The Trade Paperback and Kindle editions are ready to go, and they will do just that next Friday, January 31st. But you can get your very own kick-ass copy of A Sword Into Darkness RIGHT NOW.
Dylan has your space-opera-crack . . . and HE KNOWS IT.
To enter, you have to provide your own answer to the question posed in Chapter 3. Nathan thinks the question is just a “zinger,” an interview exercise designed to show your prospective boss how you think. Little does he realize that tech magnate Gordon Lee is completely serious when he asks, “How would you stop an alien invasion?”
So, that’s the question posed to you, dear reader: How would YOU stop an alien invasion?
Provide your best Twitter-esque answer either here in the comments, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Tumblr, or via e-mail. The only limit is the 140 characters (or so) of a standard tweet. Otherwise, shoot for the moon (perhaps literally). You can enter as many times as you want between now and Monday at 2359 eastern time. Your answer can be based on the hardest of sciences, rely on supernatural forces (Cthulu smash!), Star Trek level handwavium / Doctor Who-ish macguffins, or be completely fun, insane, or off the wall.
On Tuesday, my panel of experts and I will quantifiably determine the absolute best answer and that worthy soul will receive a free proof copy of A Sword into Darkness via US mail before the big launch day. I also have a few extra Advanced Reader Copies lying around which are just begging to get mailed out.
Enter soon and enter often and may the best invasion-stopper win!
The Improbable Author 
I would read Vogon poetry to them until their major intestines leap straight up through their necks and throttle their brains.
You, sir, are needlessly cruel.
In the spirit of HG Wells’ War of the Worlds, I think I would breathe, cough or sneeze on them. Surely they are vulnerable to our germs and viruses.
Implacable alien Overlords vs a kindergarten classroom, I’m betting on runny noses every time. And if they rally, we can always throw a bus station men’s room at ’em. Eeeeeewwwww.
I’d let them download the internet. The sheer weight of human stupidity and perversion would convince them that there is, in fact, nothing culturally useful here, that the madness is possibly infectious (and the number of humans who will be racing to copulate with you definitely are) and humanity is definitely not worth the time and effort to invade, but fascinating enough to watch from a very long distance and use as a cautionary tale (so they won’t bomb us out of existence).
Or, if it doesn’t drive them away outright, we can be assured they’ll all expire from overdosing on Mountain Dew and Cheetos as they browse.
Take advantage of a fact: Interstellar travel is the ultimate example of a transport limited force. We can pay the butcher’s bill, they can’t.
Ooooh, that’s a GOOD ONE. Yep, as a fast, marauding force, the attacker traveling over interstellar distances (without some form of cheat like a stargate, wormhole, or hyperspace) is MUCH MORE resource limited than an entire planet of inventive, murderous, dedicated primates.
Now, this will require a little troll logic… in space, there is no air, fish don’t need air to breathe, therefore, we strap a couple of rocket launchers, machine guns, laser banks, etc. to the backs of sharks, saddle them up, don our spacesuits and ride them into glorious battle against our extraterrestrial foe. Warm up the sharks men, we take to the stars!
Bear with me, and spin up the troll logic. In space there is no air, fish don’t need air to breathe, therefore we can strap rocket launchers, machine guns, laser turrets etc. to sharks, don our spacesuits, saddle up, and fly into glorious battle against our extraterrestrial foe. Warm up the Great Whites lads- we take to the stars!
Michael / mbn18201, that is some fine logic’ing there. I cannot find any flaw or element you may have missed. In fact, your idea is so worthy, it shall be known as the SyFy / Discovery Channel Gambit!
Thank you, I always knew my understanding of science to be without flaw. Alternatively, anti-satellite, or surface launched missiles with warheads stuffed to the brim with thousands of tiny tungsten ball bearings. Missiles detonate in high orbit, a nice layer of high-velocity orbital debris to mess with their ships. Scorched space policy. bit of a pyrrhic victory, to be honest, but what’s a cloud of killer ball-bearings to the invasion of Earth?
Modesty indeed becomes you, sir. Now, while not as fanciful (awesome) as your first plan, your second plan likely would work better. Definitely a “scorched orbit” policy though. After this, getting to LEO will require a few decades of sweeper bots to clear out the resulting debris. Think like the movie “Gravity” but without hot, damaged Sandra Bullock and better orbital mechanics.