Torth

\*\*\*A Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Book of 2023\*\*\* In this action-packed space-opera adventure, one disadvantaged hero must ask himself: How do you defeat a galactic empire that can read your every thought? The Majority always gets what it wants. Thomas Hill just wishes it didn't want him. There's no way to escape a galactic mob of mind readers, no way for him to blend in with his foster family and other average Americans. Because Thomas invented a way to save his own life. His custom medicine halts the progress of his degenerative neuromuscular disease. Newscasters proclaim him the next Einstein, but mere humans have no idea his bioengineered processing capacity rivals that of a supercomputer. They just think he's smart. However, there are other bioengineered supergeniuses in the Majority. In fact, it's shepherded by them. Some-such as the teenager known as the Upward Governess-are secretly trying to devise opportunities to break free from social constraints so they can invent weapons of planetary annihilation and become unchallenged masters of all living things. If Thomas is going to end the utopian tyranny of supergeniuses and their sycophants and slaves, he'll need more than cunning. He'll need social skills. Oh, and power. Lots and lots of power. It's a good thing his friendly foster sister has befriended a colossal superhuman. Ariock is oblivious to his own dangerous powers and wrongly assumes he's just an overgrown loser. Superhumans like him are doomed to die as entertainment fodder for the Majority-unless Thomas can figure out a way to trick thirty trillion telepaths . . . The first volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road-now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

In this thrilling dystopian space-opera, escapees flee a ravaged Earth-but what's more dangerous: the wasteland of their past or the one that lies ahead? Having obliterated entire civilizations, the Torth Majority is now threatening humanity itself. Barreling through deep space-and hunted every dark mile by armadas, saboteurs, and kamikaze armies-the passengers of a refugee streamship must outrun everything they left behind if they hope to stay alive. Instilled with illegal superpowers, Ariock is a literal giant among gladiators. It's in his blood: his legendary great-grandfather outwitted the Torth, and Ariock himself dared to betray them. Thomas, on the other hand, is a supergenius. Sure, he's physically disadvantaged, but his mind is a brainwashing, telepathic, terrifying wonder to behold. What he's done to outlast the abuses of his youth is something of a mystery . . . and possibly malevolent. Not even Vy, his caretaker and foster sister, knows all of Thomas's secrets. What all three share is a fear of the unknown. Their ship on the last dregs of fuel, they crash-land on a distant planet still under the toxic, storm-filled fallout of an ancient nuclear war. Turns out this hell-scape is the ancestral homeworld of the Torth. And while that savage empire couldn't withstand this poisoned sludge of a planet, it doesn't mean they're not still guarding it. On a predatory world of mutant monstrosities and relentless galactic enemies, Thomas foresees nothing but death and defeat. But it's do-or-die for Ariock and the streamship exiles who are fighting to survive-and somehow find light in a dead city of eternal night. The second volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road- now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

In a ravaged city, a giant among warriors risks everything to liberate the galaxy in the epic third installment of this dystopian space-opera adventure. Ariock Dovanack never asked to be a hero, let alone a demigod. But when a prophecy deemed him "The One," he dutifully amassed thousands of messianic followers in the sun-starved civilization beneath the Torth Empire's capital. Now, destined to lead the cave-dwelling Alashani people into the light of other worlds, he and a small army must first annihilate the formidable telepaths who guard the city's spaceport. By Ariock's side is Thomas Hill. A Torth/human hybrid, Thomas may be physically vulnerable, but he's also a telepathic supergenius. With their combined powers of healing brawn and awesome brain, Ariock and Thomas share a fearsome reputation among their enemies in the Torth Empire. To the ruling supergenius known as the Upward Governess, they're outlaws who must be eliminated at any cost-even if it means sacrificing her own armies. As if that weren't enough, on his daring journey to the spaceport, Ariock encounters a legendary hero: his own great-grandfather, Garrett Dovanack. Thought long dead, it seems the old man has actually been stationed among the galactic Torth as a sleeper agent all this time. Forswearing his prior allegiance and quickly switching sides, Garrett unveils a seemingly perfect path to victory for Ariock. But he has sorely underestimated Thomas, and his wrong-headed assumptions could topple his great-grandson's mission-and doom the first civilization Ariock has sworn to liberate and return to glory. The third volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road-now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

Four prophesized heroes must band together to obliterate an evil galactic empire-they're outnumbered by the trillions, but are they outwitted? Ariock, a superhuman among men, destroyed the Torth Homeworld. Since then, the massive throng of survivors-refugees, freed slaves, and cave dwellers-have been docked in orbit in an undefended starship, one small war behind them. But when the telepathic Torth, thirty trillion strong, catch a whisper of their location, the greatest of all wars will descend. For the exiles stranded in space, food and water is running out, and as Ariock struggles to regain his power, hope for a safe new world is draining away too-though not for Ariock's great-grandfather Garrett, who heeds the visions of an oracle outlined in a book of prophecies. Centuries ago, the oracle foretold of four titans, each defined by a dominant trait. Now they have finally come together as one. Ariock is Strength, already proved time and again as a messianic force to be reckoned with. Garrett is Will, a legendary being of extraordinary resolve and determination. The ethereal Evenjos, an ever-evolving goddess-empress imprisoned for millenniums by the Torth, is Transformation. And Thomas, the physically fragile but uncannily clever supergenius, is Wisdom. As prophesized, a clear path to victory lies ahead. But there's a wrinkle. One veer from that path, one tiny misstep by any of the four heroes, one minor lapse in trust, and they're doomed to fail. Lest their starship become a floating tomb, they must prepare to work a miracle. And as the Torth amass an armada of battleships at every temporal stream, they're going to need one. The fourth volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road-now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

With freedom fleeting and human extinction a distinct possibility, the heroes of prophecy must work together to safeguard the future of the galaxy. The balance of power is shifting in the vicious galactic war against the Torth Majority. The heroes are led by Ariock, a superhuman titan who wins every battle. The secret behind his victories is Thomas, the telepathic renegade supergenius. But resting on their laurels isn't an option. Overconfidence could be fatal, thanks to the enemy supergenius known as the Death Architect. And there may be an intrinsic threat among their ranks as well. While Ariock is conquering alien cities and protecting Freedomland, Thomas is transforming the captured Torth into zombified slaves. What better way for Thomas-part human, part Torth-to prove he's on the side of the good guys than to neutralize their adversary's minions? He knows it'll take more than lumbering prisoners with space dust for brains to win the ultimate war, however, so he's devising something else. With his superluminal communications technology, all the planets of the galaxy could soon be knitted together in new and frightening ways. One giant hivemind. But are his powers being wielded on behalf of liberty and humanism? Or is Thomas a betrayer helping to galvanize the Torth? Ally or foe? Ariock is having his doubts. Relying on Thomas could be a grave mistake, but a lapse in trust would be just as bad. Either way, if Ariock makes the wrong decision, freedom will be just a blip in the history of the galaxy . . . The fifth volume of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road-now available in print, ebook, and audiobook!

Amid supergenius schemes for an apocalyptic future, the legendary heroes of prophecy wage a galactic war for freedom, in the final book of this epic series. Ariock is no longer an invincible messiah. In the wake of a rage beyond his control, the Bringer of Hope struggles with defeatism. Meanwhile, Thomas hides a tryst and lets his zombie minions dwindle to shambles. The gloating Torth Majority is in reconquest mode, slicing through liberated territory, and the people of Freedomland fear their vaunted heroes are on the verge of losing the galactic war. To win, Ariock's great-grandfather Garrett knows the book of prophecies must unfold the way the ancient oracle intended. But the next fateful vector looks ominous: all the heroes on their knees, in supplication to none other than Thomas. Why does the telepathic supergenius appear dominant over planets, stars, and everyone in the known universe? Determined to force destiny to favor his mostly human great-grandson, Garrett-with the help of Vy, who loves her wounded Giant with equal parts desire and caution-throws all his efforts into rebuilding Ariock's confidence. Who else is equipped to smash the emergent death cult among the Torth? Certainly, Thomas and Evenjos cannot defeat endless armadas armed with new weapons invented by enemy supergeniuses. But soon a more immediate threat interrupts the heroes' secret struggles and plans. A lurking rogue Torth has infiltrated Freedomland. It seems Thomas is about to meet his match in terms of both genius schemes and zombification ability . . . The epic finale of the hit sci-fi fantasy series-with more than 750,000 views on Royal Road-now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!