For five long years, James McCoy has watched the Hameji bleed his homeworld dry. Now, his only hope is to lead his people across the stars to a place where they can start over.
But escape is only the beginning. Pirates, warlords, famine, and the ever-looming shadow of the Hameji all threaten to shatter everything he’s built. The galaxy James once knew has fallen to fire and steel, and there is no place in it for the weak.
James once gave everything to save his family. But the line between protector and tyrant grows thinner with every choice he makes. And in a galaxy full of predators, freedom may be the first dream to fall prey.
Joe Vasicek fell in love with science fiction and fantasy when he read The Neverending Story as a child. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Genesis Earth, Gunslinger to the Stars, The Sword Keeper, and the Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic at Brigham Young University and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus Mountains. He lives in Utah with his wife, daughter, and two apple trees.