Description
Peterson's weirdly fascinating environment will appeal to fans of epic world building, and the generous dose of ribaldry in the story is a welcome treat.
-Booklist
The apocalypse happened, but no one knows how. All that's left are a smattering of bizarro cities called remnants, each ruled by a grotesque potentate known as an Odd. If you wind up in hock to the Odds, they ship you to a chain-gang that stretches thousands of miles across desert, steppe, and tundra.
A good-hearted drifter named Eldridge is a longtime member of the Chain. Known as the "Red Rook" because of his triumph in the Xiang Tournament of 2603-a battle royale of live-action battle chess-Eldridge nevertheless wound up on the Chain because...well, he's always getting in trouble trying to help his friends.
But when El's best buddy Boris joins the Chain, he brings word that the Odds have declared war on their friends, each of them being held captive by a different Odd in a different remnant.
Eldridge and Boris escape the Chain, kicking off a breakneck tour of a psychedelic post-apocalyptic landscape that includes a wild race along a subterranean river of mud; a visit to remnant that's like a massive ant colony; and a final showdown in a skyscraper-turned-temple that's toppled along a river of lava.
About the Author
Robert J. Peterson is a writer and web developer living in Los Angeles. A Tennessee native, he graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He's written for newspapers and websites all over the country, including Welcome to Twin Peaks, the Marin Independent Journal, PerformInk, Space.com, the Telluride Daily Planet, and Geekscape.net. In 2004 he co-founded the pop-culture emporium CC2KOnline.com. He's appeared on the web talk shows Screen Junkies TV Fights, Collider Heroes, Comics on Comics, The Fanboy Scoop, Geekscape, and Fandom Planet.
He's the founder of California Coldblood Books and the author of two previous novels, the YA sci-fi thriller Omegaball, and The Odds, Book One of the Deadblast Chronicles. An audio drama based on The Odds is set to debut in 2019.
His friends call him Bob.
Reviews
Praise for Robert J. Peterson's Deadblast Chronicles
Praise for The Remnants
"Peterson has built a bleak and visceral world as vividly imagined as Dune, then forced a group of optimists to survive it. Even amid a hopeless future coated in dust and self-made mutants, The Remnants is surprisingly funny and full of optimism about the incorruptibility of the human spirit. This book makes me wish I could travel into the future, not to the point at which this apocalyptic story takes place, but to when this book is already successful and I can play tabletop RPG version of it."
-Soren Bowie, writer, American Dad!
"The level of invention here is off the charts. If you like your sci-fi sauteed in postapocalyptic motor oil and infused with the aroma of Mad Max: Fury Road bath salts, this is just for you. Pure fun."
-Karl Mueller writer/director of Rebirth (Netflix Studios) and Mr. Jones (Anchor Bay Films)
"The Remnants is a post-apocalyptic picaresque with more cool and invention than any dystopia in memory. Think Smokey and the Bandit: Fury Road. Peterson delivers massive heart and radioactive grit; the redhead rogue: Eldridge, friends to follow him into hell and lurid, lucid goons to fill it. A playful, sweet and brainy chase."
-Brett Jackson, creative director
Praise for The Odds
"The Odds harkens me back to childhood: under the covers with a flashlight, following characters I loved through worlds I desperately wanted to explore. From the opening pages to the "chess" thing (a brilliant sequence, worth the price of admission alone), The Odds is engaging, inventive, and fun. Peterson has a clear voice, and layers humor into his prose effortlessly. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does next with The Remnants."
Dalan Musson, screenwriter, Iron Sky 2: The Coming Race and The Ark: An Iron Sky Story
"It's full-bore sci-fi/post-apocaylptic writing where the writing is actually good, not just functional. The dialogue sizzles. The sentences are packed with radioactive imagery and double-barreled zingers. The paragraphs grab you by your eye sockets and scream in your ears 'til they bleed while repeatedly punching you in the face-and you love every second of it."
-Karl Mueller, writer/director of Rebirth (Netflix Studios) and Mr. Jones (Anchor Bay Films)
"I'd describe The Odds as one part western, one part Hunger Games, and one part chess. The hero is incredibly engaging."
-Kristine Chester, Fanbase Press
"The best way I can describe this book is like a magnificent lovechild of Big Trouble in Little China and Mad Max Fury Road. This novel is endlessly inventive, well written, and extremely hard to put down. I highly recommend it if you want to get your action-humor postapocalyptic scifi fix on. Five very well deserved stars. I would describe it further; the twists and surprises of the plot, the looping beauty of the prose, the straight up cool of the characters but I don't want to spoil it for you. Do yourself a favor and buy the book already!"
-J.M. Perkins, Author and Game Designer
"The Odds is a deliciously odd book. It is a post-apocalyptic novel that really defies pigeon-holing. It is sort of sci-fi, sort of fantasy, sort of a farcical comedy, sort of ... I really don't know what. (...) Peterson makes it work."
-Jonathan K, Science-Fiction-Review.com
"Readers with a taste for grotesque zaniness may enjoy this venture."
-Publisher's Weekly
Book Information
ISBN 9781644280522
Author Robert J. Peterson
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Rare Bird Books
Publisher Rare Bird Books
Series The Deadblast Chronicles
-Booklist
The apocalypse happened, but no one knows how. All that's left are a smattering of bizarro cities called remnants, each ruled by a grotesque potentate known as an Odd. If you wind up in hock to the Odds, they ship you to a chain-gang that stretches thousands of miles across desert, steppe, and tundra.
A good-hearted drifter named Eldridge is a longtime member of the Chain. Known as the "Red Rook" because of his triumph in the Xiang Tournament of 2603-a battle royale of live-action battle chess-Eldridge nevertheless wound up on the Chain because...well, he's always getting in trouble trying to help his friends.
But when El's best buddy Boris joins the Chain, he brings word that the Odds have declared war on their friends, each of them being held captive by a different Odd in a different remnant.
Eldridge and Boris escape the Chain, kicking off a breakneck tour of a psychedelic post-apocalyptic landscape that includes a wild race along a subterranean river of mud; a visit to remnant that's like a massive ant colony; and a final showdown in a skyscraper-turned-temple that's toppled along a river of lava.
About the Author
Robert J. Peterson is a writer and web developer living in Los Angeles. A Tennessee native, he graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He's written for newspapers and websites all over the country, including Welcome to Twin Peaks, the Marin Independent Journal, PerformInk, Space.com, the Telluride Daily Planet, and Geekscape.net. In 2004 he co-founded the pop-culture emporium CC2KOnline.com. He's appeared on the web talk shows Screen Junkies TV Fights, Collider Heroes, Comics on Comics, The Fanboy Scoop, Geekscape, and Fandom Planet.
He's the founder of California Coldblood Books and the author of two previous novels, the YA sci-fi thriller Omegaball, and The Odds, Book One of the Deadblast Chronicles. An audio drama based on The Odds is set to debut in 2019.
His friends call him Bob.
Reviews
Praise for Robert J. Peterson's Deadblast Chronicles
Praise for The Remnants
"Peterson has built a bleak and visceral world as vividly imagined as Dune, then forced a group of optimists to survive it. Even amid a hopeless future coated in dust and self-made mutants, The Remnants is surprisingly funny and full of optimism about the incorruptibility of the human spirit. This book makes me wish I could travel into the future, not to the point at which this apocalyptic story takes place, but to when this book is already successful and I can play tabletop RPG version of it."
-Soren Bowie, writer, American Dad!
"The level of invention here is off the charts. If you like your sci-fi sauteed in postapocalyptic motor oil and infused with the aroma of Mad Max: Fury Road bath salts, this is just for you. Pure fun."
-Karl Mueller writer/director of Rebirth (Netflix Studios) and Mr. Jones (Anchor Bay Films)
"The Remnants is a post-apocalyptic picaresque with more cool and invention than any dystopia in memory. Think Smokey and the Bandit: Fury Road. Peterson delivers massive heart and radioactive grit; the redhead rogue: Eldridge, friends to follow him into hell and lurid, lucid goons to fill it. A playful, sweet and brainy chase."
-Brett Jackson, creative director
Praise for The Odds
"The Odds harkens me back to childhood: under the covers with a flashlight, following characters I loved through worlds I desperately wanted to explore. From the opening pages to the "chess" thing (a brilliant sequence, worth the price of admission alone), The Odds is engaging, inventive, and fun. Peterson has a clear voice, and layers humor into his prose effortlessly. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does next with The Remnants."
Dalan Musson, screenwriter, Iron Sky 2: The Coming Race and The Ark: An Iron Sky Story
"It's full-bore sci-fi/post-apocaylptic writing where the writing is actually good, not just functional. The dialogue sizzles. The sentences are packed with radioactive imagery and double-barreled zingers. The paragraphs grab you by your eye sockets and scream in your ears 'til they bleed while repeatedly punching you in the face-and you love every second of it."
-Karl Mueller, writer/director of Rebirth (Netflix Studios) and Mr. Jones (Anchor Bay Films)
"I'd describe The Odds as one part western, one part Hunger Games, and one part chess. The hero is incredibly engaging."
-Kristine Chester, Fanbase Press
"The best way I can describe this book is like a magnificent lovechild of Big Trouble in Little China and Mad Max Fury Road. This novel is endlessly inventive, well written, and extremely hard to put down. I highly recommend it if you want to get your action-humor postapocalyptic scifi fix on. Five very well deserved stars. I would describe it further; the twists and surprises of the plot, the looping beauty of the prose, the straight up cool of the characters but I don't want to spoil it for you. Do yourself a favor and buy the book already!"
-J.M. Perkins, Author and Game Designer
"The Odds is a deliciously odd book. It is a post-apocalyptic novel that really defies pigeon-holing. It is sort of sci-fi, sort of fantasy, sort of a farcical comedy, sort of ... I really don't know what. (...) Peterson makes it work."
-Jonathan K, Science-Fiction-Review.com
"Readers with a taste for grotesque zaniness may enjoy this venture."
-Publisher's Weekly
Book Information
ISBN 9781644280522
Author Robert J. Peterson
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Rare Bird Books
Publisher Rare Bird Books
Series The Deadblast Chronicles
