from Joel McKay:

All Charlotte Deerborn wanted was a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. Too bad for her no one else wanted to be there. By the time the turkey is carved, old grievances, bad behavior and crass remarks have transformed her dinner party into a disaster. And then a werewolf shows up to do some carving of its own.

Wolf at the Door is a fast-paced, absurdist take on modern creature horror, levering humor and action to highlight how one family comes to grips with what really matters in life. 

Wolf at the Door - Kindle edition by McKay, Joel. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

About Joel McKay:

Joel McKay is an economic development professional, author and former public relations executive and journalist. He is based in Prince George, B.C. where he is the CEO of Northern Development, and sits on the boards of the University of Northern B.C. and Destination B.C.

Joel is passionate about British Columbia, especially its vast and relatively misunderstood north. His writing focuses on the people, places and issues relevant to northern and rural communities, typically with a healthy dose of the absurd or supernatural. His short story 'Number Hunnerd', a fish tale set in B.C.'s Cariboo, was published in Tyche Books anthology Water: Selkies, Sirens and Sea Monsters in 2021. His novella, Wolf at the Door, was published in the spring of 2022 and focuses on a disastrous family Thanksgiving dinner. His forthcoming fiction, a short western horror story titled 'Hands', will be published by Brigids Gate Press in the summer of 2022.

Joel was previously Director, Communications at Northern Development. During that time he led the creation and publication of the 'Small Town PR Playbook', a first-of-its-kind how-to book for rural public relations in Canada that won the Don Rennie Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society for excellence in government communications. Prior to that, he was Assignment Editor at Business in Vancouver Newspaper where his journalism earned him a Jack Webster Award for Business, Industry and Economics in 2011, and a nomination for a second Jack Webster Award for Multimedia Reporting in 2012.

He has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Kwantlen Polytechnic University for his professional achievements, and in 2021 was awarded the Chairman's Award from the B.C. Economic Development Association for his contributions to rural development. He has been named a Top 40 Under 40 by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, and in 2021 and 2022 was named one of the 500 most influential business leaders in British Columbia by Business in Vancouver Media Group.

To request additional review copies or an interview with Joel McKay, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.   

We look forward to the coverage!