Books published by Second Initiative Press

CAN THEY SURVIVE IN A WORLD RUINED BY INTERSTELLAR DUST?The Earth has moved into the path of an interstellar dust cloud. Particles containing biologically active molecules similar to mRNA have covered the world.Many humans have died from the dust's effects. Others have mutated into animal-like creatures that hunger for flesh. A very few seem to be immune to the genetic changes.Society had changed before the dust cloud's arrival, creating a new elite class. After the dust began to fall, superficial differences between unchanged humans have little meaning.What happens when a lower-caste boy meets a high-caste girl in the middle of a dustfall, and there is an immediate attraction between them?Will they survive? Even prosper? Or, will they find that they too have been changed by the dust?The alien mRNA frees the hidden monsters in Earth's life. Many are dangerous, but the deadliest creature remains to be determined.

A Time Equation Novel: This is the fourth story in the series. Kathleen and Cadeyrin face a whole new series of challenges resulting from an herbal medicine gifted to Cadeyrin by an ancient Sasquatch.

All Adam wanted was his advanced degree and a girlfriend. What he got was betrayal, kicked out of University, and exiled to the Asteroid Belt. Through a series of mishaps, he became a successful pirate.When the oppressive North American Dictatorship retaliates, Adam is thrust into a leadership role in the Belter’s struggle for independence.He must reach deep to find the strength to meet the immense challenge.His physics background and natural inventiveness play a large part in equalizing the disparity in force strength. He adapts discovered alien technology in weaponry and space drives, providing the Belters with a minimal advantage. He is a quick learner and becomes surprisingly adept in space warfare.His girlfriend, Nile, plays an increasingly important part in his plans and in his heart. She mysteriously disappears with a Marine team member, and Adam is left wondering if she’s taken up with the man, particularly since she admitted to having had a relationship with him.What happens next is told in the story of the Belter’s Revolutionary War for Independence. The story chronicles a wild conflict around the solar system, providing entertainment, adventure, humor, tragedy, and romance set against the broad background of the asteroid belt and interplanetary space.

Can humans find a place in a world filled with self-replicating, AI-controlled nanobots?Sophie understood the problem better than any other cyber-sorcerer. She'd been there at the beginning. The benign AI, Hippocrates, has never spoken to any other humans besides her and Michael and is now missing. The other AI, Wiindigo, means nothing good for humans. The rogue intelligence intends to dominate the world and all that it contains, humans included. In the world after AI, nanobot mediated spells can be performed by knowledgeable humans, leaving those who don’t have that ability as a permanent underclass. Spells can be used for DNA manipulation and, as a result, many species of were-creatures exist. Chimeras, animals with human DNA, have developed the ability to speak. Brownies exist, and Fairies fly over the meadows.All is not well in the new order. Wiindigo's nanites have scattered over the countryside and blindly seek to regroup. Local concentrations of the rogue AI’s nanites form horrendous threats, taking the semblance of mythological monsters.The “Good Powers,” Sophie and Michael, must contend with other sorcerers in their struggle to keep humans from becoming Wiindigo’s puppets. Wiindigo’s nanites are everywhere and pose a constant threat. They will need all the assistance they can get, from every source-no matter how strange.

From the innermost workings of a computer to the surface of the Earth.From a tortured mind to the depths of space.This anthology brings you stories to stretch your imagination; stories that will leave you wondering.This collection is the perfect introduction to the work of E. S. Martell and makes a great companion piece to his full-length novels.

Caution!Do Not Enter!The other sideof the doormight be hazardousto your health!Declan must travel through a wild linkage of disguised matter transporters to rescue a beautiful woman from alien invaders. Together, the two, helped by a stray tomcat, try to puzzle out and disrupt the invasion plans. The aliens pose a deadly threat to Earth. To forestall them, the matter transporter network must be destroyed.Fighting their way across the solar system with captured weapons, the pair discover that the aliens' power is based on a horrifying symbiosis which is both the foundation of their strength and an exploitable vulnerability. The survival of humanity lies in the balance.

SOMETIMES A PARADOX IN TIME CAN BE A GOOD THINGLogan Walker needs to graduate from college in four years in order to gain his inheritance. The problem is that he's a video game playing slacker. His attempt to earn enough credit hours takes a nasty wrong turn, resulting in a discovery that may cause him to be expelled from school.His life becomes even more complex and hazardous when he finds he's somehow accidentally traveled in time back to the Pleistocene. Once there, he discovers he must adapt to a fierce world that allows no replays.His survival hinges on the goodwill of a mysterious Clovis culture girl with problems of her own. Together the two encounter enemy tribesmen, fierce animals, and war while stumbling into an unexpected relationship.Will they survive attacks from warriors, and animals? Will Logan win out over his modern adversaries? Will the two defeat their most powerful enemy: Time itself?