A STANDALONE SEQUEL TO THE BEST-SELLING DARK SPACE SERIES THE UNIVERSE IS DARKER THAN WE THOUGHT... Lucien Ortane is a Paragon in the Etherian Empire. His job is to explore the universe and spread Etherian doctrines of peace, justice, and immortality to sentient beings everywhere. Like all Paragons, and most citizens, Lucien believes that Etherus, the benevolent ruler of the Empire, is exactly who he claims to be: the one true God and creator of the universe. But not everyone is a believer. The Academy of Science circulates a petition to send a mission to the cosmic horizon and learn the true nature of the universe. Over a billion people sign it, and Etherus grants their request, but with a dire warning: evil is lurking in the dark. Undaunted by this warning, three hundred million scientists from the Academy prepare to leave the Empire on what will be the longest and most incredible journey in history. A small group of Paragons also join the mission, each of them for their own reasons. Lucien Ortane tells himself that he’s going in order to settle other people’s doubts, and to keep a bunch of hapless scientists safe. After all, he’s a Paragon, one of Etherus’s most faithful servants. Yet even the faithful have doubts. Is the universe infinite? Does it have an edge? Is it shaped like a sphere, or connected like a torus? Did it need a creator, or does it cycle endlessly, god unto itself? These are the questions that the Academy is trying to answer, but the answers they get could be their undoing. God or not, Etherus was telling the truth about one thing: evil is lurking in the dark....

DISCOUNTED FROM $3.99 UNTIL AUGUST 27th THEY LEFT SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS FROM THE COSMOS AND FOUND AN EVIL AS OLD AS TIME Lucien, Garek, Addy, and Brak are all that's left of the Inquisitor's crew. Eight years ago they left the Etherian Empire aboard the Astralis with three hundred million scientists to learn the true nature of the universe, but now Astralis is surrounded by a hostile race of alien slavers, called the Faros, while the Inquisitor's crew has been forced to abandon ship and flee to parts unknown. Lucien and his crew are trying to find a way to rescue their people, but they don't have a ship, and they don't even know where to look, let alone how to fight back against a seemingly innumerable and invincible foe. Meanwhile, Abaddon, the leader of the Faros invaded Astralis for a reason. He has a plan, and it's time to execute it—along with everyone who stands in his way.

DEATH IS THE ONLY WAY OUT Astralis is surrounded. The lost Etherian fleet has arrived with old friends at the helm, but the Faros are there, too, and they’re demanding we give them the lost fleet, or else. Lucien Ortane is determined to fight, while everyone else fears defeat and wants to negotiate, including his wife, Tyra. They argue that the Faros’ fight is with Etherus and the Etherians, not humanity, but when the Faros realize that Astralis planned to warn Etheria of the coming invasion, their focus shifts to humanity instead, and negotiations fail. The future of humanity and countless other species hangs in the balance. They are badly outnumbered—a million to one. If war breaks out, the Faros will win, and countless trillions of people will be killed or enslaved. There is only one path to victory, but will Lucien have the courage to take it?