Today I’m interviewing Kate Sheeran Swed, author of the Tocatta System series, which is a trilogy of novellas about runaway assassins, cyborg vigilantes, love and technology. All three books in the series are now available through Amazon and will soon also be available at other retailers. These books are literary retellings, sort of, exploring the darker side of Great Expectations, The Phantom of the Opera and Treasure Island. They’re also great fun and really fast, action-packed reads as Astra, Claire and LJ try to take on a rogue AI determined to control the entire system and take revenge for her broken heart.

Let me give you the blurb for the first book, Parting Shadows, and after that I’ll pass the blog on to Kate as she graciously answers my nosiness about balancing literary allusions with writing your own new story, the polarising effect of technology (and its topicality), and a little bit of what to expect from Prodigal Storm since this interview focuses on the first two books. Go, my organisational skills!

Raised by a heartsick AI, she’s programmed to kill. And desperate to flee.

After growing up on an isolated space station, Astra dreams of solid ground. But with an AI guardian plugged into her head–and her nervous system–it’s not like she’s flush with choices. In fact, she’s got just one: use her training to carry out the rogue AI’s revenge. Her first mission? Assassination.

When her target flashes a jamming device that would guarantee her escape from the AI’s grasp, Astra sets out to steal it. But the AI’s plans are more dangerous than she suspected. Corrupted by heartbreak, the wayward computer is determined to infect the star system with a new order of digital tyranny.

Astra’s been raised to care for no one but herself. Now she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to trade the star system’s freedom for her own.

Parting Shadows is a far-future take on Estella Havisham’s journey in Great Expectations, and the first installment in Kate Sheeran Swed’s Toccata System novella trilogy.

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