Robert Kroese, author of the Iron Dragon, Mammon, and Cross-Time Crusade novel series, is returning to continue the adventures of one of his most beloved characters, interstellar con man Rex Nihilo, who burst onto the galactic scene amidst uproarious laughter in 2014’s Starship Grifters (link is to my review).
Now, he has launched a Kickstarter to fund three new Rex Nihilo adventures, all to be published in 2024. Kroese describes the project:
In 2014, I published a fun little book called Starship Grifters, which introduced the world to interstellar con man Rex Nihilo and his longsuffering robot sidekick, Sasha. Inspired by Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, my goal with Starship Grifters was to write the craziest, most entertaining sci-fi adventure I could concoct. The reaction from readers was enthusiastic: the book currently has more than 500 5-star reviews on Amazon. NYT bestselling author Hugh Howey called it “Hilarious” and his “favorite read [of the] year.” Over the next few years, I wrote three sequels and a couple of short stories set in the same universe. Then I put Rex, Sasha, Pepper, Donny, Boggs and the gang aside for a few years to work on big, serious sci-fi projects.
With the tenth anniversary of Starship Grifters coming up, I decided it was time to check in on Rex and the gang. The publisher, 47North, was kind enough to relinquish the rights to Starship Grifters, freeing me to release a re-edited version of the book with new cover art. Over the past few months I have released new editions of all four books in the series, and the response has been overwhelming.
In 2024, I will be publishing three new Rex Nihilo books. The tentative release schedule is:
- April 2024 A Scammer Darkly
- August 2024 The Hand-Made Tail
- December 2024 A Grift Too Far
Each book will be a complete story centered on interstellar con man Rex Nihilo and the other usual suspects. Each book will be at least 200 pages and will contain 107% of the FDA-recommended amount of sci-fi zaniness.
I have backed this project.
