SETH W. JAMES

I am pleased to announce that A Desperate Measure, book 2 in The Cain Series, will be published this June, 2024, in ebook, trade paperback, and hardcover formats.  A Desperate Measure, like its predecessor Ethos of Cain, is an episodic, near-future, cyberpunk, science fiction novel, which continues the story of Cain and Francesca, as they struggle against corporate, governmental, and criminal forces, each intent upon plundering the seawall project that Francesca had risked so much to launch.

Cover copy:

“In A Desperate Measure, book 2 of The Cain Series, several months have passed since Cain and Francesca took down the fascist cabal of billionaire Dietrich Stinnes.  Riding the wave of celebrity that her victory had inspired, Francesca stepped down as the Mayor of Venice to join the newly-formed European Seawall Foundation, to shepherd the project she had fought so hard to create, with Cain at her side as her Chief of Security.  What should have been a blissfully dull—though vitally important—assignment soon became as dangerous as any period in their lives, when off-world corporation Black Horizons, Inc. infiltrated the ESF, intent upon diverting a portion of the foundation’s staggering budget to their bottom line—by any means necessary.

Cain must soon return to his roots in corporate crime, to counteract BHI’s attempts to neutralize Francesca.  From circumventing the surveillance-state AI, to battling mercenaries on the streets of Brussels, to hunting corrupt cops through a deserter colony on the Latvian coast, Cain struggles to intercept each new—and increasingly aggressive—threat.  BHI, however, have nothing to lose through violent escalation: they are a sovereign corporation, their orbiting headquarters placing them not only above Earth, but above its laws, as well.

Faced with the crippling effect that BHI’s extortion would have on the seawall project—and with the hundreds of millions who would suffer famine without the new farmlands it would create— Francesca must decide if times have grown desperate enough for a desperate measure.”

Where Ethos of Cain was told in five parts, A Desperate Measure is told in three, with the multilayered, character-and-plot-driven story exploring the consequences of sovereign orbitals, the surveillance state, AI, and the depths of corruption.  Book 3 in The Cain Series, which is already underway, will return to the five-part format and explore the evolving characters of Cain and Francesca, as the series races toward a pivotal complication.

I want to send out a big thank you to all the readers who have enjoyed Ethos of Cain and hope that you will equally enjoy A Desperate Measure.  I plan to release the cover art next month, followed by the novel’s publication in June.

Until then, happy reading!

The editorial reviews for Ethos of Cain, book 1 in The Cain Series, are finally here and I couldn’t be more pleased.

The first review is from Booklife by Publishers Weekly:

“[Seth W.] James stages crisp, surprising action . . . crafted to please SF and cyberpunk fans.”

I certainly hope so.  You can read their full review here.

Next up, we have a review from the prestigious Kirkus Reviews:

“A gripping, thought-provoking caper that successfully introduces a different kind of merc.”

And here I was hoping that soldat de fortune would catch on, but mercenary is certainly accurate.  Here’s the link to the full review.

And finally, a review from Reader’s Favorite:

“[Ethos of Cain has] high-octane action as Cain risks his life to accomplish one score after another, leaving no room for a single dull moment . . . The subtle tone of the storyline had me on the edge of my seat.”

With any luck, it’ll have you on the edge of yours, too.  The full review can be found here.

Thanks to all of the readers who have picked up the book so far; I hope you enjoy reading it and will let me, and other readers, know what you think, too.

If you’re looking for something to read after you’ve finished Ethos of Cain, you might stop by Sheperd.com and peruse their new list of authors’ favorite reads of 2023.  Here’s my list, including some old favorites and a new find, fiction and nonfiction.

Book 2 update: just a note so say that book 2 in The Cain Series will, indeed, utilize the episodic format and will be told in three parts.  Part one is already completed, part two is underway.  The book is still on track to publish next summer.

Until then, happy reading!

To coincide with the launch of Ethos of Cain, I collaborated with the folks at Shepherd.com to create a new recommendation list: The best cyberpunk novels that launched and defined the subgenre.  If you haven’t been to their site yet, Shepherd is a book recommendation source—with a twist.  Rather than aggregating users’ lists, Shepherd collects recommendations from authors: each list includes one recent work by the author and then five works that the author loved or that inspired their work or contributed to a genre, a moment in history, or other interest.

You can find my Shepherd list here: https://shepherd.com/best-books/cyberpunk-that-launched-and-defined-the-subgenre

I chose to focus on the golden-age cyberpunk novels, starting with City Come A-Walkin’ by John Shirley—cyberpunk’s “patient zero,” as William Gibson calls him—and continuing through the subgenre’s first years of existence.  These are great books, not only enjoyable and thought-provoking to read, but important to the history of cyberpunk and science fiction, generally.

Shepherd has other cyberpunk-related lists, too, which you can find here: https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/cyberpunk.  And, of course, lists on any other genre or subject you might want to explore, by authors you know or may discover for the first time.

I hope you enjoy The best cyberpunk novels that launched and defined the subgenre list and Ethos of Cain.

Happy reading!