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Dust Knights book cover 1
Dust Knights book cover 2
Dust Knights
Series · 2 books · 2024-2025

Books in series

The Down Deep book cover
#1

The Down Deep

2024

Major Bhaajan and her gang of Dust Knights act as guides and bodyguards to a member of the Imperial family on a mission of good will in the Undercity. But what awaits them in the Down Deep may ruin the chance at peace forever. A CITY DIVIDED For centuries The City of Cries—one of the most desired locales in the Skolian Imperialate—has existed by the thinnest of threads. On the dying world of Raylicon, the “haves” live in great luxury in Cries while the “have-nots” scrape by, eking out a marginal existence in the notorious Undercity beneath the desert. Major Bhaajan, formerly of the Pharaoh's Army, knows both worlds. Born into the Undercity, she nevertheless has made a name for herself in the Imperialate. And now, she has the chance to help her people. HOPE FOR RECONCILIATION For the first time, a member of the Royal class wants to extend an olive branch to the Undercity. Hoping to build bridges, Colonel Lavinda Majda recruits Bhaaj and her Dust Knights to act as guides and bodyguards on a mission of goodwill to those who live below the surface of their parched world. THE DOWN DEEP But the problems of the Undercity run deeper than anyone knows. To help find peace, the Dust Knights must reach the most hidden rungs in that mysterious underground world, a place known only as the Down Deep, where the scars from centuries of distrust are greatest. There they will face an unseen enemy that may destroy the lives of everyone they know—and threaten interstellar civilization. Dust Knights: A new series in Catherine Asaro’s Skolian Empire.
Gold Dust book cover
#2

Gold Dust

2025

BORN TO RUN; BORN TO FIGHT, A PAIR OF STAR-CROSSED LOVERS COMPETE IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES COMPETITORS IN THE INTERSTELLAR OLYMPICS MUST OVERCOME POVERTY AND INTRIGUE Three interstellar civilizations vie for honors in the Olympics, including the Skolian Imperialate. The thriving, populous worlds of humanity have always dominated the Games. The team from Raylicon, a dying world of scorching temperatures, has never won honors. IS CHANGE COMING? Mason, the coach for the Raylicon track and field team, makes a startling The Undercity, an ancient culture hidden in ruins beneath the desert, carries a secret. In a place where crushing poverty exists alongside a culture of dramatic beauty, a group of spectacular runners has existed for centuries, even millennia, unknown to the outside universe. The Dust Knights are the best of those marvels. With the help of Major Bhajaan, an Undercity native, he recruits the Knights. And so change sweeps their world. The Undercity faces a civilization they've never trusted, one that sees them as barely even human. Now, they must all learn to work together. THE KYLE UNIVERSE Skolia needs the Undercity to trust them—for hidden within its enigmatic population is one of humanity’s greatest resources. Their inbred population has created a large concentration of Kyle operators, an otherwise almost extinct group of humans. Kyles can do more than run; only they have the neurological makeup needed to utilize a vital technology, one that gives Skolian its sole advantage over their conquering enemies. The army wants the Kyles to work for them, but after centuries of being despised and left to die by the rest of humanity, the Undercity wants nothing to do with them. Until Angel, one of the top runners among the Knights, joins the Kyle Corps—and dives into a world of neurological marvels, including star-spanning networks that access a dimension with dramatically different laws than our space-time universe. THE STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER AS THE DUST KNIGHTS COMPETE FOR THEIR WORLD—AND THE FREEDOM OF HUMANITY At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise For Saga of the Skolian “. . . riveting... The world is rich and vivid, with two distinct cultures in the Undercity and the aboveground City of Cries. This exciting novel stands alone for anyone who enjoys science fiction adventure.” —Publishers Weekly on The Bronze Skies, starred review “The Jigsaw Assassin follows a futuristic serial killer whose work implicates those in political power, causing a ripple of response that threatens the political party and calls upon Major Bhaajan to solve the crime. As Bhaaj and her crew delve into political and criminal worlds beyond their usual ken, readers receive an action-packed story of interstellar politics, intrigue, and science fiction that proves satisfying fast-paced, creatively world-building, and hard to put down.” —Midwest Book Review Catherine Asaro has an M.A. in physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard. She has appeared as a speaker at many places, including Harvard and the National Academy of Sciences, and as a Guest of Honor at science fiction cons in the US and abroad. She is a member of SIGMA, a think tank that advises the government as to future trends. A former ballet and jazz dancer, and now a vocalist, Asaro has performed at clubs and conventions.

Author

Catherine Asaro
Catherine Asaro
Author · 37 books

Blog at https://www.facebook.com/Catherine.As... The author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine and a three time recipient of the RT BOOKClub Award for “Best Science Fiction Novel.” Her most recent novel, Carnelians, came out in October, 2011. An anthology of her short fiction titled Aurora in Four Voices is available from ISFiC Press in hardcover, and her multiple award-winning novella “The City of Cries” is also available as an eBook for Kindle and Nook. Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro

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