Sword of the Stars: The Collector's Edition has now been released. This deluxe collection of the original game and its first expansion, Born of Blood, contains a variety of special edition extras, including new maps and updates to game content. Most important from my point of view, however, is that the box ships with a copy of my new Sword of the Stars novel, The Deacon's Tale inside.

During the release period for Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood, I was hard at work making a novel from the background material leading up to the new expansion. Some excerpts of the work were released for free on the forums at Kerberos Productions. For those who would like to take a gander at the free excerpts, the adventures of SolForce intelligence officer Cai Rui begin here:

The Incident at Ko'Grappa

In other news, the Circlet Press anthology Best Fantastic Erotica has been released and has been receiving excellent reviews, with many kind words spoken about the collection in general and about the my own contribution in particular. Just to recap past events, my short story "Monsoon" won first prize in the contest which inspired the anthology, back in January 2006.

A few choice quotes from the reviewers:

"Best Fantastic Erotica begins with Arinn Dembo’s "Monsoon." The bleak and barren landscape where the story is set had me thinking of Frank Herbert’s Dune or Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine. Reading a little further I discovered the alien landscape was not “in a galaxy far far away,” but set a little closer to home in India. And then I was lost in the universally adored fantasy world of damned good storytelling.

Monsoon is the story of a photographer and a country that is alien to him. Although the world may seem familiar and quantifiable through a camera lens, what you see isn’t always what is there. "Monsoon" is exquisitely written, and Dembo deservedly won first place in Circlet’s contest. A fantastical story, but based so firmly in reality, the author pulls off that cleverest of tricks so the reader understands everything and comes away blissfully confused..."

--Ashley Lister, www.erotica-readers.com (click here for full review)

"Dembo layers this story with beautiful imagery of a woman’s power to evoke comfort as a mother (indeed even Mother India), a lover, a cook, or a servant. The life-giving power of the female, embodied by the monsoon rains that give life back to the land, threads through this haunting tale. “Monsoon” is the kind of erotica that could be found in any fantasy or literary fiction anthology; the sexual content blends so seamlessly into the story, it’s hardly noticeable..."

--Carol Ann Moleti, The Fix Short Fiction Review (click here for the full review)

"It’s not surprising that this lushly written story of an exotic one-night stand was selected as Circlet’s winner. Dembo so firmly and skillfully establishes the South Asian setting you can practically feel the baking heat and smell the curry..."

--Lydia Thorne, Uniquely Pleasurable (click here for the full review)

"Best Fantastic Erotica Edited by Cecilia Tan.
Circlet (SCB, dist.), $19.95 paper (320p)
ISBN 978-1-885865-60-1

Tan (Sex in the System) presents the top stories from Circlet's Best Fantastic Erotica contest in an anthology that runs the gamut from sensual SF to surreal fantasy. Arinn Dembo's “Monsoon,” the deserving prize winner, tells the tale of Benton, a photographer and womanizer traveling in India, whose encounter with a mysterious seductress results in an eerie surprise.

Other highlights include Carolyn and Steve Vakesh's wry “Capture, Courting and Copulation: Contemporary Human Mating Rituals and the Etiology of Human Aggression,” a scholarly lecture by and for dragons; Connie Wilkins's “The Bridge,” about a British veteran's curious encounter with the Green Man; and Catherine Lundoff's hilarious “Twilight,” in which half-vampire co-ed Mariel tries to dodge annoying yet seductive vampire hunter Christopher Van Helsing. (May)."

--Publisher's Weekly (click here to see review).

Just for fun, I've re-printed some of my old game reviews from my Cnet and Computer Gaming World days. Check my karmic debt load here:

Redneck Rampage
Space Bunnies Must Die!
Darkseed II (one of the meanest reviews I ever wrote)