A Requiem Dawn, by J.L Forrest

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Blurb:

Five thousand years ago, the Atreianii transcended humankind, reducing men and women to slaves and pets. These post-human demigods reigned for centuries across their world and throughout the solar system, and for a time they created their paradise. Yet it could not last; they warred amongst themselves, reduced the globe to dust and ash, and fled beneath the ground, awaiting better days.

An E’cwn huntress, Nyahri, has awakened one such demigod, one still determined to destroy her own kind, to right old wrongs, and to avenge a long-dead beloved. Dormant powers, older than Nyahri can imagine, draw her from her tribal life into the service of a goddess—

Whose heart beats like anyone’s, longing for her lost companion, a love who may one day live again through Nyahri herself.

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Go read this book.

J. L. Forrest and I have been trading stories for most of our lives, leading back to a nearly simultaneous discovery of ‘Star Wars’ (I think he found out about it first, by a matter of months. By virtue of living in an actual city and not in Ruralsville.) J. L. is a much, much better writer than I am. I’ve become accustomed to this over the years, because there are lots of better writers than I am. I like them all, and I really enjoy reading what they’ve written.

Other people think he’s a fairly good writer, too: he’s sold SFF stories to Crossed Genres and Analog, which is no easy feat.

Many  years ago, he sent me a draft of what would become A Requiem Dawn. The story stunned me even then, rough as it was, with its post-apocalyptic setting, intricately-extrapolated cultures, super-evolved humans, literary overtones, philosophical depths, and the understated F/F romance of the protagonists.

Is this version perfect? Nope. It won’t be to everyone’s taste. It’s a damn big book. There’s a lot going on. I’m sorry not to see it in a catalog from say, Tor or DAW Books – their loss, if J. L. even pitched it to them. I’m glad to see it’s been published with care and attention by Robot Cowgirl Press, where J. L. is an editor as well.

As I said, go read a sample of this book. If you like it, read the rest. Then talk about it to other people.

Self-publishing no longer has the eye-rolling stigma it once had, but self-pub authors still have one vast disadvantage compared to their commercially-published peers: marketing. They don’t have a large publisher doing expensive industry-direct marketing to booksellers, libraries, international convention programs, and major review sites. Self-pub authors must shoulder the burden of promoting their books by themselves, without becoming tiresome spambots on social media. Small-press authors like J. L. have a little help, but they still have to metaphorically pound the pavement for reviews.

Word of mouth is the single best tool any author has for promotion, and thankfully it works just as well for authors outside the aegis of the Big Five.

Amazon link

J.L. Forrest’s website: http://jlforrest.com/