Asterion Noir

Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the acclaimed Aurora Rhapsody saga. When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization's salvation, or to its doom. The Asterion Dominion is at peace with its neighbors and itself. Its citizens enjoy great freedoms and all the luxuries their biosynthetic minds can imagine, design and create. But beneath the idyllic veneer, something is going wrong. People are going wrong, driven to commit inexplicable crimes without motive or purpose. And once imprisoned for those crimes, they simply vanish. Psyche-wiped and dumped in an alley 5 years ago, awakened into a culture where ancestral memories stretch back for millennia, Nika Tescarav's past is a blank canvas. But if whoever erased her did so in the hope of silencing her, they should have tried harder. Someone must speak for the lost. Someone must uncover how and why they became lost. Someone must find the lost. Nika is that someone. ASTERION NOIR 700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation. Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe. Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds-and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all.

When man and machine are one and the same, death is no longer an inevitability. But in the darkest reaches of space, neither is life. Diplomat. Rebel. Fugitive. Nika Tescarav has lived many lives, though she no longer remembers most of them. Chased by agents of a regime that will do anything to protect the secrets of the Rasu Protocol, Nika flees to the stars with her once and future lover on a mission to expose those secrets. A race across alien worlds both exotic and deadly leads them to the bastion of the enemy, but its discovery brings a terrible revelation: sometimes the truth is indeed worse than the lies spun to conceal it. With Nika and Dashiel on the run, NOIR steps up to defend against a virulent pathogen unleashed upon innocent civilians. When a desperate government moves to crush the resistance once and for all, unlikely alliances are forged between former adversaries and all paths converge in an explosive showdown that will change the future of the Asterion Dominion forever. ASTERION NOIR 700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation. Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe. Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the epic Aurora Rhapsody space opera saga. Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds-and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all.

When man and machine are one and the same, time moves differently. But it runs out all the same. The Asterion Dominion government has fallen, its rulers slain-but in the Dominion, the dead rarely stay that way. A doomsday clock rushes headlong toward the day the monstrous alien shapeshifters known as the Rasu will demand their next tribute of lives. When denied it, the Rasu will burn every Dominion world to the ground. Unless they can be stopped. Nika, Dashiel and their allies fight to hold onto the reins of power even as they search for a way to defeat the enemy. Their quest will take them from barren deserts to a remote wilderness to the hidden homeworld of an ancient, mysterious species, all to uncover a secret 700,000 years in the keeping. With everything they thought they knew now called into question and the reckoning at hand, the Asterions' past, present and future will collide in a last daring gambit to save all three. ASTERION NOIR 700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation. Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe. Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the epic Aurora Rhapsody space opera saga. Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds-and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all.

When man and machine are one and the same, death is no longer an inevitability. But in the darkest reaches of space, neither is life. **Includes all three novels (Exin Ex Machina, Of A Darker Void & The Stars Like Gods) in the cyberpunk/space opera trilogy ASTERION NOIR** 700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation. Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe. Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the epic Aurora Rhapsody space opera saga. Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds-and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all. * **Asterion Noir is a new entry point for the AMARANTHE series--newcomers are welcome**