Join us for a reading and signing of The Megarothke by debut sci-fi/horror thriller novelist Robert Ashcroft, published by Dallas's own film studio & publishing house Cinestate, moderated by Nebula Award-winning author William Ledbetter, author of the Nebula Award for Best Novelette-winner The Long Fall Up.
About the Book
The Megarothke is a remarkable debut sci-fi/horror-thriller that begins seven years after the limitless depths of the Hollow War decimated Earth, leaving only 50,000 humans to fight for their survival in a pocket of Los Angeles. Theo Adams is sent on a mission to destroy the enigmatic being that initiated this apocalypse, confronting the fact that humanity's yearning for transcendence caused its downfall.
"A bloody, blistering novel of war and sacrifice set in a time of actual monsters . . . It's some heavy mythology-building but Ashcroft's skillful blend of noir vocabulary and cyberpunk aesthetics work to its advantage. Between its robotic doppelgängers, mutated monsters, and actual ray guns, the book manages to take a hard look at what it means to be human in an age when humanity barely remains." — Kirkus Reviews
"Ashcroft takes posthumanism to a sinister place in an intense debut set in an ominous and suspenseful postapocalyptic hellscape . . . Ashcroft’s novel builds a strong sense of dread into a gritty condemnation of playing god, and it’s perfect for fans of the creepy and philosophical." — Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Robert Ashcroft has worked as a State Department contractor and has trained as a cryptologic linguist, the study of foreign cultures, languages, and belief systems. Most recently, he was mobilized to serve abroad with the U.S. Army Reserve. A lifelong fan of science fiction, Ashcroft spent nearly a decade after college staying up late to write novels, at one point going so far as to quit his job and rent an apartment in Mexico City to write. His main goal for the forseeable future is to be able to travel and encounter interesting people and ideas.
William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award-winning author with more than fifty speculative fiction stories and non-fiction articles published in markets such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Writers of the Future, Baen.com, the SFWA blog, and Ad Astra. He's been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace and defense industry. He administers the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society, is a member of SFWA, the National Space Society of North Texas, a Launch Pad Astronomy workshop graduate, and is the Science Track coordinator for the Fencon convention. He lives near Dallas with his wife, a needy dog, and two spoiled cats.