Ari Barlow has long survived on instinct.
It’s crucial for living in the crime capital of the Meridian System. Established for space travel and trade by Illyarium, a world of gods amongst men, the Port of Acheron is now a far cry from the holy image it was spawned from. Just how she likes it. Together, with her level-headed partner, Ari takes any job that brings in the credits.
Chosen to investigate a simple distress call, the pair travel to a desolate planet looking to find an easy pay day. Instead, they stumble upon a child in danger, and their decision to intervene puts into motion a war that will span the universe. Out of options and out of luck, Ari is torn away from the person she cares about most and burdened with a new responsibility in the form of a young ward with mysterious origins.
Desperate to get her life back on track, Ari charters a ship and meets a crew of unlikely allies. However, a target has been painted on her back and she is now enemy number one to mortals and immortals alike. Ari will be forced to make sacrifices, but the most dangerous battle to face is with the monster lurking inside her.
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Kennex Hall died, but he did not stay dead.
Living on the edges of Wild Space and working for an infamous criminal often puts him in the crosshairs of the law. In fact, he and his partner, Ari Barlow, make a habit of chasing trouble for the right price. They are not strangers to tangling with Enforcers, but they never caused enough harm to warrant the attention of an Ascendant—a being to who death is simply an inconvenience. Not until a routine job on a desolate planet turned deadly, that is.
Kennex never expected to meet one of these immortals.
He never expected to be killed by one either.
Even more shocking, he never expected to resurrect as an Ascendant himself.
Torn from the one person in the universe he trusts, Kennex wakes on Illyarium. Third capital world from Sol and the self-proclaimed center of the Meridian System. His new immortal status leaves a bad taste in his mouth as he spent most of his life cursing the very existence of these pompous gods. All he wants is to return to Outer Orbit—return to Ari. However, Kennex learns his sudden ascension into immortality has heavier implications than he could imagine, and his partner is in the vicinity of a sinister force whose very existence threatens the fabric of the universe.
As he assimilates deeper into his new surroundings, he slips further from the person he was. To save Ari, Kennex will have to accept his fate, but he isn’t sure his partner will recognize him by the end of this war.
Ari Barlow is Reaper of the Gods.
A title she doesn’t want, but one the Meridian System seems hells bent on saddling her with after Drucanna. The death of X’ael has given birth to a war between worlds. One where the winner will dethrone Illyarium as the leading presence of the system. Desperate for this crown, kings and armies try to sway Ari into becoming their weapon, but her mission stays the same.
Keep Reagan safe.
With this in mind, the crew of the Nova takes to the stars but are derailed as new stumbling blocks fall into their path. Questions of identity arise, a pair of gods seek revenge, and all the while a new pressure builds in Ari’s chest like a volatile bomb. The scars she garnered on Diomedes came at a dreadful cost. A cost that now demands to be paid in full. Despite this, she tries to accomplish it all. Protect her new family while saving her old one—even if it means tearing herself apart to succeed.
No war is black and white.
Allies and enemies blur together.
And, when a new threat makes itself known, the system will change forever.
Book Trailer
by @neptunedesignsl (instagram)
Meet the Cast
This is a small sample of some of the characters you will meet in 'Lost in the Light'.
