COMING “ADRIFT” IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD. Published by DAW Books: June 15, 2021
“Welcome to Donovan” is an ironic and sometimes mocking statement well known to readers of Michael’s “Donovan” series. For Kathleen and Michael, June is a busy month with three of their novels being released at the same time, including, in addition to ADRIFT, Kathleen’s THE ICE LION from DAW, and Michael’s DISSOLUTION from Wolfpack.
For those of you new to the Donovan series, ADRIFT is a stand-alone novel. You don’t have to read the earlier books to know what’s happening. How to describe it? The Donovan books have been likened to “Deadwood” crossed with “Avatar.” This is frontier fiction set on a dangerous world thirty light years away, and a little over a century in our future. Don’t expect the usual science fiction tropes; Michael gives you complex humanity, a whole new take on biology, and a world that fights back.
With the publication of ADRIFT in June, Michael’s fifth Donovan novel takes us on our first exploration of Donovan’s oceans.
And Donovan being Donovan, everything the first humans to establish a marine research station expect is going to turn out to be wrong. Well, with the exception of Wegee Tolland’s dire prediction that Research Director Michael Hailwood is going to lose people in the process.
Not that Michaela’s people are worried. Afterall, they were chosen from among the brightest and smartest young oceanographers on Earth. What could possibly crop up in Donovan’s seas that they--having dealt with great white sharks, deadly octopuses, sea snakes, red tides, and the like--can’t handle? Along with their expertise in oceans, the Maritime Unit team is accompanied by the finest 22nd century technology The Corporation can provide, including underwater drones, submarines, and an impregnable sialon research station to live in. Piece of cake, right?
Too bad life on Donovan doesn’t play by either human or terrestrial rules. Soon enough the good folks in the Maritime Unit discover that Donovan’s seas hold some pretty fearsome beasts, but while their attention is suddenly fixed on large predators, the real danger is spreading undetected in their midst. Ultimately, it is the children who will determine the fate of humans at sea. And it won’t be pretty.
ADRIFT is coming June 15 in hardback, eBook format for your favorite reader, and in Audio from Recorded Books for download to your favorite player.
Previous books in the Donovan series including OUTPOST, ABANDONED, PARIAH, and UNRECONCILED are available in hardback, mass-market paperback, eBook, and audio versions read by the incomparable Alyssa Bresnahan. All are available through your favorite bookseller.
And, just to repeat, Kathleen’s critically acclaimed, THE ICE LION, first novel in the “Rewilding Report” trilogy will also be released in June.
The advance reviews for THE ICE LION have been outstanding. People really love Lynx, Quiller, and the postapocalyptic world Kathleen has created. Do preorder so that it’s on your doorstep on pub day!
For Next Month’s newsletter, Michael will reveal all—well, mostly all—when it comes to his modern Western apocalyptic thriller, DISSOLUTION. Coming in Hardback, eBook, trade paperback, and audio from Wolfpack Publishing, Michael establishes an entirely new subgenre in the Modern Western tradition of CJ Box and Craig Johnson.