If you loved The Expanse as much as I did, then buckle up! The same authors are releasing an exciting new space opera series in 2024 under pen name James S. A. Corey.
The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey
Currently available for pre-order on Amazon, The Mercy of Gods is book one in The Captive’s War series. It’s already climbing the charts despite not being released until August 6, 2024. I’ve got to say – I’m excited to see what New York Times bestselling authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck deliver in this new series under their joint pen name.
Involved stories with a large cast of characters that are connected in interesting ways will always have my heart. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed The Expanse as much as I did. Weaving storylines together through time and space into the ultimate epic space opera is what I love and what I strive to do with the stories that take place in the expanding Ardent Redux Universe.
According to a 2021 interview, the authors mentioned that this new space opera novel will have a lot of aliens, a galactic empire, and of course a galactic war – the mixings of any great space opera series.
Coming in at a massive 560 pages, this first book of three is being published by Orbit with cover art from Daniel Dociu.
A New Space Opera Trilogy
This new space opera story seems to begin with an alien invasion. The Carryx descend on Anjiin, wiping out much of the human population while abducting those they deem worthy to their homeworld – including Dafyd, the protagonist. There, they are forced to compete for their survival against other species and it seems like perhaps a bigger game is afoot beneath it all.
Here’s the blurb:
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Expanse comes a spectacular new space opera that sees humanity fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself.
How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.
The Carryx – part empire, part hive – have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin.
Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them.
They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand – and manipulate – the Carryx themselves.
With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers.
Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people.
This is where his story begins.
→ Pre-Order the New Space Opera by James S. A. Corey Here! ←
J. L. Stowers Prepares A New Space Opera Season in the Ardent Redux Universe
I’ve got to say – I’m really looking forward to this new space opera. In a way – some of it sounds similar to my space opera serial. Of course, that could be said of almost all space operas as they often share similar tropes. But that’s why we love them, right? We want to see how different science fiction authors use the same tropes in new and interesting ways. (Or maybe we just love blowing things up in space).
In fact, toward the end of season 2 in the Ardent Redux Saga, Star Captain Dani Devereaux and her crew will face an impending alien invasion themselves – but it’s not the Vaerians who come knocking on their door this time. This new enemy isn’t so much looking for pawns in a game as they are … well, you’ll just have to wait and see.
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