
Part of Series
The new novel set within the action of the Xbox Game Studios video game Gears 5, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Hough. THE OFFICIAL TIE-IN TO THE EXCITING VIDEO GAMES GEARS 5 AND GEARS TACTICS In the aftermath of Settlement 2's destruction, Kait Diaz reels from the near loss of a close friend amid utter defeat at the hands of the Swarm. To move forward, she must choose either to walk the Outsider path of her mother, or rise to her beckoning duty as a Gear, as her father did. As Kait grapples with her circumstance, an unexpected ally illuminates secrets from the past that offer a new perspective. Over four decades before, the two superpowers of Sera - the Coalition of Ordered Governments, and the Union of Independent Republics - wage a bitter, worldwide conflict known as the Pendulum Wars. For nearly a century, the two have fought to wrest control over Sera's most precious energy Imulsion. On the 79th year of the Pendulum Wars, Gabriel Diaz is a decorated Lieutenant Colonel serving the Coalition, assigned to Vectes Naval Base - a fortress that's seen little action despite its close proximity to UIR territory. The island's relative quiet is disturbed when a COG special forces team known as Ghost Squad arrive with a mysterious mission to the nearby island of an unforgiving rock of seemingly no strategic value. When the Ghosts send out a distress call, it's up to Gabe to evacuate them - and what he discovers on Knifespire could change the very course of the Pendulum Wars. There, the Battle of Gatka Ridge will define Gabe's legacy, and shape the future of his daughter, Kait Diaz.
Author

Jason M. Hough (pronounced 'Huff') is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dire Earth Cycle and the near-future spy thriller Zero World. In a former life he was a 3D artist, animator, and game designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). He has also worked in the fields of high-performance cluster computing and machine learning. The Darwin Elevator began life in 2008 as a project for National Novel Writing Month. The book released on July 30th, 2013 and reached the New York Times Bestseller list the following week. Darwin was Jason’s first published fiction. The subsequent books in that trilogy were released that same summer, along with a prequel novella, The Dire Earth, in 2014. Jason's latest novel, Zero World, released on August 18th, 2015 from Del Rey Spectra (US) and Titan Books (AUS/NZ). Publishers Weekly called it “a thrilling action rampage that confirms Hough as an important new voice in genre fiction.” He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, two young sons, and a dog named Missbuster.