Rachel Aukes
Author of 100 Days in Deadland
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
As Rachel Aukes, she writes horror stories. As Berinn Rae, she writes sci-fi and paranormal romance.
Series
Works by Rachel Aukes
Redline Corps: Expendable 8 copies
The Tidy Guide to Writing a Novel: The clutter-free, 30-minute course for writing a book right the first time (2018) 7 copies, 1 review
Redline Corps 2: Besieged 3 copies
Rachel Aukes Sampler 1 copy
The Colliding Worlds Trilogy: The Complete Trilogy, Including Collision, Implosion, and Explosion (2018) 1 copy
Redline Corps 3: Vanguard 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Rae, Berinn
- Birthdate
- 1972-10-03
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Drake University (MPA)
University of Northern Iowa (BA) - Short biography
- Bestselling author RACHEL AUKES writes horror stories, and as BERINN RAE she writes sci-fi romance and paranormal romance, including the award-winning, USA Today recommended read, Stealing Fate. Rachel was raised on a farm in Iowa where she boasted the small town’s largest (and only) comic book collection, and she's still addicted to stories starring characters with kickassitude. When not writing, Rachel flies old airplanes in the American Midwest with her awesomely supportive husband and caters to an incredibly spoiled sixty-pound lap dog.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Manchester, Iowa, USA
- Places of residence
- Des Moines, Iowa, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- As Rachel Aukes, she writes horror stories. As Berinn Rae, she writes sci-fi and paranormal romance.
- Associated Place (for map)
- Iowa, USA
Members
Reviews
When the zombie apocalypse comes and her world ends, office worker Mia is reborn as "Cash" and begins her descent into Hell with Army veteran Clutch as her guide.
700 years ago, Italian poet Dante Alighieri created The Divine Comedy. In the simplest terms, part one, Inferno, details Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell with Virgil as his guide. In 100 Days in Deadland, award winning author Rachel Aukes retells Dante's story, updating the location to the mid-west US and replacing show more Dante's Hell with a zombie apocalypse.
Religious symbolism is rife throughout this book as Aukes follows Inferno's path and structure. I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil the story, but a prime example of this is Cash's symbolic "rebirth" a few days after the outbreak. Aukes hasn't just taken the first layer of the Inferno and used it as a basis for her story, she's thought about every movement and every setting, creating a deep and thought-provoking story.
Aside from the writing, she's also done her research into weapons, Doomsday preppers, military rank and tactics, plus much more. It pays off by lending an authenticity to the characters she's creating and the world they're inhabiting.
There's a lot happening in this story and by forcing it to follow a set path, Aukes runs the risk of creating a tale that may technically retell the Inferno, but fail to capture the heart of the original. I expected to be frightened. What I didn't expect was the emotional investment I'd have in the characters Aukes has created. Cash is a great character and we witness her journey from a college graduate ill equipped to deal with the apocalypse, into a capable survivor. We share her pain, her triumphs, her love and her losses.
This is a great book. Well written, well thought out, and after finishing it the first thing I did was re-read Inferno.
100 Days in Deadland pulls off the trifecta: a truly frightening zombie story, a fascinating study of humanity at their best and worst, complete with characters we genuinely care about.
http://annikisbookcase.com/2013/08/100-days-in-deadland-rachel-aukes/ show less
700 years ago, Italian poet Dante Alighieri created The Divine Comedy. In the simplest terms, part one, Inferno, details Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell with Virgil as his guide. In 100 Days in Deadland, award winning author Rachel Aukes retells Dante's story, updating the location to the mid-west US and replacing show more Dante's Hell with a zombie apocalypse.
Religious symbolism is rife throughout this book as Aukes follows Inferno's path and structure. I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil the story, but a prime example of this is Cash's symbolic "rebirth" a few days after the outbreak. Aukes hasn't just taken the first layer of the Inferno and used it as a basis for her story, she's thought about every movement and every setting, creating a deep and thought-provoking story.
Aside from the writing, she's also done her research into weapons, Doomsday preppers, military rank and tactics, plus much more. It pays off by lending an authenticity to the characters she's creating and the world they're inhabiting.
There's a lot happening in this story and by forcing it to follow a set path, Aukes runs the risk of creating a tale that may technically retell the Inferno, but fail to capture the heart of the original. I expected to be frightened. What I didn't expect was the emotional investment I'd have in the characters Aukes has created. Cash is a great character and we witness her journey from a college graduate ill equipped to deal with the apocalypse, into a capable survivor. We share her pain, her triumphs, her love and her losses.
This is a great book. Well written, well thought out, and after finishing it the first thing I did was re-read Inferno.
100 Days in Deadland pulls off the trifecta: a truly frightening zombie story, a fascinating study of humanity at their best and worst, complete with characters we genuinely care about.
http://annikisbookcase.com/2013/08/100-days-in-deadland-rachel-aukes/ show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
This definitely suffered reading right after finishing Robert Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy. The writing was an immature stream of consciousness that sounded almost exactly like a twenty-year-old decided to set some words on the page. As the protagonist is an alien abductee from community college where his aspiration was to become a truck driver. I suppose this is what passes for characterization. In a surprise move, he's forced to become an indentured servant for an alien (definitely a show more weird privileged take, but I went with it).
I was getting definite Arthur Dent vibes at the beginning:
"I woke to a blinding light and the pungent stink of sweaty gym socks. The gray floor under me looked like it’d started out as white a long time ago."
But, alas, they soon passed because Aukes forgot the kind of humor that made Adams so priceless and settles instead for teenage-level sarcasm and gross-out.
"The plumbing leaked, and I’m not talking about just the sink. The toilet leaked, too, which was extra disgusting since it didn’t even use water."
The science is randomly applied here, so there will be long passages explaining some sort of science thing ('warp gates') and then an off-hand remark about the 'hundreds of alien races, most of which are humanoid.' I also questioned her basic grasp of, well, space. Riddle me this one, Bill Nye:
"—feeling the brutal temperature and the sensation of a vacuum is what convinced me: this was no hallucination."
The most interesting thing about it is that while the framing seems like it will be tropey--main character teams up with an AI ship--the ship is kind of an asshole to him. To be fair, it's not hard to see why. I kept reading for the magic gestalt, the miraculous pull-the-team together, but it wasn't like that at all, and I enjoyed having those expectations thwarted.
What it really reminded me of is Robert Asprin's Myth series, with a jerk mentor and a gullible and incompetent human. So, might work best if you are channeling your inner early teen when reading. show less
I was getting definite Arthur Dent vibes at the beginning:
"I woke to a blinding light and the pungent stink of sweaty gym socks. The gray floor under me looked like it’d started out as white a long time ago."
But, alas, they soon passed because Aukes forgot the kind of humor that made Adams so priceless and settles instead for teenage-level sarcasm and gross-out.
"The plumbing leaked, and I’m not talking about just the sink. The toilet leaked, too, which was extra disgusting since it didn’t even use water."
The science is randomly applied here, so there will be long passages explaining some sort of science thing ('warp gates') and then an off-hand remark about the 'hundreds of alien races, most of which are humanoid.' I also questioned her basic grasp of, well, space. Riddle me this one, Bill Nye:
"—feeling the brutal temperature and the sensation of a vacuum is what convinced me: this was no hallucination."
The most interesting thing about it is that while the framing seems like it will be tropey--main character teams up with an AI ship--the ship is kind of an asshole to him. To be fair, it's not hard to see why. I kept reading for the magic gestalt, the miraculous pull-the-team together, but it wasn't like that at all, and I enjoyed having those expectations thwarted.
What it really reminded me of is Robert Asprin's Myth series, with a jerk mentor and a gullible and incompetent human. So, might work best if you are channeling your inner early teen when reading. show less
“Aliens are real (and they suck)” but they’re also pretty funny. I’ll admit Secondhand Spaceman didn’t sound that promising but I rarely pass up a funny sci-fi book. I am glad that I didn’t. Indentured servitude has never been such a fun time (for the reader, that is). Secondhand Spaceman hands you your childhood dream of owning a spaceship and traveling the universe and all of the…glamour.. that entails. Thankfully, lovable dolt, Frank Woods is the one who actually has to deal show more with the heartless boss, alien henchmen and interstellar bureaucracy. With a touch of the real world and a touch of the ridiculous Secondhand Spaceman is my new escape read. I’m starting book 2 right….now! show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Real Rating: 3.25* of five
The Publisher Says: Fifteen years into a twenty-year voyage, war veteran Captain Throttle Reyne is looking forward to taking a break from dealing with malfunctions, glitches, and the hassles of monitoring a thousand colonists in cryo-sleep.
But when her colony ship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Throttle and her crew must leave the colonists behind to search for help. They find a ship that's not only missing a crew… it's clearly not from their star show more system.
It's the discovery of a lifetime. All they need to do is tow the mysterious vessel back to their colony ship for further study and Throttle won't ever have to work again. One problem. While they're away, the colony ship is stolen—with the colonists still on board.
Throttle gives chase to a lawless star system on the outer rim. To get their colonists back, they must take on the pirates and ganglords who will do anything—and sell anyone—to make a buck.
They play dirty. But Throttle and her crew play dirtier.
Strap on your restraints and experience the start of this new space opera thrill ride. It's perfect for fans of Jay Allan, Jennifer Foehner Wells, and Star Wars.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Disabled woman very much in charge of a colony ship. A lot is made of her disability not holding her back...she's a gifted pilot, a stellar markswoman, a natural leader who inspires her crew to tremendous efforts and loyalty...but also shows her relishing zero-gee time as it lets her be free from her mobility devices. That's lovely, small piece of character development and world-building...we went to space, but can't fix everything...that I really liked.
The pace is good, the story is solid (though her error that costs the crew their passengers/cargo is a bit out of character), the prose is serviceable-plus but not dazzling or superior. I couldn't get the final mile to loving it. I do like it...I think Tales of the Ketty Jay or Firefly is a better comp than Star Wars...but I'll read the next one.
She wants $4.99 for a Kindle, or it's free to read on Kindle Unlimited. show less
The Publisher Says: Fifteen years into a twenty-year voyage, war veteran Captain Throttle Reyne is looking forward to taking a break from dealing with malfunctions, glitches, and the hassles of monitoring a thousand colonists in cryo-sleep.
But when her colony ship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Throttle and her crew must leave the colonists behind to search for help. They find a ship that's not only missing a crew… it's clearly not from their star show more system.
It's the discovery of a lifetime. All they need to do is tow the mysterious vessel back to their colony ship for further study and Throttle won't ever have to work again. One problem. While they're away, the colony ship is stolen—with the colonists still on board.
Throttle gives chase to a lawless star system on the outer rim. To get their colonists back, they must take on the pirates and ganglords who will do anything—and sell anyone—to make a buck.
They play dirty. But Throttle and her crew play dirtier.
Strap on your restraints and experience the start of this new space opera thrill ride. It's perfect for fans of Jay Allan, Jennifer Foehner Wells, and Star Wars.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Disabled woman very much in charge of a colony ship. A lot is made of her disability not holding her back...she's a gifted pilot, a stellar markswoman, a natural leader who inspires her crew to tremendous efforts and loyalty...but also shows her relishing zero-gee time as it lets her be free from her mobility devices. That's lovely, small piece of character development and world-building...we went to space, but can't fix everything...that I really liked.
The pace is good, the story is solid (though her error that costs the crew their passengers/cargo is a bit out of character), the prose is serviceable-plus but not dazzling or superior. I couldn't get the final mile to loving it. I do like it...I think Tales of the Ketty Jay or Firefly is a better comp than Star Wars...but I'll read the next one.
She wants $4.99 for a Kindle, or it's free to read on Kindle Unlimited. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 44
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 460
- Popularity
- #53,418
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 71
- ISBNs
- 58
- Favorited
- 2
