The Returners: Season One Part One [Kindle Edition]

Mikey Neumann (Author)

Book Description

Alex Heton’s life is about to change—again. When his girlfriend, Chloe, and he are attacked at a Los Angeles diner, they learn a lot more about each other than they ever thought possible: they’re the reincarnations of Alexander the Great and Joan of Arc--and they're trying to kill each other.

The Returners series spans all over the globe as new Returners are discovered and brought into the fold.

The Returners 1.1 is the first independent publication of the popular series from Mikey Neumann (writer of Borderlands and Aliens: Colonial Marines.) Experience the gripping adventure of the Returners trying to figure out why they came back before time runs out.

Because The Returners is a serialized online publication, this is first of three parts to Season One. The other two are also available on Amazon.

Praise for "The Returners":

“To put it completely blunt, ‘The Returners’ is a work of art—a harmonious blend of science fiction, humor, action, history, and a hint of romance.”
- ScienceFiction.com

"The Returners by Mikey Neumann is an action-packed page turner, filled with a memorable cast of characters, some great humor, and more historical references than you can shake a World History 101 syllabus at."
- Mark Driscoll, Word of the Nerd Online

“If you like fast paced action & suspense with a dash of history, this is totally for you. Trust me. I can't wait for the next section to come out! My only complaint? Mr. Neumann needs to write faster.”

Product Details

• File Size: 224 KB
• Print Length: 117 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: "BOZ." Publishing (May 6, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00810TW6Y
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,533 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Work of Art May 7, 2012

By Jessica Naki

Format:Kindle Edition

With Borderlands 2 and Aliens: Colonial Marines on their way, Gearbox Chief Creative Champion Mikey Neumann is a busy guy. Even with these two major projects, he has been writing a novel called The Returners, Part One made recently available on eBook through Amazon, or on his website bozpublishing.com. Neumann regularly tweets the progress of the novel, which he describes as "almost crowd-sourcing the editing process".

The Returners is a fast paced science fiction work of art. The story begins following Alex Heaton and Chloe Freimont, a seemingly normal young couple, until a sudden gunfight sends them running. It turns out Alex and Chloe aren't who they claim to be, and they have been found out. Alex is actually Alexander the Great, while Chloe is Joan of Arc, and they are among a group of Returners who have returned for a second life. Packed with historical references, fantastic action sequences and great humor, Neumann brings to life characters most don't think of outside of their history class.

With everything going at such a quick pace, there are points where it seems a little rushed. There are some mind boggling bits towards the end of Part One (which, for obvious reasons I cannot tell you, but you'll understand when you read it) but in knowing that is only the first part of an ongoing series, I'm able to brush it off. Its fairly well rounded, although some of the characters, from my point of view of Janey, need more of a backstory with the Returners. You find out rather quickly that she had grown up with one of the characters, but at the same time, not knowing can add to it. Its a double edge sword when you play too much with the history of characters, given that the Returners are originally someone else, you really can't mess around too much.

Something to keep in mind when reading this is that it is Part One. I read it during the development (so, I was impatiently waiting for each chapter) so if there are questions, know that there is plenty of time for questions to be answered. The story is solid, not held down with a lot of details. I tend to become bored quickly with stories that are heavily detailed, but with The Returners I never felt that need to skip over sections because of pointless details.

I really enjoyed what I have read so far of The Returners, and I'm eagerly awaiting Season Two!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Shut up and take my money! May 7, 2012

By Jayper

Format:Kindle Edition

I've read the first 14 chapters of this book on "BOZ." Publishing and plan on buying this on payday. I have to say it is amazing. Incredible. Awesome. And addictive. Mikey Neumann has me utterly enthralled with every turn of the page. I see great things coming from him in the future and it all starts here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction in a non-historical setting - and it totally works! May 7, 2012

By S. Strobel

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've followed Mr. Neumann's serial novel since about the time the 3rd chapter came out, and I've been seriously impressed with the vast amount of progress he's made since then. The word play Neumann presents in The Returners is very casual and often times quite amusing, but the non-stop action that crescendos the entire time keeps this from just being a novel to laugh at. It becomes a novel to be immersed in.

<Minor Spoilers ahead>

We learn early on that the Returners are a group of people from the past that have been reborn into modern times over the past century or so. Neumann has chosen many characters from history that we all know and love, but he presents them into the story line in unconventional ways - some characters have a profession you wouldn't have normally guessed, and others are much older or younger than the times we most associate with their greatness, and this lends to the originality of the story and the fondness the reader will have for certain Returners.

The novel, thus far, already has a huge build up, several major reveals, and leaves open quite a few questions that will leave the reader clamoring for more. The exciting part about that is the way Neumann has offered the book serially on his webpage before releasing it as a digital book here. I followed his updates on Twitter that let me know when his next chapter was up, and would dive right back in where I left off as soon as I got a chance. Even though I've had the chance to read it for free, the ability to have the eReader version for offline viewing has definitely peaked my interest.

I highly recommend you pick up this book - it's an amazingly fast read because of how much you'll love the story and the characters you already know.

I look forward to seeing more of The Returners as well as anything else Mr. Neumann produces.

More About the Author

Mikey Neumann has spent his adult life writing and working as a creative in the video game industry. He is currently the Chief Creative Champion of Gearbox software, makers of Borderlands 1 & 2, the Brothers in Arms series, and Aliens: Colonial Marines.

The Returners is a novel experiment he launched in 2012 as a serialized endeavor at http://bozpublishing.com -- It quickly grew into something much larger and he decided this was the way he would publish books in the future.

He also plans to release his second novel experiment, The Ending, about the Four Horsemen trying to destroy the Earth, in early 2013.

Mikey enjoys writing in all mediums and will be experimenting with storytelling in the Etch-A-Sketch format in 2013.