It’s finally here! This is release week for Valiant Dust, the moment when a couple of years of work (well, off and on, a month here and a couple of months there) sallies forth to meet the reading public.
Naturally, I’ve been doing what I can to talk up my new book in various articles and formats around the internet. So today’s post really consists of a few links to articles you might find interesting if you enjoy my writing or you’d like to find out more about the hows and whys of my new series. In no particular order:
My Favorite Bit
I contributed a little essay about Valiant Dust‘s “Torpedo Mystery” to Mary Robinette Kowal’s excellent “My Favorite Bit” article series. You can read it at:
Unbound Worlds
The folks at Unbound Worlds generously offered me the spotlight with an exclusive piece on Sikander North and Writing Colonialism. Writing this essay made me take a step back and really think about what I’m trying to do in the Breaker of Empires series. I mean, I worked it out a couple of years ago when I started in on Valiant Dust, but it was good for me to revisit this subject and remind myself of exactly why I did what I did. Check it out at:
Tor/Forge Blog
Finally, I wrote about the most important ship in Valiant Dust–a ship that does not actually appear in the story. Curious? You can find out more here:
In other news, I’m scheduled to record podcasts with Dungeon Crawlers and Functional Nerds, I’ll be signing books at Liberty Bay Books in Bremerton on November 25th, and I’ll be dropping in on Reddit for an AMA on November 30th. If you’re anywhere reasonably close to the Seattle area and you’d like me to drop by your store, just send me a note; I love to discover new bookstores and say hi to fellow sci-fi fans!
Richard Baker 
I bought it. I read it. I liked it.
I also felt that it could have been dropped directly into David Weber’s Honorverse with very minor changes.
I am not sure if I would prefer your novels were a part of his universe but away from Honor herself, or if the two of you NEED to collaborate on something.
What is next for Lt Cmdr North?
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Hi, Aaron — Glad you liked the book! I’m a fan of David Weber’s stories too. I’m making an effort to differentiate the Sikander-verse on some important points like aliens (you’ll see more in Book 2), naval combat (big guns vs. missiles), a tougher look at colonialism and Great Power rivalry, and (hopefully), a protagonist who demonstrates different strengths and weaknesses than Honor Harrington. I wouldn’t want to try to fit Sikander North into Honor’s universe . . . but if the opportunity came around, I’d love to write an Honorverse story.
Next up for Sikander: The Boxer Rebellion, with aliens!
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