Get an advance reading copy of my sci-fi series set on Mars: “Red Desert”

The main characters of "Red Desert", from left to right:
Hassan, Anna, Melissa and Jan.

As you maybe know, I’ve published a sci-fi series in Italian, titled “Deserto rosso”. The final book of the series will be released in Italy within a week. This series will be soon translated into English and published with the title “Red Desert” in the second half of 2014, or a bit earlier.

In the meanwhile I’m already looking for readers willing to receive an ARC of the books, when they are available. The first book, which is a novella, will probably be ready by March.

The people in the list will receive the first book some months before the release. If they like it, they’ll get the other three books of the series as well. In exchange I ask to get an honest feedback about it and, possibly, a review on Amazon, Goodreads or wherever, when the book is published.

Here are the books of the series:

“Red Desert - Point of No Return” (novella, 21,000 words)

“Red Desert - People of Mars” (short novel, 45,000 words)

“Red Desert - Invisible Enemy” (novel, 73,000 words)

“Red Desert - Back Home” (novel, 96,000 words)

The genre is hard sci-fi techno-thriller, involving space exploration and astronautics, with a character driven plot. It is set about 50 years in the future and a big part of the story takes place on Mars.

The protagonist is an anti-heroine called Anna Persson, a Swedish exobiologist.

The books will be in British English, but speakers of other English variants are very welcome, because their feedback on the comprehensibility of the text is very important to me.

I’ve chosen British English because I’m European and this is in many ways a European sci-fi series, though NASA and U.S. American characters are involved, but they are seen from the point of view of a very peculiar European protagonist.

Actually I’m curious to see the reaction of U.S. Americans to this very particular point of view!

Just a couple of warnings: there are no completely good characters in this story; don’t expect heroes to save the world; there are profanities and some inexplicit sex.

This series is a bestseller in Italy on Amazon and Kobo. The first book is the third best sold e-book on Kobo in the category sci-fi for all languages. It is generally liked both by sci-fi and non-sci-fi fans (men and women).

Here is a short description of the series:

Thirty years after the Mars exploration mission Hera, whose crew died in mysterious circumstances, the ensuing political issues that slowed NASA’s race to conquer space have finally ended. This time the five members of the new Isis mission will not travel the 400 million kilometres for a short visit. This time they are destined to become the first colonisers of the Red Planet.

Among them is a Swedish exobiologist, Anna Persson, landed to this adventure in the hope of starting a new life away from Earth.

But Mars will have an unbelievable discovery in store for her, key of a mystery hidden in the depth of Valles Marineris.

If you are interested, e-mail me at carla@anakina.net so that I can put you in the list.
The books are only available as e-book (mobi, epub or pdf).

Submissions close on 30 April 2014.