J.C. Hutchins' sci-fi thriller novel 7th Son: Descent will be
released in North American bookstores on Oct. 27.
When dozens of publishing houses rejected 7th Son in 2005, J.C. reckoned the book would never be published. But convinced the story he'd told was worth sharing, he took to the "podwaves" in 2006 and released 7th Son: Descent as a free serialized podcast novel.
The story -- a modern-day tale about human cloning, memory recording, government conspiracies and a villain bent on global chaos -- captured the imagination of tens of thousands of listeners. Thanks to the quality of the story and the evangelism of these fans, an editor at St. Martin's Press took notice of 7th Son: Descent. The company offered to publish it. Hutchins is one of a few "podnovelists" who have landed such a deal with a major publisher.
To celebrate the Oct. 27 release of the book, J.C. is releasing the "print edition" of 7th Son: Descent in several serialized formats: PDF, blog text, and audio. We think J.C.'s personal story -- and the 7th Son novel -- is worthy of support, and are helping distribute the text version of the novel at Boing Boing for the next ten weeks.
What's the book about? Here's the jacket copy: As America reels from the bizarre presidential assassination committed by a child, seven men are abducted from their normal lives and delivered to a secret government facility. Each man has his own career, his own specialty. All are identical in appearance. The seven strangers were grown -- unwitting human clones -- as part of a project called 7th Son.
Intrigued? Check out the first serialized installment of 7th Son at the link below. You can support the book by purchasing a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Borders, or printing this PDF order form and presenting it at your favorite bookstore. You can learn more about the book at J.C.'s site.
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1) I wonder whether there'll be a female character who isn't:
-- a cold-blooded bad guy
-- a warm-hearted assistant/nurse with at best a useful technical skill and at worse only a prop
-- somebody's wife or hot lay
2) This is still pretty delicious and I will probably keep reading.
arielariel,
I will say this, there is a "female" character in this that plays a big role but i wont say more about her. Just keep reading and find out later OR check JCHutchins.net to find the serialized eps of it from 2006 OR wait as JC is currently re-releasing the book in a new eps with better performance and such. I have listened to the original trilogy podcasts 3 times currently and its still one of my favorite stories. Cant wait to get my copy of the first book.
CrazzyWarrior is not Anonymous, lol.
Has this been done before on BoingBoing? I can't remember if it has. J.C. Hutchins' middle name must be "First," what with the ways he continues to come up with new (and entertaining) ways to bring new audience to his work.
I listened to this book in its podcast form and loved it. You guys are in for a treat.
arielariel - I've read the book, and there definitely are female characters who are not the stereotypes you mentioned.
I did the podcast of this last year and it was AWESOME!
J.C. knows how to write a conspiracy thriller, his dialog is engaging and funny, and he makes some pretty twisted plotlines gel into a solid piece of work.
The cover is so creepy!
Hey, please use text cuts or links. This entry ate up my page space, and others who use Live Journal to collect their rss feeds are similarly displeased.
I listened to the podcasts and enjoyed them. JC Hutchins does write a solid thriller, he does. The really cool thing he did was to open up the toybox for his fans. He solicited fan-made content, and then shared the best stuff on his website. Some of the stuff was absolutely chilling. (Of course, the special episode of 'The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd' was a double helping of awesome with extra awesomesauce.)
@anonymous and @crazywarrior:
Best news ever. Now I can read with good anticipation, not bad anticipation. I love serialized novels.
Bowling Green College is not in Kentucky. Bowling Green, Ky is the home of Western Ky University. They might like to correct that prior to publication?
Thanks! Cory, thanks for promoting fellow authors. It is nice to see the merit of good writing, win out vs. the forces of mediocrity. -- Enjoy the Strange Attractors Song, later!
As a F/SF writer of online serials - though entirely different in nature from Hutchins' - I've also found podcasting to be especially popular. And I agree that Cory is very generous in his support of fellow onliners.