Under the Amoral Bridge: A Cyberpunk Novel - Page 2

LCF · 09-22-2010, 05:57 PM

Nice first 10 pages. Just bought the rest.

Donnageddon · 09-24-2010, 01:22 AM

I finished the 2 book compilation of The Bridge Chronicles a couple of weeks ago. All in all, I think it is an excellent compilation, but I had some complaints about the second novel The Know Circuit.

Below is the review I left on Smashwords.

Quote:

You can read the reviews for Ballard's first entry in the Bridge Chronicles, they are spot on. Over The Amoral Bridge is a fun, exciting read with memorable characters and enjoyable noir cyberpunk feel.

The second entry The Know Circuit starts off much the same. Bridge is drawn personally (through his loyal body guard Aristotle)into the strange happenings in Boulder Co, which coincides with some equally strange happenings in the Net.

The first half of the Know Circuit promises the same enjoyable noirish thrill ride of The Amoral Bridge, but the second half gets bogged down with some ancillary characters (the scientists behind the strange happenings) and their back story which I found to be duller than dishwater. These characters held no interest, and their dialogue and actions were campish and starkly out of place in the world Ballard had so successfully created. I wanted these charaxters to die quickly so that we could get back to Bridge, Aristotle and the entourage of streetwise fellow travelers.

I give the 2-in-1 volume a four, but the first book deserves a 5 and the second a 2 1/2.

I look forward to Ballard's next entry in the Bridge Chronicles, and I hope he can get back to the heart of the world without the less interesting "super hero" distractions found in The Know Circuit.

The issues I had with the second half of The Know Circuit will not dissuade me from getting the third novel. Ballard does have great ear for noir style cyberpunk. I have great hopes he will have the next novel stick more with the main characters.

HaemishM · 09-24-2010, 11:16 AM

The first draft of the third novel IS finished. I've got an editor looking over it now while I write some more short stories that are going to be on my web site soon. It's called if [tribe] = (pronounced "if tribe equals"), and it will focus more on the crime noir elements with a lot of callbacks to the first novel. There will however, be more of the technomancers in it - not the group you meet in The Know Circuit, but the one mentioned at the end, Mu, Bridge's new bodyguard. The series was always meant to have a bit of the magic in the cyberpunk world. I'm sorry you didn't like those elements of the Know Circuit - it won't be for all cyberpunk fans. I am glad you didn't absolutely hate it though.

Thanks for all who have bought it - this has been the best sales month I've had since I started self-publishing a year ago, with over 100 total books sold. I couldn't have done it without people willing to take a chance on an unknown.

Donnageddon · 09-24-2010, 06:56 PM

Well, there is more I immensely enjoyed in the Bridge Chronicles than I disliked. I look forward to the next novel in the series.

I really like the short stories too.

HaemishM · 10-01-2010, 11:27 AM

If you liked the short stories, you'll be happy to hear that starting this weekend, I'll be adding new short stories to the Bridge Chronicles blog, at a rate of 1 per month. These will all be set in the "Bridge universe" though they won't all have Bridge in them. I'll likely add the first one tomorrow (Saturday).

You can find the blog at: http://amoralbridge.blogspot.com.

HaemishM · 10-02-2010, 01:59 PM

As promised, the first of the Tales from the Bridge Chronicles short stories has been posted on my blog. You can find Part 1 of The Run by clicking here. Enjoy!

HaemishM · 12-09-2010, 06:44 PM

I've since updated the site with two new short stories.

Anatomy of a Credit Assassination

T.R.C.

Hope you guys enjoy them!

caleb72 · 12-10-2010, 10:10 AM

Another one to add to my "to buy" list.

Regards
Caleb

HaemishM · 12-17-2010, 12:06 PM

Hope you enjoy it, Caleb!

HaemishM · 03-27-2012, 12:34 PM

This novel got a positive review from the blogger Christie Cote at Christie's Book Reviews. Though cyberpunk is not her preferred genre, she still enjoyed the book.

Quote:

It was well written and descriptive. I could easily imagine the world. The author did well with giving a vivid image of who Bridge was and what he was like. He wasn’t really someone I would be friends with.

The story was fast paced and had a good amount of action.

Thanks to Christie for reading the book.

Shack70 · 03-27-2012, 12:39 PM

Downloading the sample from Amazon now!

Shack70 · 03-27-2012, 01:13 PM

Read the sample and bought it! Looks great, I'll review it after I read it.

HaemishM · 03-30-2012, 11:40 AM

Fantastic! I hope you enjoy the whole book as much as you did the sample.

HaemishM · 05-03-2012, 02:02 PM

On the strength of this novel, I was named the SFNetCast indie author of the month for May. The book is still available as an eBook for only $.99 cents. The site's owner gave me a positive review as well, which you can see on the link above.

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09-22-2010, 05:57 PM	#16
LCF Wizard Posts: 1,472 Karma: 9795311 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germany Device: Hanlin V3 (LBook), GS3	Nice first 10 pages. Just bought the rest.

09-24-2010, 11:16 AM	#18
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	The first draft of the third novel IS finished. I've got an editor looking over it now while I write some more short stories that are going to be on my web site soon. It's called if [tribe] = (pronounced "if tribe equals"), and it will focus more on the crime noir elements with a lot of callbacks to the first novel. There will however, be more of the technomancers in it - not the group you meet in The Know Circuit, but the one mentioned at the end, Mu, Bridge's new bodyguard. The series was always meant to have a bit of the magic in the cyberpunk world. I'm sorry you didn't like those elements of the Know Circuit - it won't be for all cyberpunk fans. I am glad you didn't absolutely hate it though. Thanks for all who have bought it - this has been the best sales month I've had since I started self-publishing a year ago, with over 100 total books sold. I couldn't have done it without people willing to take a chance on an unknown.

09-24-2010, 06:56 PM	#19
Donnageddon Now you lishen here... Posts: 2,494 Karma: 479498 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: Sony PRS-650. Kobo Touch, Kindle Fire	Well, there is more I immensely enjoyed in the Bridge Chronicles than I disliked. I look forward to the next novel in the series. I really like the short stories too.

10-01-2010, 11:27 AM	#20
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	If you liked the short stories, you'll be happy to hear that starting this weekend, I'll be adding new short stories to the Bridge Chronicles blog, at a rate of 1 per month. These will all be set in the "Bridge universe" though they won't all have Bridge in them. I'll likely add the first one tomorrow (Saturday). You can find the blog at: http://amoralbridge.blogspot.com.

10-02-2010, 01:59 PM	#21
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	As promised, the first of the Tales from the Bridge Chronicles short stories has been posted on my blog. You can find Part 1 of The Run by clicking here. Enjoy!

12-09-2010, 06:44 PM	#22
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	I've since updated the site with two new short stories. Anatomy of a Credit Assassination T.R.C. Hope you guys enjoy them!

12-10-2010, 10:10 AM	#23
caleb72 Indie Advocate Posts: 2,863 Karma: 18794463 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	Another one to add to my "to buy" list. Regards Caleb

12-17-2010, 12:06 PM	#24
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	Hope you enjoy it, Caleb!

03-27-2012, 12:39 PM	#26
Shack70 Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 1043626 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: York, Pa Device: Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation	Downloading the sample from Amazon now!

03-27-2012, 01:13 PM	#27
Shack70 Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 1043626 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: York, Pa Device: Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation	Read the sample and bought it! Looks great, I'll review it after I read it.

03-30-2012, 11:40 AM	#28
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	Fantastic! I hope you enjoy the whole book as much as you did the sample.

05-03-2012, 02:02 PM	#29
HaemishM Author Posts: 60 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Jackson, MS Device: Motorola Xoom	On the strength of this novel, I was named the SFNetCast indie author of the month for May. The book is still available as an eBook for only $.99 cents. The site's owner gave me a positive review as well, which you can see on the link above.