Steinmetz expertly fuses cyberpunk staples and romantic comedy elements to deliver an over-the-top, action-packed tale while also addressing mental illness and body issues ”—Publisher's Weekly starred review
“Steinmetz has mixed fast-paced shoot-em-up violence with a compassionate treatment of trauma and mental illness to create an engaging page-turner. Like Shadowrun with a conscience.”— Hugo Award-winning author Jim. C Hines
“Automatic Reload is for everyone who ever wished the Transformers movies were less Michael Bay, more transformation sequences; it luxuriates in the intricate beauty that is technology, exults in the mechanics of cyberpunk. And it does all this while being a rom-com with a lot of explosions.” —Cassandra Khaw, finalist for the British Fantasy and Locus Awards for Hammers on Bone
“Automatic Reload is an adrenaline-fueled cyborg rampage wrapped around a creamy sweet center. With a heart-stopping pace, tender interludes, and rich technical details, Ferrett Steinmetz has crafted a story that cranks itself to eleven. You'd better have your seat belt on, because this book barrels through tight corners and hairpin turns, all the way to its unexpected finish line.” —S. B. Divya, Nebula Award nominated author of Runtime and co-editor of Hugo-nominated Escape Pod
“Brutally weird and terrifyingly believable, Ferret Steinmetz takes the gloves off and punches you repeatedly in the brain with a high-tech look at a fatal future. Automatic Reload is what happens when humanity's lines are crossed. We'll never be able to go back.”— K. C. Alexander, author of Necrotech and Mass Effect: Nexus Uprising
“A wicked technothriller full of gut-punching action, sharp twists, and surprisingly tender moments. Also, the most heart-pounding cyborg tech support you will ever read.” – Spencer Ellsworth, author of The Starfire Trilogy
“Automatic Reload is a wild ride through an all-too-believable, terminally capitalist future. I came for the shoot-em-up action, but the relationships in this book have more punch than the most well-tuned gun. I was cheering for Silvia and Mat all the way through.” —Alex Wells, author of Hunger Makes the Wolf
“Frederick Pohl said good science fiction shouldn’t just predict the automobile, but also the traffic jam. Automatic Reload does that for body-modification, AI, and computer-aided combat. We get the traffic jam, plus road rage, hyper-surveillance, and hails of bullets...but we also get the fragile people trying to survive it all. I hope it isn’t prophetic, but I’m afraid it might be. ” —James Alan Gardner, author of They Promised Me the Gun Wasn’t Loaded
“Steinmetz delivers a 'rom-com with explosions' featuring a hero with PTSD and control issues, and a killer heroine with a panic disorder. The action is nonstop, with issues of mental illness, identity, and humanity woven subtly throughout. Mat breaks the fourth wall in his random musings, rather like a cyborg Deadpool.”— Library Journal, starred review
Reviews for Ferrett Steinmetz's The Sol Majestic
“The discussion around this novel implies that it’s a revelous romp, but that would be oversimplifying it. Yes, the characters are fun and mad, the descriptions of the restaurant and its inhabitants wondrous and sparkling. But like the food sumptuously described here, strange, surprising and satisfying notes burst through while consuming each chapter.” — The Washington Post
“The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz is not a love letter: it's a love asterisk, a love starburst, radiating out in so many contradictory directions that it shouldn't possibly work, and yet somehow, gloriously, does.
It is a feast of a book!” —New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire
“Ferrett's fiction always has something clever and hungry about it, and The Sol Majestic is no exception - if anything it's the logical next step, and his pinnacle so far. Strange, rich, thoughtful, and just plain fun - this is a book to swallow whole.” — Cherie Priest, Hugo and Nebula Award nominated author for Boneshaker
“There are moving tales and clever tales. This one happens to be both. Steinmetz never ceases to amaze.”— Ken Liu, Author of The Dandelion Dynasty and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
“If Baz Luhrmann was going to direct an episode of Chef's Kitchen, this book would be the result. Steinmetz has brought his signature high-saturation prose to questions of identity, truth, faith, food, and sex in this completely one-of-a-kind book. It grabbed me by the brain and didn't let go until long after I got to the end.” – Hugo and Campbell award finalist Sarah Gailey, author of River of Teeth
“Dizzying, beautiful worldbuilding with characters that make you ache. Damn this book is good.” – Hugo Award finalist Mur Lafferty, author of Six Wakes
“From the first hors d'oeuvre to the last bite of dessert, there is a complexity of characters, motivations, and love. Compelling and delicious!” –Lawrence M. Schoen, author of The Moons of Barsk
03/01/2020
When Mat mustered out of the military due to an injury, he began body-hacking. At first he simply replaced the limb he lost with cybernetic hardware, but when he realized his cybernetics were faster and more accurate as weapons, he replaced them all and became one of the top body-hackers in the world. He used his military knowledge and cybernetics to carve out a career as a mercenary. When he's offered $3 million for two hours' work, he jumps at it, because cybernetics repair and replacement is expensive. All he has to do is help a bloodthirsty body-hacker and crew protect a shipment. Despite his careful planning, they're attacked and he discovers the cargo is Silvia, a woman who's undergone some involuntary biological enhancements. Mat can't leave an innocent civilian behind even if she's stronger, faster and more bulletproof than he is, and he just might be falling for her, even as a bloodthirsty organization hunts them relentlessly. VERDICT Steinmetz (The Sol Majestic) delivers a "rom-com with explosions" featuring a hero with PTSD and control issues, and a killer heroine with a panic disorder. The action is nonstop, with issues of mental illness, identity, and humanity woven subtly throughout. Mat breaks the fourth wall in his random musings, rather like a cyborg Deadpool. Recommended for libraries looking for a deliciously over-the-top adventure.—Melanie C. Duncan, Washington Memorial Lib., Macon, GA
Tim Campbell narrates a pulse-pounding adventure featuring a tough-as-nails mercenary outfitted with cybernetic limbs and tasked with an unusual mission. Mat's arms and legs are varied military-grade weapons that make him the best soldier on the black market. His latest job promises a huge score that turns out to be a person: Silvia, a genetically engineered assassin. Campbell imbues Mat with a gruff exterior offset by a core of tenderness, while Silvia's anxiety bleeds through her deadly abilities. Thundering gunfights, hectic chases, and harrowing battle sequences abound as Campbell’s narration deftly balances the action with the heart-melting romance that blossoms between Mat and Silvia, along with a hefty dose of humor. Campbell elevates the written story into an explosive romantic comedy. J.M.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Tim Campbell narrates a pulse-pounding adventure featuring a tough-as-nails mercenary outfitted with cybernetic limbs and tasked with an unusual mission. Mat's arms and legs are varied military-grade weapons that make him the best soldier on the black market. His latest job promises a huge score that turns out to be a person: Silvia, a genetically engineered assassin. Campbell imbues Mat with a gruff exterior offset by a core of tenderness, while Silvia's anxiety bleeds through her deadly abilities. Thundering gunfights, hectic chases, and harrowing battle sequences abound as Campbell’s narration deftly balances the action with the heart-melting romance that blossoms between Mat and Silvia, along with a hefty dose of humor. Campbell elevates the written story into an explosive romantic comedy. J.M.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
