Review: Copper Skin Oaken Lungs by Adam Bassett

 
The Book:

For a thousand years, The Old Town has stood as humanity's last bastion against the maalkonis, malignant black mists that reduced the rest of the world to ash. They are kept at bay by rusty machines on the town's walls. In order to survive, the dwindling population depends on one another.

Since a young age, Justīne has embraced the harsh responsibilities that accompanied her apprenticeship on the last farm in existence. Her younger sister, Anna, is beginning her own apprenticeship as well. Learning engineering was not Anna's first choice, but the town's last mage fell to the maalkonis years prior, leaving nothing behind but confusing books and strange runes.

When food runs low during a particularly harsh winter, distrust spreads like a plague, and Justīne is blamed for it. As hunger leads to violence, she and her siblings are forced to flee The Old Town, embarking on a perilous journey into the very mists that had formed their cage. Their fight to survive in the dark develops into a hopeful mystery as they follow the breadcrumbs of a mage's efforts to save the world. Meanwhile something pursues them through the maalkonis...

My Thoughts:

This was a short yet thoroughly enjoyable novel, the first in what appears to be a forthcoming series, as its subtitled Copper and Ash Book 1. I do hope this is the case because this is certainly a world that I am curious to know more about.

The worldbuilding is probably the best bit about this novel. The concept of the maalkonis is quite unique and the atmosphere and sense of place is skilfully woven and immersive, both the old town where the story starts and then when Justine and her companions venture into the black mists that surround them.

There’s an interesting backstory to this world and I’d love to know more about the origins of the maalkonis and how it came to devastate the lands we find ourselves in. The technology which keeps the maalkonis at bay is also a fascinating element to this tale, especially with the danger of this ancient knowledge becoming lost. We are constantly reminded of the precarious nature of the old town’s survival which adds to the sense of peril. These are all aspects which could perhaps have been developed further had the novel been longer, and yet, as there is more to come in this series the unanswered questions compel me to read on.

Having said that this story is in itself well rounded with a satisfying conclusion and I certainly didn’t feel as if I was left hanging, which can sometimes happen at the start of a series.

So if you fancy a short but immersive read then this is one I can recommend.

My Fiction on Substack

Earlier this year I looked around at potential platforms to use for a newsletter. Several authors that I’m acquainted with send these out sporadically and it seems like a good way to build and keep in contact with their readership. So after a bit of deliberation and looking at what other people were using I decided on Substack.

It’s been interesting. There’s a vibrant community on Substack but also a cohort of people who are vehemently against it, although I’ve yet to see any evidence to back up their claims. Personally I’m finding it very friendly and useful. There’s all sorts of publishing insights and interesting people there.

I started my newsletter back in February and slowly started to build traction. Substack has an interesting setup where you can write articles which will be sent out to your subscribers – the newsletter part – and also has notes which are pretty much like all the other social media platforms where you can follow people and they can follow you, separate from actually subscribing to receive your articles by email.

I started with a monthly newsletter but then I noticed that several of the people I was subscribing to were sharing their fiction, some short stories and some serialised novels which they then went on to self publish. In fact the more I looked the more I found.

And so I’ve decided to join in the fun. Let me introduce you to Flashes of Strangeness where I will be sharing a piece of flash fiction or a drabble every few weeks for the foreseeable future. I’ve built up quite a collection of short stories over the years so I can’t wait to share them with you all. 

Here’s the link if you’d like to subscribe. Flashes of Strangeness

And then along came Ficstack. This is a brand new venture – a website that logs and lists Substack fiction. It’s searchable by genre and vibes so you should be able to find exactly what you like to read. Defiantly work taking a look. Here’s the link: Ficstack.

So far this is proving to be a good decision. Subscribers are increasing, which suggests to me that people are actively looking for fiction to read on there. I will keep going and see how it develops. Who knows, I might even serialise one of my own novels at some point in the future.

 

Self Publishing Update (October 2025)

It’s been a while since I did one of these updates but that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking. Instead I’ve been trying out different ways of finding my readership. And the main one I’m going to talk about here is collaborative book sales.

Setting a book either free or on sale on my own doesn’t tend to gain many sales or downloads, largely because my reach doesn’t extend sufficiently widely to get the attention of people who haven’t yet come across the book. So in order to mitigate this I’ve been taking part in a variety of collaborative events.

The first of these was a Stuff Your Kindle event. In this case the Dark Mode SYK. This had a really good reach and I put in Dragons of Dunmoray and was delighted to get over 4000 downloads from nearly 20 different countries.

However there was a downside. Firstly the books have to be set to be free downloads, so people are inclined to download many more books than they are ever likely to read. There’s no direct financial gain and it’s hard to determine how many of the people who download the book ever actually read it and whether any of these actually translate into reviews.

On the upside I did see an uptick in sales of my other books as well as an increased number of kindle unlimited page reads which coincided with the sale. So it certainly helped gain visibility.

I then had a go at participating in collaborative sales. These can be quite tricky to find – I often learn about them after the event, but I have managed to take part in five so far with varying results. In some sales I shifted zero books while in others I’ve done really well. In the latest sale I took part in, Permafrost ranked in the top 20 out of over 300 books, which was really pleasing.

I think the trick here is to match the right book with the right sale. For example in some sales different genres will outperform others. If your book isn’t a popular genre for that readership then you won’t get much traction. 

It’s all a bit of a learning experience and there are a couple more sales that I have my eye on and will be participating in over the coming months.

So keep an eye out. I’ll post here when they’re live. And grab yourself a bargain!

The Self Published Science Fiction Competition 2025

The Self Published Science Fiction Competition - or SPSFC5 - is now taking entries. So if you have a self published SF novel why not give it a go.

I've just entered Permafrost and this will be my third year taking part. I'm really looking forward to discovering some great new books to read and rave about on this blog.

Here's the link if you fancy joining me in the contest. SPSFC5

The Based Book Sale - on now!

I'm participating in another time - this time its the Based Book Sale which runs from the 3rd - 10th September 2025. 

I have two books in the sale, both priced at only 99p/99c! Grab them while you can - before the price goes back up!

The Narratess Indie Book Sale

For three days only the Narratess Indie book sale will have a feast of Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror books, either on sale or free! One of my books, The Arid Lands, is in the sale, available for only 99p/99c or equivalent depending on which country you are in. So don't miss out. Grab your copy now.

Check out the sale here. There are over 300 books available so you're bound to find something you like. It's time to load up those kindles!

The Reviews Are Coming In

 My latest self published SF novel, Permafrost, has been out in the world for a couple of months and I'm delighted to see how well it it being received. It is gathering some great reviews, both on Goodreads and Amazon, and then there's this one at the Popular Science Books Blog to add to those giving it 5 stars!