Project Spotlight: MAMMON: A Different Sort of Apocalypse

Our own Rob Kroese has been too principled to shill his own work on here, but that doesn't prevent me from commenting on quality when I see it.  I'm a big fan of his writing, from the sly and clever The Big Sheep (which features IP law!) to the ass-kicking and mind-bending time travel epic of the Iron Dragon series (and how can anybody dislike Space Vikings or a very well-thought-out multi-layered time travel mechanism?).

To his fans and readers, Rob is known for creating detailed and plausible universes, with characters who confront real problems -- and often lose to them, or, in the alternative, create more problems when they think they've won some sort of victory in the short term.  (Engineering is hard.  Higher-order consequences are harder.)

Rob's latest project is his forthcoming Mammon trilogy -- a SciFi story about a different sort of apocalypse.

The elevator pitch is that it's a near-future SciFi story about a clever solution to a financial apocalypse.  Obviously, everything goes exactly as planned, and there are no unforeseen consequences, so everybody lives happily ever after.  The end.  Oh, wait, nevermind -- I must have gotten Rob confused with some other author.  Rather, it is not just his first name that Kroese shares with a certain famous Scottish poet, but also the attitude embodied in that oft-quoted work.  So I'm sure that it will be fascinating to see just how events unfold.

The Mammon Kickstarter (which is Rob's 10th, and he delivered on all the previous ones) funded in fairly short order, and since then, the current pledges have more than doubled the initial target.  BUT WE CAN DO BETTER.  Anyway, if you're a fan of Rob's writing (and even if you're not one yet), head on over to the Kickstarter page, read the pitch, and consider contributing before they eventually hit Amazon (without add-ons, after they're delivered to backers, and at a higher price point).  Who knows, maybe Rob will finally add some stretch goals like I've been bugging him to do.

For any other authors out there, Rob is also soliciting submissions (for which he will pay) to a Mammon-universe short story compendium companion volume, so that may be a fun way for aspiring authors to dip their toes in the water.  (Isn't it nice of him to share his sandbox?)

In short, I'm excited to see where all of this goes, and I've put my money where my mouth is.  Given his track record, I have zero doubts about Rob delivering what he promises, just as he has in the past.  Please consider supporting this project or some of Rob's other books.