Nas Hedron is a writer, editor, and artist. He is the editorial half of the team at Indie Book Launcher and provides copy editing for each issue of International Speculative Fiction (starting with #2) and its annual anthology.
Nas’s story “Siren Songs in Deep Time” appeared in ISF#2. Each of his ebooks–listed below–has its own home page, providing bonus material, videos, and updates, and in some cases a free PDF library.
Luck + Death at the Edge of the World (Home Page Link)
[Novel]
“A great science fiction detective story featuring a classic noir detective, a fading super-star, a nymphomaniac, and an A.I. who channels Alan Turing, the father of computing, all set in a dystopian future that is familiar yet fascinatingly strange—what more could you want?”
- Ian Watson, author of The Universal Machine: From the Dawn of Computing to Digital Consciousness
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Luck + Death at the Edge of the World
Security specialist Gat Burroughs died once and he’ll be damned if he lets it happen again. Unfortunately, somebody is determined to kill his client, a washed-up star named Max Prince, and isn’t afraid to go through Gat to do it. Is it Max’s debauched granddaughter and heir? Is it the deadly Suerte y Muerte, a cult that kills to steal good luck? Is it Max’s own lawyer and manager, James Jerome? And how on earth did the would-be assassin get past Max Prince’s top-grade AI, the one that’s adopted the likeness of computer pioneer Alan Turing? Gat will have to follow the clues through L.A.’s underworld, the slums of Mexico City, and his own guilty past to find the surprising answer. |
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This book is the first in the Fallen World Series of novels and short fiction, which also includes Felon + the Judas Kiss (see below) and the upcoming titles Los Angeles Honey and In the Empire of the Monkey King.
This ebook includes a special Facts in the Fiction section that gives background on some of the factual elements in the fictional story. You can find a sample on the Luck + Death home page. This section includes:
- the 1920s celebrity home that served as the model for Max’s mansion at Cloud City
- current work in robotics behind the Dogware, including nanorobotics, swarm robotics, and the military application of robots
- the reality behind the emerging infectious diseases that cause sudden quarantines in 23rd century Los Angeles
- the real science that may one day permit the uploading of a human consciousness into an artificial body
- the historic computer genius behind the fictional A.I. in Luck + Death
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Felon + the Judas Kiss (Home Page Link)
[Novelette]
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Felon + the Judas Kiss
Dave ‘Felon’ Fellows is a cheerful sadist. He thrived during his time in the California National Forces, especially during the incursion into Tijuana for ‘civilian pacification.’ Calvin Hearn lost his mind in the brutal Tijuana operation, and although he’s much recovered since then he’s still haunted–awake or asleep–by the ghosts of that massacre. Now Felon is an LAPD officer, while Hearn is a pastor ministering to the Angeleno homeless, and together they’re at the center of events that could soon tear the city apart. This novelette can be read on its own, but also builds on the world and characters established in the novel ‘Luck and Death at the Edge of the World,’ featuring Gat Burroughs. |
This is the second ebook in the Fallen World Series, which begins with Luck + Death at the Edge of the World.
Felon + the Judas Kiss tells the story of events that are referenced in Luck + Death, but whose details aren’t given there.
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The Virgin Birth of Sharks (Home Page Link)
[Novelette]
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The Virgin Birth of Sharks
Rani Perreira has been a street kid since she was thirteen years old. She’s adapted, becoming as brutal as the world around her. The only thing she knows for sure about her own origins is that she was born in the infamous Prison for Women–long ago shut down amidst scandal–to a woman named Shaila Perreira. What she doesn’t know is that her birth shouldn’t have been possible since her mother had been isolated from any male contact for years. Now a chance encounter brings her an unexpected glimpse into her family history, reveals a score she must settle, and inspires her with a disorienting desire to start a new and very different life. |
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This book includes a special Facts in the Fiction section that gives background on some of the factual elements in the fictional story. You can find a sample on the Virgin Sharks home page. This section includes:
- the science behind actual virgin birth, or parthenogenesis, amongst sharks
- a look at the deadly sins of lust and pride in history and literature
- a profile of the Bersa Thunder, Rani’s handgun of choice
- the Indian bandits known as dacoits, and in particular the Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi
- the rules for keeping a great white shark as a pet in Toronto (seriously)
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Siren Songs in Deep Time (Home Page Link)
[Short Story]
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Siren Songs in Deep Time
Follow the unravelling of an unusual relationship that seemed like it would literally last forever, from Greece in the Second World War, to Chile during the coup by Augusto Pinochet, to New Jersey in the near future, to a space mining station in the distant future where change finally comes to what has been an unchanging cycle. |
This story appeared in ISF #2 and the ISF Anthology for 2012, but the ebook includes a special Facts in the Fiction section that gives background on some of the factual elements in the fictional story. You can find a sample on the Siren Songs home page. This section includes:
- the concept of deep time as applied to the future, including a look at the Long Now Foundation
- the historical setting: occupied Greece in World War II
- the historical setting: the 1973 coup in Chile
- the future setting: the science fiction and science fact of asteroid mining
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Carey Pressley’s Gone Again (Home Page Link)
[Short Story]
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Carey Pressley’s Gone Again
This is a ghost story for grown-ups. It isn’t spooky in a traditional way, but every person’s childhood haunts their adult years. It’s not unusual for a prospective romance to come between a guy and his friends, but Jack’s pal Carey is a most unusual best friend. |
This book includes a special Facts in the Fiction section that gives background on some of the factual elements in the fictional story. You can find a sample on the Gone Again home page. This section includes:
- an inside look at the world of book publishing
- the indigenous intoxicants khat (or qat) and kava
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