Archive for March, 2013

posted by admin on Mar 28

Free on Kindle 4/2-4/4. Please get and spread the news!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BC6TZCA

Book Trailer

posted by admin on Mar 27

I was featured on Josh Lisec’s blog
http://joshualisec.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/2013-year-of-the-thriller-rebecca-cantrell-kenneth-morvant-and-more/

posted by admin on Mar 10

Asterion is not set in the past or a fantasy novel. It is a near-future sci-fi techno-thriller set in a totalinarian America run by one man. The name Asterion is given to the first beast in reference to his appearance. The book contains genetic experimentation, nano technology and semi-autonimous automation utilized in the next American Civil War. It is a battle over monocracy vs democracy, austerity vs prosperity, freedom vs soft tyranny and oppression vs liberty.

View the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6If30IKpG4

Author’s website at http://www.kennethmorvant.com

 

posted by admin on Mar 8

This third installment of “Who is Asterion?”  introduces the main character, Taylor Scott. He is a scientist with a military background inventing and developing weapon systems. His latest experiment is one of benefit to the citizens of an America that is run by one man and teeters on the brink of collapse due to a disincentifying cradle to grave omnipresent government. A one-sentence description for him would be, “John Wayne with a brain.”

Dealing with what is in store for him, he has to be to survive. More at my author’s website

http://www.kennethmorvant.com

posted by admin on Mar 7

Asterion was intended to be a creature that benefited society. However the leader wants an oppressive beast that will carry out is wishes and control an increasingly grumbling populace. The beasts will keep his hands clean of the atrocities they commit. A beast with no conscience, remorse and an insatiable appetite for destruction. Can mankind overcome?Asterion Book Trailer

posted by admin on Mar 6

I guess before describing my novel, Asterion, I’ll need to define speculative Christian fiction. The easiest way to describe it is that the language is clean and there is no explicit sex scenes. Also, you probably won’t find any preaching. The characters live their faith rather than tell it. Unless you require sex and course language, I would think that most readers will enjoy a well crafted story. With that said, here is Asterion.

Asterion is the name of “The Starry One” and one of his images is that of a minotaur. However, that is where this book departs from fantasy novels. Asterion is a near future sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian America run by one man. It is about genetic experimentation and the consequences of playing God. This book trailer should help describe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6If30IKpG4

posted by admin on Mar 5

Don’t you just love the old sci-fi movie trailers? They promised so much and there was such a buzz over it. Then when you saw the movie the monster was hidden by bushes and darkness most of the time until the very end. Of course, that was the result of little money and the state of special effects at that time. However, some of them did have a decent plot and storytelling. Still, we always came out a little disappointed at the results, but we still flocked to the next one in the hope that this one might be profound.

Today, we are subject to almost the opposite. We’re treated to stellar special effects for a mediocre story. The plots are still good, but they suffer from continuity and other issues. This is true for print sci-fi today. I think that a good plot is easy to conceive, but hard to execute. If someone is not visionary enough to project the human condition into a future scenario, then readers will have trouble relating to the characters and issues. Some take the path of creating an imaginary world where anything (i.e. what the writer feels) goes and any semblance of even a tenuous connection to anything remotely relatable. It makes it easy to write, but hard for the reader to connect.

Take for instance, Prometheus, where we had a popular franchise and a noted director. It was visually stunning, but plot holes left us wondering why they did that. The reanimation of the head using the old Galvani electric stimulation is one example. Why do it? Other than the shock factor and explosion, I don’t why they would do that. The next example is when she uses the robotic surgery apparatus to remove the alien from her body. The huge cut would have made her actions in the rest of the movie impossible to perform. Simply making the alien smaller and using a smaller incision would have solved an easy dilemma. Of course, we have to deal with the lack of really good sci-fi books and movies and again we flock to what is available. Unless you are into the endless vampire, lycan, zombie, slashfest, sadistic and undead forms of speculative, there is little out there that satisfies. Maybe I’ll watch that old sci-fi with the MST3K guys.

 

 

posted by admin on Mar 4

No, not the puzzle and quiz site. The next evolution in the sci-fi, speculative punk series. We’ve seen steampunk rise and succeed and now we have dieselpunk. As folks explore the future through the eyes of the past is it not inevitable that the post WWII to the sixties becomes the next big thing? After all mid-century modern furniture is popular now. The view of the future from that era focused on visitors from other planets, both benevolent and malevolent. Whether we were going to alter our world or destroy it. I often smile over the naivete of such films as The Day The Earth Stood Still. While it is one of my all time favorites, do we really believe that other worldly races would care if we blew each other up. It certainly would not hurt them with the vast distances between us. If all the nuclear and conventional weapons exploded simultaneously would it even be seen from Alpha Centauri, the destination of the intrepid crew of the Jupiter II. Still a time of great technological achievement and wonderment of how it would affect us and the world around us. Oh, don’t forget who is out there.

posted by admin on Mar 2

On another blog, the question was asked, “Can Someone Give Me a Straight Answer About Christian Speculative Fiction?!”

The question was related to publishing houses desire for speculative fiction works. Here was my two-cents:

Speculative covers so many things. You are correct, supernatural is the hot thing. Really not my cup of tea, but it is what it is and the facts are the facts. Unless the main genre is romantic and some speculative element is the sub, then you have a shot at getting published. Straight action adventure that uses as its main vehicle, science fiction elements, techno-thrillers, and others do not meet with a great reception from agents and publishers. Mainly because they don’t see the demand for it, yet, Christians have flocked to movies such as Prometheus, Star Wars, Alien, Star Trek and others so there is an interest. We put up with the objectionable material to see the elements that interest us. I think there is a market for edgy Christian Speculative in that sphere if the action and story are there. As I once heard in a movie, “What I believe”

Kenneth