AI War: The Big Boost

March 28, 2011 5:50 AM

AI War: The Big Boost has just been ...released? published? Up today on FS& (or "fsand") is the latest in The Continuing Time series by Daniel Keys Moran. The first book in this series, "Emerald Eyes," was published in 1988, and the last time new material in the series hit the stands it was in November of 1993, in the form of "The Last Dancer." So, it's been a while.

Not satisfied with offers (or, lack thereof) through the years from publishers, Moran decided to vanity publish this entry into the series. He'd tried this earlier, with extended editions of "The Long Run," a book that originally came out in 1989, being sold at a premium to a small group of fans. However, that turned out to be much more trouble than it was worth (Amazon has a few collectors selling their copies of this edition).

With the rising popularity of eBooks, Moran teamed up with Steve Perry and Matthew Stover to create FS&, a site that would be an exclusive hub for their new eBook work. Moran is not only publishing the work on FS&, but he runs and coded the site himself. The rest of The Continuing Time series is available on FS& as well.

posted by thanotopsis (15 comments total)

Sweet, if I hadn't just picked up a Kindle this would be reason enough. I'd pretty much given up on ever seeing "AI War" in its full form.. perhaps the stars will truly align and we'll also see A Method For Madness this year.
posted by kanuck at 6:45 AM on March 28, 2011

Sweet, sweet joy!!!
Buying as soon as I get home
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:47 AM on March 28, 2011

I remember reading the first books and enjoying them in the mid 1990s. Wasn't this supposed to be a 30+ book series?
posted by blahblahblah at 7:08 AM on March 28, 2011

This year also reportedly sees Children of the Sky, by Vernor Vinge, in which we catch up on Tines' World.

Come on, Neal, you know you want to join in.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

Neal has got a book coming out - Reamde - apparently a more 'accessible' thriller about gold farming coming out in September. I am concerned.
posted by adrianhon at 9:24 AM on March 28, 2011

Also, we've seen the next Patrick Rothfuss book and the new Game of Thrones book should be out this summer. What's going ON?
posted by Bryant at 9:36 AM on March 28, 2011

I have long thought Trent one of the more fun characters in SF, and when these popped up for download a while back I grabbed 'em. I still have my paperbacks of most, too, but now I can dip into them whenever I ilke on my iPad.

The dialogue is fun ("You've never seen one of those clowns that makes ballons into animals?"), the action is good (like a guy in a steel space suit jumping up into the rings of a mass driver), and as for the freshness of the plot -- well, when I heard about those bogus SSL certificates last week, I thought of Trent stealing the Lunar LINK Key. If you haven't read these books before, I really recommend them.

I have been waiting and waiting for Moran to get moving again, so this is great news!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:22 AM on March 28, 2011

Also, we've seen the next Patrick Rothfuss book and the new Game of Thrones book should be out this summer. What's going ON?

If Barry Hughart does another Li Kao and Number Ten Ox book then I will know that hell has truly frozen over.
posted by Ber at 10:36 AM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have an old beat up copy of "The Long Run" and thought that it was the last in the series. Now I find out that there not only was a third book, but now a fourth????

I am so buying these when I get home tonight...even if the newest one is an ebook that's priced the same as a physical paperback (grumble).
posted by zbaco at 11:01 AM on March 28, 2011

Wait a second -- the cover of The A.I. War says it's Book 1 in The Tale of the Continuing Time series. But the product description for Emerald Eyes says

The first book in the Tales of the Continuing Time.

I understand the continuing time concept, having read The Last Dancer back when I was in college -- so is this an oversight or a subtle bit of chronological prestidigitation I'm too thick to appreciate? (Don't numbers mean things?)
posted by honkeoki at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2011

The AI War was originally one book, but Moran decided to chop it up into smaller pieces, as it was overwhelming.

I'm just hoping he doesn't pull a GRRM and threaten to die of a heart attack before the last of this segmented story is out the door.
posted by thanotopsis at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2011

Neal has got a book coming out - Reamde - apparently a more 'accessible' thriller about gold farming coming out in September. I am concerned.

Great. So at some point this fall I'll have to read that with one eye and Rule 34 with the other.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2011

WAHOOOOOOOOO! I've been waiting for this book since...since...yeah, since the day after The Last Dancer came out. :-) HOORAY DAN!
posted by thecustodian at 3:51 PM on March 28, 2011

FSAnd.com still needs some work. There are a number of disconnects between purchasing the digital artifact and getting it onto a device for reading.

Note that, after paying via PayPal or what-not, you need to return to the book page and click the tiny little zip file icon below the text "download your purchased files here after payment" to actually obtain the goods.

I didn't immediately see any information on the formats in which the ebook is provided. For the record, the downloadable package includes the text of the book in epub, mobi, and pdf formats. You also get a nice high-resolution jpg (1200 x 1800 pixels) of the cover image by Angel Greenwood.

Reading it now via iBooks on iPad (since I left my inskin at the office).

Good stuff so far. That thief-type guy, for one.
posted by Kikkoman at 8:29 PM on March 28, 2011

Finished AI War: The Big Boost last night. Quite enjoyable -- particularly the dialogue. The dialogue just snaps.
posted by Kikkoman at 8:42 PM on April 6, 2011