by John Scalzi
First published 2008
John Perry has found quiet happiness with his wife Jane and their family on a human colony world. The violent universe that once defined his life feels distant now. When Colonial Union officials ask John and Jane to lead a new settlement, John eagerly accepts the chance to return to exploration. The couple gathers their colonists and departs for an unknown world. Their arrival brings immediate disillusionment. The Colonial Union has deceived them about their true purpose. John discovers his settlers serve as expendable pieces in a vast political struggle between humanity's government and a powerful alien coalition determined to halt human expansion across the galaxy. Above their heads, diplomatic maneuvering and military threats escalate toward open conflict. On the planet's surface, John fights to protect his people from dangers that emerge from multiple directions. Hostile alien forces threaten the colony from space while the world itself harbors deadly surprises. John must navigate between his loyalty to the colonists who trust him and the political forces that view them as acceptable losses. His family's safety hangs in the balance as he struggles to find survival in a game where the rules keep changing.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, space-opera, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Colonial Union, Human Colony World
Period: Future
320 pages · Paperback · Tor UK