The Cosmic City (The Stolen Future, Book 3) by Brian K. Lowe

Release date: February 25, 2017

Subgenre: Time travel, Space opera

About The Cosmic City: 

 

In the conclusion to The Stolen Future trilogy, Keryl Clee finds himself at the center of a crisis which could mean the destruction not only on Earth, but of Time itself. Hostages of a time-traveling madman who is creating an army from the past to conquer the world of the future, before Clee and Lady Maire can defeat him they must come to grips with the shocking truth behind the 300-year-old Nuum invasion of Earth.

Beset by new and powerful enemies, betrayed by the Council of Nobles itself, Keryl Clee has one last chance to unite the peoples of Earth--Nuum and Thoran, human and non-human alike--because even he is powerless against those who are coming from beyond the stars to reach…The Cosmic City.

Excerpt:

One of us would live to leave this spot, and one would die. I gripped my pistol with desperation, weighing my limited options. Its skin was oily and slick, pulsating slightly in a way that made me ill to look upon. Although I could have scored a hit almost anywhere along the body, I was afraid I would do no more than enrage it. If I were to strike, it must be at the head, but with it constantly moving, I despaired of doing any damage. Loathe as I was to realize it, I must await the beast's charge, when it would have to focus on its prey.

So why did it not charge? Why had it come so far, with such apparent determination, setting itself squarely in my path, only now to content itself with waiting and making vague threats?

A cold shiver ran down my spine as though something unseen had just draped itself across my shoulders. It had trapped me--now it was waiting for its mate.

There was no time to lose. A second monster eel was even now sneaking up behind me, perhaps even herding a gaggle of its young. The thought of a swarm of these monstrosities aiming for my unprotected back spurred me on. I had always taken the fight to the foe, and this was no different. If I was to die, let it be quickly.

Holding the pistol out before me like a sword, I ran straight for the Thing, which abruptly halted and stared at me with an expression that must have been the river monster equivalent of complete shock. Lest the moment pass and all be lost, I fired on the run, peppering its face and snout and mouth with a ragged scattershot. If naught else, maybe I could confuse it, or distract it long enough to seize further advantage. I saw black marks appear and smoke dot its visage before the very last miraculous shot struck the eel-monster right in the left eye--which flickered.

An instant later the entire eye socket exploded outward with a shower of sparks. The eel screamed in a high-pitched whine and thrashed about, slamming its blind side into the dirt as though to fight the pain. I was almost thrown from my feet by its violence. I wanted to run--I should have run--but this last and greatest mystery kept me rooted even as the great beast howled and kicked and twisted in agony. My hindbrain was shrieking at me to flee--the noise was sure to attract every creature on the plain--but I needed to know why a prehistoric water monster had electronic eyes.

Then there was new roar from behind and above me, and I was literally staggered by a blast of hot fetid air. At the same time the screaming monster eel writhed and slapped the earth, and I lost my balance and I fell. My time to flee had run out.

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About Brian K. Lowe:

Brian K. Lowe been writing all his life. In tenth grade he wrote a "novel" featuring his two best friends and me as space cadets. (It got him 100 extra credit points, the first time he got "paid" for a story.)

He attended UCLA, got married, and slowly learned the tools of the trade, writing creative nonfiction during the day, and doing the fun stuff at night.

In 2008, he attended the Taos Toolbox advanced writing workshop offered by award-winning author Walter Jon Williams, featuring Kelly Link as his co-instructor and Stephen R. Donaldson as guest lecturer. In 2010, he joined the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

In addition to over 30 fiction sales, Brian has also published a non-fiction book on protecting your assets in the stock market called How to Know if Your Stockbroker is Ripping You Off--And What You Can Do About It, which draws on his thirty years in the securities industry.

 

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