Full transparency, I’m not much of a pure Sci-fi fan. But give me a young man out to kill the giant insects that took out his parents? Sign me up.
Kurt D Springs has a new series, The Dreamscape Warriors, out with my publisher Black Rose Writing. The first book in that series, Price of Vengeance, debuts February 1.
Okay, Kurt. What should we know about you?The author bio on my book tells you I have advanced degrees in anthropology and archaeology, and I teach as an adjunct at local colleges in New Hampshire. I’ve enjoyed science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, starting with Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. In college, I became entranced with Andre Norton’s Forerunner series. Andre Norton includes ESP powers in much of her science fiction. She inspired mainly the paranormal end of my stories. While I’ve read many military science fiction books, the HALO video games inspired the military end of my writing. I like to tell people that the Dreamscape Warriors series results from Andre Norton’s Forerunner and HALO breeding. (Author note: not a pretty visual, but I digress.) I live in New Hampshire and take care of my elderly mother. Family is something else I find important in my writing.What’s the story about?
At the core of the story sits the topic of “paying the price of vengeance.” Liam becomes an orphan at the age of two when giant insects kill his parents. High Councilor Marcus and his wife take him in and raise him alongside their son, Randolf. As an adult, he becomes a soldier charged with defending the defensive outposts of New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.
When a sabotaged weapon leaves Liam injured and cut off from the city, he learns that an alien intelligence controls the insects and realizes he must learn to use the powers he’s only scratched the surface of. Upon entering the overrun city, Liam discovers that the traitor responsible for his parents’ deaths had his foster parents murdered. The quest for revenge takes Liam down a dark path.
I’m not a real sci-fi kind of guy but a good story’s a good story, and this book is compelling. What are the roots of Price of Vengeance?
I always find action-adventure stories exciting. As I said, I am a huge fan of the late Andre Norton. I thought I could combine the action-adventure element of military science fiction and the ESP of Andre Norton’s works and, perhaps, get the best of both words.
I first conceived of the story on a walk from the National University of Ireland in Galway to my flat in the sub-townland of Mincloon on the city of Galway’s outskirts. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it would be fantasy or science fiction.
Who are the authors you really enjoy (especially some we might not know)?
Obviously, my favorite author is Andre Norton. I am also a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien. I a enjoy Mark Bordner’s Mighty First series. There is also a British author, by the name of Phillip Richards, who writes the Union series. That’s military science fiction from a British point of view.
Where can we learn more about you and your work?
I’m at Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter
Did George RR Martin scar you forever and make you afraid to buy a series of books until they’re done? Guess what?
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