The paperback version of artist Duncan Long's science fiction novel Lesser Gods is now available, printed via Amazon's Print On Demand service CreateSpace, with additional artwork not found in the ebook version.
In Lesser Gods, wisecracking hacker Ralph Crocker finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war between a cyborg named Death, a gang of organ-stealing street monstrosities, and genetically modified government agents trying to discover the secret of a new drug that turns men into gods.
The Singularity has not yet come to the dystopian future. Transhumans roam the streets and the automated legal system has run amuck. To survive, Ralph must brave dangerous shadow worlds and trust Alice (who may be virtual rather than real flesh and blood). Joining forces, the two play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a superhuman inventor who pulls the strings from behind the scenes to alter perceptions and change reality.
With a witty narrative and skillful plotting, Lesser Gods travels around the planet and beyond, from streets haunted by mechanical prostitutes in deadly tourist traps to virtual worlds where anything can happen – often with deadly results.
"Many of my clients have been using CreateSpace to print their books, so I thought I’d try this myself," says Duncan, whose work featured in SciFiArtNow. "It has been a few years since I last used this POD (Print On Demand) service, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see how it had improved.
"CreateSpace is easy to use and — perhaps more importantly for self-publishers — feeds directly into its parent company Amazon.com, so books produced through CreateSpace automatically get listed in the Amazon catalogue," Duncan notes.
"To make the process even more tempting, CreateSpace offers a free catalog number so publishers don’t have to buy an ISBN for the book (while also allowing customers to use their own ISBN if they wish).
"Basically a self publisher can create his own virtual press, putting his logo and address on the back cover."
• Duncan has posted a detailed appraisal of the CreatSpace service on his own blog here
• Buy Lesser Gods from amazon.co.uk
• Buy Lesser Gods from amazon.com
