Tumbler [Paperback]

Brand Gamblin (Author), Cheyenne Wright (Cover Design)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2010

Libby Carter wanted to get away from it all, so she took a job mining asteroids as far out into the inky blackness as possible. However, her escape turned into a trap, leaving her stuck in indentured servitude, living on a tiny rock in space. As she tries to dig herself out, she gains friends and finds adventure. Cave-in rescues, planetary collisions, and other mishaps keep her new family fighting to stay alive.

2010 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction story (Novella form)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brand Gamblin started life as a video game programmer. In his spare time, he wrote and produced short stories and videos. His comedy video series "Calls For Cthulhu" gained cult status among horror fans. His short stories have been printed in the Flying Island Flagship magazine, and in PC Gamer UK. In 2008, he wrote his first full-length story "Tumbler". Since then, he has written a steampunk retelling of George Orwell's most famous work ("1884"), a futurist novel which combines a neo-victorian Oliver Twist with Henry Higgins ("The Hidden Institute"), and a short story compilation ("The Danny").

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449968686
• ISBN-13: 978-1449968687
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brand Gamblin was born in San Antonio in 1973. He spent most of his youth in Texas, earning a bachelors degree in Computer Science from Texas Tech University.

Following college, he achieved his boyhood dream of working as a video game programmer. For the next decade, he published games for such companies as Microprose, Acclaim, and Firaxis.

In his spare time, Brand created the YouTube video cult classic, "Calls For Cthulhu", which has thousands of followers worldwide, and has been nominated for several film awards.

Brand's first book, Tumbler, was released as a podiobook in 2009, and then was self-published in 2010.

His second book was a steampunk retelling of George Orwell's 1984. It was finished in 2010, and is still in production.

In 2011, Brand published "The Hidden Institute", a futuristic story of regentrification. It has been called "Oliver Twist meets My Fair Lady, with a death penalty."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, May 4, 2010

By 

Allison Duncan (Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tumbler (Paperback)

Tumbler is a scifi novel that is very Heinlein-esque. Small time main character works through struggles and makes good encapsulates the plot. But the story itself, while excellent, is not as exciting as watching the characters.

Libby, the heroine, is a young girl who has no idea how the world works. She loses her mother and then jumps head long into a deep space mining conglomerate hoping to somehow make good through hard work alone. Unfortunately, what she doesn't know just might kill her. If the locals don't do it first.

Most scifi books are heavy reading and usually just not my cup of tea. However, Tumbler is fast paced while maintaining believability and a delicious sense of the ironic. With such a wonderful combo, the reader cannot help but be swept along. I would note that this novel is considered "Young Adult", but anyone can jump in and enjoy it.

I am thrilled to see this piece on Amazon as I feel that Brand Gamblin's next work will be even more full of wit than Tumbler itself was.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The working man's (or woman's) sci-fi, May 5, 2010

By 

Juliet Carnell (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tumbler (Kindle Edition)

Tumbler is the kind of sci-fi novel that makes you wonder what living and working in outer space would really be like. The chances of mankind having any grand space battles anytime soon aren't likely, but the sort of future author Brand Gamblin paints in Tumbler is within our grasp if we but choose to reach for it.

Not that life for main character Libby Carter is all that rosy. Lured into space by big corporate promises of free land and easy riches, she soon discovers that only hard work and perseverance will bring her success. As life in space presents her with one great challenge after another, Libby's dogged determination to beat the odds and do so on her own terms is a refreshing change from all the depressing dystopian futures sci-fi seems bound to these days.

Tumbler is a fun story, with plenty of action, plenty of good characters, and plenty of hope that we won't always be stuck on this big blue ball if we only have the intestinal fortitude to get out there and get to work!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tumbling along side the tumbler, February 10, 2011

By 

Yvonne Crawford - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tumbler (Paperback)

I have read so many sci-fi books in my life and this is definately one of my favorite ones of all times. It's so well written that you feel like you are tumbling along right beside the tumbler. Brand writes in a way that you are able to really feel the emotions that she is feeling. You get to ride her emotional rollercoaster right along with her enjoying her successes and feeling her anxieties.

I also read this with my children. My 10 year old son was so excited to read a few chapters each night. He couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Some nights after I was too tired to read any more outloud, he would take the book and ask me if he could stay up and read more. Any book that can give a child the love of books like that is a winner!