Never take the same route twice, and never smuggle alien drugs.
Those are Sola's two rules when she and her crew of Crawlers - London's elite smugglers of the 25th century, never break. Because those that break them tend to end up dead.
But soon, captured by a wealthy smuggling ring, they find themselves forced to break that second rule. They're now smuggling stormtech, a drug made from the DNA of an extinct alien race, making users permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. Only, the people they're working for prove to be far, far more dangerous than they could ever have known.
Thrust into a high-stakes game of subterfuge and interstellar alien drug trades, Sola and her crew have to stay one step ahead to stay alive.
Scream in Blue is a standalone, fast-paced cyberpunk novelette set in the world of The Common.
Praise for Jeremy Szal
'A serious punchy space opera espionage that never loses sight of the human cost. Szal is adept at interweaving big SF ideas and fast-paced action to craft a compelling story' - Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of CHILDREN OF TIME
A high-power augmented SF adventure that will keep you reading!' - Garth Nix, New York Times best-selling author of SABRIEL
STORMBLOOD is sci-fi with an edge. You'll want two things when you're finished this book: a glass of gin and a sequel.―Nicholas Eames, author of KINGS OF THE WYLD
' This is what 21st century Sci-Fi ought to be' - Miles Cameron, author of ARTIFACT SPACE
A space opera that is both sweeping and taut, with real grit and real heart. This book will kick you in the nuts as you’re lying on the floor.” – Richard Swan, best-selling author of The Justice of Kings
BIPOC
Novella, Cyberpunk, The Common, Short Stories, Space Opera
About The Author
Jeremy Szal was born in 1995 and was raised by wild dingoes, which should explain a lot.
He writes epic fantasy and dark space opera of a character-driven, morally grey nature. His main series is the Common trilogy from Gollancz/Hachette, which includes STORMBLOOD, BLINDSPACE, and WOLFSKIN, about a drug harvested from alien DNA that makes users permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression.
He’s the author of over fifty short stories, translated into sixteen languages, many of which appear in his short fiction collection BROKEN STARS. He was the editor for the Hugo-winning StarShipSofa until 2020 and has a BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from UNSW.
He carves out a living in Sydney, Australia with his family, where he loves watching weird movies, eating Japanese food, exploring cities, learning languages, cold weather and dark humour.
