Windswept by Adam Rakunas
“Like all the best speculative fiction set in the future, Windswept is also about
the way we live now, and Adam Rakunas tackles what matters most with
a metric ton of humor and heart. A promising, thrilling debut.”
Robert Levy, author of The Glittering World
“Lush and exotic, Rakunas’s Windswept is like the booze that powers his world:
a delightful cask aged añejo rum that keeps revealing greater complexity and depth
the more time you spend with it. I didn’t realize I had been lacking rum-running
space opera in my life, but after Windswept, I definitely have a thirst for more.”
Mark Teppo, Author of Earth Thirst and co-Author of The Mongoliad
Padma Mehta has to save her city, her planet, and Occupied Space from a devastating crop-killing plague — all before Happy Hour.
Labor organizer Padma Mehta is on the edge of space and the edge of burnout. All she wants is to buy out a little rum distillery and retire, but she’s supposed to recruit 500 people to the Union before she can. She’s only thirty-three short. So when a small-time con artist tells her about forty people ready to tumble down the space elevator to break free from her old bosses, she checks it out — against her better judgment. It turns out, of course, it was all lies.
As Padma should know by now, there are no easy shortcuts on her planet. And suddenly retirement seems farther away than ever: she’s just stumbled into a secret corporate mission to stop a plant disease that could wipe out all the industrial sugarcane in Occupied Space. If she ever wants to have another drink of her favorite rum, she’s going to have to fight her way through the city’s warehouses, sewage plants, and up the elevator itself to stop this new plague.
File Under: Science Fiction [ Plagues, Plots & Planets | One-Eyed Wonder | Bad Tips, Good Tipples | This Little Bar I Know ]
Book Info:
UK Print
Date: 3rd September 2015
ISBN: 9780857664778
Format: Medium (B-Format) Paperback
R.R.P.: £8.99
North American Print
Date: 1st September 2015
ISBN: 9780857664785
Format: Small (Mass-Market) Paperback
R.R.P.: US$7.99 / CAN$9.99
Ebook
Date: 1st September 2015
ISBN: 9780857664792
Format: Epub & Mobi
R.R.P.: £5.49 / US$6.99
More Books in This Series:
2. Like a Boss (June 2016)
Buying Info:
UK Print & Ebook
Amazon.co.uk | Book Depository | Waterstones | WHSmith
North American Print & Ebook
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | BarnesandNoble.com | IndieBound.org
Global DRM-Free Epub & Mobi Ebook
On-sale 1st September 2015 from the Robot Trading Company
Author Info:
Adam Rakunas: www.giro.org | @rakdaddy on Twitter | Facebook
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Discuss and Review Windswept at Goodreads.com
Read an Extract:
Sample Chapters to follow…
Praise and Reviews:
“Adam Rakunas is one funny SOB, and now everyone’s going to know it. Windswept is a zippy, zany ride, with more fast turns than a Wild Mouse rollercoaster. There’s more witty banter and laughs per page than anything I’ve read in years, making this, my friends, the rarest kind of science-fiction-comedy novel: one that’s actually funny. Buckle the hell up.”
– Daryl Gregory, Award-winning author of Afterparty and We Are All Completely Fine
“Windswept is a classic noir story shot full of space-rum and rocketed into the future.”
– Seattle Review of Books
“The book was a very fun thrill ride through a future that looks like no other I’ve ever seen. A worthy debut, and I shall watch for future works from Mr. Rakunas.”
– Manhattan Review of Books
“This melange of fast-paced action, character study, social study and witty dialogue makes up a thoroughly enjoyable narrative treat.”
– SF and F Reviews
“This grunge world science fiction adventure is one of the best debut SF adventure novels Your Humble Reviewers have read recently.”
– Bull Spec
“The world building was fantastic and characters so well developed as to be defined by their short comings. Padma is gritty, stubborn and a bit slutty. She drives the novel hard, with constant movement through a world built on the byproducts of sugar cane. The societal structures that involve Freeborn and “Breaches” and the clashes that ensue with the corporate structures is entertaining in its complexity. The story line begins to become steeped in mystery, deceit and betrayal while being rendered with humor in all the right places.”
– Koeur’s Book Reviews
“Seriously, this book is just plain funny. Even so, it manages to present an interesting perspective on politics, consumerism, and unionizations. So if you want to read about Co-Ops, giant crab attacks, sewer chases, and the inadvisability of copying techniques from the movies, Windswept is definitely worth a look.” 4/5 stars.
– Bookaneer
“Windswept is a fast-paced action thriller that delivers multiple twists and turns and an unrelenting pace. Padma is a tough, no-nonsense heroine, among a cast of interesting and diverse women (which is, sadly, still rare enough to be delightful). It’s a perfect rum-fuelled thrill ride.”
– Astounding Yarns
“It’s very rare for a book to grab my attention on the first page, then proceeds to drag me through a fast-paced, action packed SF romp. The book is irreverent and zany and I heartily recommend picking it up.”
– Ted Mahsun
“Part action-adventure, part space opera, part farce, Windswept follows Padma, Jilly and the escapees through complicated legal, company-vs-union conflict and violent struggles in a post-diaspora-heading-towards-collapse science fiction universe. Recommended forStar Trek fans who loved stories like ‘The Bell Riots’.”
– Dark Matter Zine
“Windswept fuses edge of your seat action with thought provoking speculation – a perfect blend for an unforgettable science fiction read.”
– The Mutt Cafe