Murder of Crows

What would you consider freedom? For some, it's choosing their way to die. Murder of Crows is based in a not-so-far-flung universe where humanity did not reach the stars but instead found itself mired in corporate takeovers. Since interstellar travel was never developed, asteroids were towed into orbit around Earth and terraformed into smaller planets to deal with excess population. While most of the asteroids were designed for colonization, Eris was destined for constant commercial warfare. In this new age of gladiatorial combat, the athletes are divided into teams and each person is cloned prior to the games. When they die, their consciousness and memories are transferred into new clones and the process begins all over again. What the rest of humanity doesn't realize is that each death and resurrection is incredibly painful and disorienting, let alone the monetary cost that is forced upon them. Rarely do any of them make it off the asteroid, and Ryan Jenkins, the newest addition to the Crows, is about to learn that.

Kevin Kauffmann was one of those kids that would make up stories every day, creating worlds and adventures for action figures, old Transformers and even lucky stuffed animals. Then the real world came knocking and he forgot he loved to tell stories. After grabbing a degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, he remembered just what he had lost. The Icarus Trilogy, a sci-fi tale about futuristic gladiatorial warfare, was Kauffmann’s first professional project, but he has since gone on to tell stories in many different genres. His Forsaken Comedy, a dark fantasy trilogy about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse attempting to save humanity, has been praised for its reimagination of popular mythology, even considering the sensitive nature of the topic. His latest, Ouroboros, has received high praise for its representation of hallucinogen use and self-destructive behaviors. In addition, Kauffmann has released an episodic Horror novel, The 616 Diaries, over Facebook and Twitter and periodically releases short stories that will eventually be collected into an absurdist Fantasy novel, The Misadventures of Rumplestiltskin III. He is currently working on Abnormality, the first novel in his superhero saga, and Daytrippers, the first in a paranormal science fiction series following the events of Ouroboros. He also streams himself playing Beat Saber, a VR lightsaber rhythm game, at http: //www.twitch.tv/kkauffany