Review: The God's Eye (Lancaster's Luck #3) by Anna Butler

Rafe Lancaster is reluctantly settling into his role as the First Heir of House Stravaigor. Trapped by his father’s illness and his new responsibilities, Rafe can’t go with lover Ned Winter to Aegypt for the 1902/03 archaeological digging season. Rafe’s unease at being left behind intensifies when Ned’s fascination with the strange Antikythera mechanism and its intriguing link to the Aegyptian god Thoth has Ned heading south to the remote, unexplored highlands of Abyssinia and the course of the Blue Nile.

Searching for Thoth’s deadly secrets, Ned is out of contact and far from help. When he doesn’t return at Christmas as he promised, everything points to trouble. Rafe is left with a stark choice – abandon his dying father or risk never seeing Ned again.

All I have to say is that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this historical steampunk trilogy!



Rafe is a quasi-antihero, really only wanting to live his life in peace, unencumbered by responsibility except for his own person and his lover Ned. However, life often never complies, and he finds himself the heir apparent to an important political house that supports the Royal family and helps govern Britain. Having never catered to house politics, he finds himself smack dab in the middle of it all, neck deep sooner than he expected as his father falls ill, and Rafe must take on more duties and start navigating the delicate balance between allies and enemies.



Such obligation is a burden, because it also means Rafe can’t join his lover Ned, on his yearly trek to Aegypt. When Ned comes up missing, Rafe has no choice but to go and find him, whether it’s a prudent thing to do or not. Ned takes top priority, and damn anyone who stands in his way.



As with the first 2 books, this has plenty of political intrigue, not only at home but internationally as well. Apparently, Ned is after a valuable artifact that could be turned into a deadly weapon, one that the crafty Germans want for themselves, and it’s a race against time to see who gets there first.



So ensue action of course, twists and turns, familial feels, and quite the setup regarding ancient Aegypt mythology bringing an impressive theorization to life. There's a cold practicality running throughout this book, but Rafe and Ned never let their vaulted status compromise their integrity. They’re a great romantic pair especially when they conspire and work together, and I loved watching Rafe come into his own to be a formidable leader who will always put his family and friends first no matter the consequence.



Maybe Butler will get a second whim to write more about this duo when they rule Britain together. If only! For sure, I’d gladly be ready to reimmerse myself again in this world and their further adventures should she decide to do so!



Thank you to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Blog Tour + Giveaway: The God's Eye (Lancaster's Luck #3) by Anna Butler

The God's Eye (Lancaster's Luck #3) blog tour visits today! Welcome author Anna Butler as she shares about the latest in the popular series! Find out more and enter in the giveaway where you could win: first prize $20 (or equivalent) Amazon gift card, or the second prize of an ecopy of The Gilded Scarab! Good luck!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rafe Lancaster is reluctantly settling into his role as the First Heir of House Stravaigor. Trapped by his father’s illness and his new responsibilities, Rafe can’t go with lover Ned Winter to Aegypt for the 1902/03 archaeological digging season. Rafe’s unease at being left behind intensifies when Ned’s fascination with the strange Antikythera mechanism and its intriguing link to the Aegyptian god Thoth has Ned heading south to the remote, unexplored highlands of Abyssinia and the course of the Blue Nile.

Searching for Thoth’s deadly secrets, Ned is out of contact and far from help. When he doesn’t return at Christmas as he promised, everything points to trouble. Rafe is left with a stark choice – abandon his dying father, or risk never seeing Ned again.



Title: The God’s Eye
Author: Anna Butler
Series: Lancaster’s Luck
Necessary to read previous 2 books? Best read in sequence
Wordcount: c110,000
Category: Steampunk adventure | M/M romance.
eBook Publication Date: 21 January 2020
Publisher: Glass Hat Press © 2020
Editors: Desi Chapman (Blue Ink Editing) and Megan Reddaway
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Internal Art: Margaret Warner

Goodreads Link





BUY LINKS

Universal link to digital stores: https://books2read.com/LL3TheGodsEye

Individual Store Links (if you prefer them): Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | B&N | Kobo




ABOUT THE SERIES

The Lancaster’s Luck series – which is best read in sequence - charts the adventures of Rafe Lancaster, ex-aeronaut and pilot in Her Britannic Majesty’s Aero Corps. After being shot down and injured in action during the Boer War in 1899, Rafe’s unable to continue as a fighter pilot.



The Gilded Scarab

Returning to London, hard up and looking for a new career, Rafe buys a coffeehouse close to the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury where he meets love of his life, archaeologist and First Heir House Gallowglass, Ned Winter.

The Gilded Scarab was a finalist in the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Awards and nominated for the Independent Publishers Book Awards in 2015.



The Jackal’s House

Ned’s excavation at Abydos, Aegypt, faces disruptive tricks and pranks that develop into a real threat to their lives, all seeming orchestrated by the god Anubis. When the life of Ned’s young son is on the line, Rafe carries out a daring rescue attempt and learns the shocking truth about his own heritage.

The Jackal’s House won joint first place for Best Gay Historical Romance in the 2018/19 Rainbow Awards, and joint third place for Best Gay Book.



GIVEAWAY

Between 20 January and 07 February, enter this Rafflecopter for the chance of a first prize $20 (or equivalent) Amazon gift card, or the second prize of an ecopy of The Gilded Scarab

Direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a6cd544713/?





EXCERPT

The rhythm was always there, underlying everything.

Our lives for the last few days had been all chaos and confusion—anarchic, even—but at that time and in that place, in a quiet private room, with the muted sounds of a Cairo night drifting in past the half-drawn curtains, we found our peace again. It was there in every touch, every movement, every kiss, every gasp and low moan, every hitched breath and soft-voiced word. With us through entangled limbs, fingers laced together or smoothing heated skin; through kisses flaming like comets across a winter sky; shaking with us through every shattering moment.

Harmony and empathy. Two of the pillars holding up my world.

I never used to believe in love. Not before Ned. He did change me, I can’t deny it. But for the better, I believe. Thanks to him, I felt love then.

And now. And always.

It was hard to breathe. I let my fingers move in the cool, fine linen sheets to ground myself, remind me who I was and where, and raised myself to stare down at Ned’s head, bright gold in the lamplight. He looked back up at me, greeny-hazel eyes warm, expression soft, smiling around the tip of my cock, teasing me with his tongue. First with a languorous sweetness, his tongue flickering so softly, so gently, I was straining to feel it. Then, without warning, he changed the entire cadence. The unhurried touch of his lips became a sudden, hard lick from root to crown and, each time he reached the crown, he stayed there to savour it, mouthing it and swirling his tongue around the tip until I was giddy. Faster. And faster. Urgent. Demanding. And slackened again in an instant. Sweet again. Calming me with lips and tongue.

And all the time, one of his hands trailed up the inside of my leg from knee to the softer skin of the inner thigh, and back again. Over and over. Fingers fluttering and sometimes barely touching, sometimes the harder pad of fingertips pressing and claiming. The other hand he twisted, somehow, to find the bottle of fragrant oil, and while his tongue now teased the skin of my thigh, he smoothed the oil over my straining cock.

By then I was helpless, writhing, hips rising and falling to match Ned’s rhythm. A restrained, quiet pace when Ned had offered slow, undemanding sweetness, faster when he denied me the delicious, calm deliberation for a more frenzied, powerful snap of the hips.

I was the arrow trembling against the pulled bowstring, waiting for the pluck of Ned’s fingers to send me flying.

Perfection.

.

About Anna

Anna lives in the depths of the Nottinghamshire countryside with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo, who’s supported by Mavis the Assistant Editor, a Yorkie-Bichon cross with a bark several times bigger than she is but with no opinion whatsoever on the placement of semi-colons.



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Series Release Blitz + Giveaway: Taking Shield series by Anna Butler

Author Anna Butler and Signal Boost Promotions promoter the release of science fiction boxed set, Taking Shield (complete series)! Find out more today and enter in the $20 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link


Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas


Hate buying books in a series until the whole thing is done? Then check out the Rainbow Award-winning Taking Shield series, just released as an e-book boxed set. Not only do you get the entire series, there’s a very nice saving on the cost of the individual books! Anna’s dropped in today to tell us more.


About Taking Shield


Earth’s a dead planet, dark for thousands of years; lost for so long no one even knows where the solar system is. Her last known colony, Albion, has grown to be regional galactic power in its own right. But its drive to expand and found colonies of its own has threatened an alien race, the Maess, against whom Albion is now fighting a last-ditch battle for survival in a war that’s dragged on for generations.


Taking Shield charts the missions and adventures of Shield Captain Bennet, scion of a prominent military family. Bennet, also an analyst with the Military Strategy Unit, uncovers crucial data about the Maess to help with the war effort. Against the demands of his family's 'triple goddess' of Duty, Honour and Service, is set Bennet’s relationships with lovers and family—his difficult relationship with his long term partner, Joss; his estrangement from his father, Caeden, the commander of Fleet's First Flotilla; and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn, who, over the course of the series, develops into Bennet’s main love interest.


Over the Taking Shield arc, Bennet will see the extremes to which humanity’s enemies, and his own people, will go to win the war. Some days he isn’t able to tell friend from foe. Some days he doubts everything, including himself, as he strives to ensure Albion’s victory. And some days he isn’t sure, any longer, what victory looks like.

More information and background on the Shield Universe here

Anna was a communications specialist for many years, working in various UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to organizing conferences for 10,000 civil servants to running an internal TV service. These days, though, she is writing full time. She lives with her husband in a quiet village tucked deep in the Nottinghamshire countryside. She’s supported there by the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockerpoo, who is assisted by the lovely Mavis, a Yorkie-Bichon cross with a bark several sizes larger than she is but no opinion whatsoever on the placement of semi-colons.

Website and Blog | Facebook | The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group) | Twitter | Sign up for Anna’s occasional newsletter

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Series Recap Blitz: Taking Shield Series by Anna Butler

Haven't discovered the Taking Shield series by Anna Butler yet? The author and Signal Boost Promotions visit today to promote the science fiction series! Check it out!

The award-winning Taking Shield series comes to an explosive conclusion in the fifth book, Day of Wrath, to be published on 28 June 2018.

First that cover. Designed by Adrian Nicholas, who’s been responsible for creating the Taking Shield brand, this cover features a faceless drone, one of the cyborg soldiers sent against humanity by the Maess:

 

About Day of Wrath

In less than a week, Bennet will finally return to the Shield Regiment, leaving behind the Gyrfalcon, his father, his friends… and Flynn. Promotion to Shield Major and being given command of a battle group despite the political fallout from Makepeace the year before is everything he thought he wanted. Everything he’s worked towards for the last three years. Except for leaving Flynn. He really doesn’t want to leave Flynn.

There’s time for one last flight together. A routine mission. Nothing too taxing, just savouring every moment with the best wingman, the best friend, he’s ever had. That’s the plan.

Bennet should know better than to trust to routine because what waits for them out there will change their lives forever.

Pre-order Day of Wrath

Want to win some loot? Pre-order The Day of Wrath at a digital store (Amazon, Kobo, Nook etc) and send a copy of the email confirmation (or a screengrab of it) to annabutlerfiction@gmail.com and

(i) Anna will send you the first chapter and some deleted scenes by email. The deleted scenes will be exclusive until the end of the year;

(ii) the first twenty to respond will get a little bag of Taking Shield loot; and

(ii) your name will be entered in a draw to win one of seven signed first edition paperbacks of Taking Shield 02: Heart Scarab. Winners will be announced on publication day.

Preorder here: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Kobo | Smashwords

Excerpt from Day of Wrath

As Bennet angled over to starboard, Flynn gave his own Hornet a metaphorical boot in the backside, and tagged along faithfully at Bennet’s port wing. He stayed close and tight. Pity the ensigns weren’t there to see how it was done. With finesse. Panache. And sheer, mind-boggling talent.

The Hornet’s navigational computer helpfully overlaid a representation of Aglaia with the usual spherical latitude-longitude grid, pulling the planetary data from the database. At least they had the figures for known planets logged and stored and the nav-com didn’t have to make it up. Which it could, of course, by designating the poles with an arbitrary north and south label, locating the equator, and inventing an arbitrary prime meridian to work with. According to legend, the system originated on Earth before man took to the skies, so old it was invented for sailing ships. Given Earth was ten thousand years gone, Flynn put a lot of emphasis on ‘legend’. Their flight navigation systems were built on bloody folklore.

Madness.

Still, at least he couldn’t get lost.

He followed Bennet into a high orbit along Aglaia’s equator, skimming along for a moment before going down into the atmosphere. And by skimming, he meant they bounced along like stones skipping over water before they burst through into a storm system. A big storm system. The air roiled in great waves and billows, buffeting the Hornets, and lightning cracked and sizzled off their hulls. The flow of the clouds was fierce, the turbulence greatest at the boundaries between cloud layers. And the winds! More than fierce. They were a howling, raging, relentless savagery that threatened to overwhelm even the Hornet’s engines. The Hornet bucked and balked against the winds, and it took every ounce of skill Flynn possessed to fight her into obedience, to keep her flying in the direction he wanted. He couldn’t rely on relaxed experience here. This was active, constant readjustment to make her respond. He dropped back a trifle, giving Bennet and himself room to ride out the bucking and bouncing. He wasn’t so much flying through Aglaia’s skies, as cavorting through them.

Gods, it was fun!

Anna : what you, dear reader, might expect from the Taking Shield series

Gay literature is a growing genre. And the biggest element of that, just as it’s the biggest element of literature generally? Romance. Love, hearts, kisses, and happiness. M/M romance, in particular, is booming.

Now then, if I’m reading a romance, I have certain expectations. I want to see two people attracted to each other, overcoming some obstacle to being together, being faithful and loving. And at the very least, the book must close with a Happy-For-Now ending even if the story can’t quite make it Happy Ever After. En route they can have all sorts of things happen: murders, mystery, mayhem. Doesn’t matter. What matters is they’re together and I can put the book down feeling good about the outcome.

But this is where things get a little sticky. Because if you’re looking for pure romance, then I have to confess that the Taking Shield series won’t deliver it. Shield isn’t romance. It is a love story—a very deep and, at times, intense love story—that covers five or six years of interstellar war and billions of miles of space travel. This is a classic space opera. All the staples of old school sci-fi are here: big spaceships, infiltrations of enemy bases, cool Shield suits, and lots of people running around shooting their lasers.

And it has two men in love. Oh wait. Not as old school as all that, then.

Across the whole of the series, there are two main story themes, intertwining with each other: the war against the Maess and, set against that, the relationship between Shield Captain Bennet and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn. The Maess war and everything Bennet has to do there gets equal billing with the slow unfolding of his relationship with Flynn.

So something of a niche appeal, here! But if you like sweeping sagas and big love stories where the obstacles the heroes face are big and sweeping too, I do hope you’ll give Bennet and Flynn a try. They aren’t perfect, but a couple of guys with all their warts and faults, all their brilliance and intelligence, all their courage and loyalty and great hearts, all their beauty and all their ugliness—and they love each other. They love each other a great deal, despite every parting, and every reverse and upset in their relationship. And now, at the end of the series, perhaps they’ll get their chance.

Do come on the adventure with them. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

About the series

Taking Shield started out as a simple set of ‘what if’ questions. What if, in some AU universe, Earth’s been a burnt out dustball for the last ten thousand years? What if there’s a riff on the Exodus and remnants of humanity escape, but led by Pharaohs? What if the new world they found, Albion, is at war with an enemy no one has ever seen? What if the hero is a member of Albion’s special forces and the Military Strategy Unit? What if he finds something that seriously threatens Albion? What if he falls in love with a Fleet pilot and has his life turned upside down?

Earth’s a dead planet, dark for more than ten thousand years; lost for so long no one even knows where its solar system is. Her last known colony, Albion, has grown to be regional galactic power in its own right. But Albion’s drive to expand and found colonies of its own has threatened an alien race, the Maess, against whom Albion is now fighting a last-ditch battle for survival in a war that’s dragged on for generations.

The Taking Shield series charts the missions and adventures of Shield Captain Bennet, scion of a prominent military family. Over the Taking Shield arc, Bennet will see the extremes to which humanity’s enemies, and his own people, will go to win the war. Some days he isn’t able to tell friend from foe. Some days he doubts everything, including himself, as he strives to ensure Albion’s victory. And some days he isn’t sure, any longer, what victory looks like.

More info and background on the Shield Universe at Anna’s website 

Note: the novels are not standalones and should be read in order.

Taking Shield 01: Gyrfalcon — Earth’s last known colony, Albion, is fighting an alien enemy. In the first of the Taking Shield series, Shield Captain Bennet is dropped behind the lines to steal priceless intelligence. A dangerous job, and Bennet doesn’t need the distractions of changing relationships with his long-term partner, Joss, or with his father—or with Flynn, the new lover who will turn his world upside-down. He expects to risk his life. He expects the data will alter the course of the war. What he doesn’t expect is that it will change his life or that Flynn will be impossible to forget.

Available FREE at Payhip | A digital bookstore near you

Taking Shield 02: Heart Scarab — Shield Captain Bennet is on Telnos, an unpleasant little planet inhabited by religious fanatics and unregistered miners running illegal solactinium mines. It’s about to be about to be overrun by the Maess. Bennet’s job is to get out as many civilians as he can, but the enemy arrives before the evacuation is complete. Caught in a vicious fire fight, Bennet is left behind, presumed dead.

His family is grieving. Joss, his long-term partner, grieves with them; lost, unhappy, remorseful. First Lieutenant Flynn has no official ‘rights’ here. He isn’t family. He isn’t partner or lover. He’s just broken

Available at Payhip | A digital bookstore near you

Taking Shield 03: Makepeace — Returning to duty following his long recovery from the injuries he sustained during the events recounted in Heart Scarab, Shield Captain Bennet accepts a tour of duty in Fleet as flight captain on a dreadnought. The one saving grace is that it isn’t his father’s ship—bad enough that he can’t yet return to the Shield Regiment, at least he doesn’t have the added stress of commanding former lover, Fleet Lieutenant Flynn and knowing the fraternisation regulations will keep them apart.

Bennet’s new mission takes him behind the lines to Makepeace, once a human colony but under Maess control for more than a century. The mission goes belly up, costing Albion one of her precious, irreplaceable dreadnoughts and bringing political upheaval, acrimony and the threat of public unrest in its wake. But for Bennet, the real nightmare is discovering what the Maess have in store for humanity. It’s not good. It’s not good at all.

SECOND PLACE WINNER 2016 Rainbow Awards for Best Sci/Fi Futuristic book

Available at Payhip | A digital bookstore near you

Taking Shield 04: The Chains Of Their Sins — Shield Captain Bennet arrives on the Gyrfalcon to take up his final year's posting before returning to the Shield Regiment.

On the Gyrfalcon he faces up to the fallout from Makepeace—ethical, political and above all, personal. Will he be able to accept necessity: that knowing what the Maess are up to outweighs the humanitarian issues surrounding the prisoners he rescued from Makepeace? Can he ride out the political furore that follows the loss of the dreadnought Caliban? How will he cope with an entire year of serving under his father, Caeden? And worst of all, how in the name of every god in the Pantheon can he stand to see Flynn every single day, with the Fraternisation Regs standing between them and keeping them apart?

It will be an interesting year. Bennet can hardly wait for it to be over. Of course, things never really do go to plan...

FIRST PLACE WINNER 2017 Rainbow Awards for Best Sci/Fi Futuristic book

THIRD PLACE WINNER 2017 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Book

Available from Payhip | A digital bookstore near you

 

Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in various UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to organizing conferences for 10,000 civil servants to running an internal TV service. These days, though, she is writing full time. She lives with her husband in a quiet village tucked deep in the Nottinghamshire countryside. She’s supported there by the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockerpoo, who is assisted by the lovely Mavis, a Yorkie-Bichon cross with a bark several sizes larger than she is but no opinion whatsoever on the placement of semi-colons.


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Review: Passing Shadows by Anna Butler

Li Liang has found a berth to suit her: chief pilot and first officer of the all-female crew of an old space freighter, the Sappho. Then one ordinary, unremarkable morning, Liang retunes the Sappho’s communications systems just in time to catch the breathless, terrible accounts from Mars of the total destruction of Earth.
Earth’s a cinder. The unknown alien race that destroyed it has left Mars, too, in flames and is ravening outward from the solar system, devouring every human colony on the way.

Liang’s one of the few survivors, racing ahead of the Devourers, rescuing as many frightened, shocked people as she can. Will Liang and the pitiful remnants of humanity find a new haven, somewhere to start again? Or will she, too, echo the dreadful last message coming out of their dead home?

They’re coming. Oh God, they’re coming.

Li Liang is a shuttle pilot for the Sappho when Earth goes dark and the universe becomes a place to run and hide for those who survived the destruction of humanity.

This is a complex piece of writing, by a new to me author, following Li on a three part, 5 year journey through space, to find a place for the surviving humans to settle.

I was completely enthralled by this story. It has amazing world building, exceptional character development, and enough action to keep the story moving at a comfortable pace. There is a depth of feeling that places the reader in Li’s shoes as she experiences fears, heartache, and a few smiles along the way.

While not depressing, there is a gritty reality to feelings this story evokes. I sat with the disbelief that Earth, Mars, and the surrounding colonies had been destroyed, and the grim hope of survival beyond the first hours, weeks, months, and years. There is the almost-hope of finding somewhere to settle in, that kept the story from becoming too dark.

Told in three parts, each part brings something special in the descriptive scenery, and emotional challenges that all the characters in this story face. Not quite a love story, there is the relationship element as the story goes through each part of this journey.

Some readers may be challenged by the year jump, but I didn’t have any great difficulty with it. I thought it showcased the writer’s talent, and brought something new to the overall world building. Sure, I’d have loved this to be a full length novel. I loved the characters, the plot, and the writing style. I can see this being a beloved series, and will hold out hope that there will be more from Li and her band of merry misfits.

I’ve looked at the author’s catalogue of work and it appears this is the first FF pairing, with the other work being MM. I hope the author continues to write more with strong female leads, as Li is great character. I will definitely be checking out this author’s other work. It was a joy to read this story, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys space opera and sci-fi.


I received a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion

Find on Goodreads!

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Passing Shadows by Anna Butler

Celebrate the Passing Shadows Blog Tour with author Anna Butler and Signal Boost Promotions! See the excerpt and check out the $25 Amazon gift card giveaway below!

Passing Shadows - Anna Butler

Author: Anna Butler

Length: 29,400

Stories: Overthrown By Strangers, Habitation of Dragons, Winterlight

Cover: Kellie Dennis - Book Cover By Design

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK 

About Passing Shadows

Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
Psalm 144:4

Passing Shadows is a trilogy of short stories with a lesbian main character, Li Liang, who is one of the sole surviving witnesses of the destruction of Earth. The stories tell of the beginning of a long exodus across the galaxy looking for a haven where mankind can start again.

Blurb

Li Liang has found a berth to suit her: chief pilot and first officer of the all-female crew of an old space freighter, the Sappho. Then one ordinary, unremarkable morning, Liang retunes the Sappho’s communications systems just in time to catch the breathless, terrible accounts from Mars of the total destruction of Earth.

Earth’s a cinder. The unknown alien race that destroyed it has left Mars, too, in flames and is ravening outward from the solar system, devouring every human colony on the way.

Liang’s one of the few survivors, racing ahead of the Devourers, rescuing as many frightened, shocked people as she can. Will Liang and the pitiful remnants of humanity find a new haven, somewhere to start again? Or will she, too, echo the dreadful last message coming out of their dead home?

They’re coming. Oh God, they’re coming.

Excerpt

From Overthrown By Strangers:

It seems to be some sort of cosmic joke, a reversal of the old creation myths. Only the gods are laughing, because this time God has thrown a stone in a pond. Earth went down, smashed by the rock, and the waves are surging out in a circle from its drowning, ripple after ripple after ripple.

Colony after colony.

If Earth had been created in seven days, it had been destroyed in seven hours. Now every hour brings more devastation. It isn’t just Earth going dark. Whoever, whatever, the enemy is, their resources are unfathomable. They’re implacable and unstoppable, ravening their way out from Earth in an ever-expanding circle, shattering everything in their path. So many dead, so many with no chance to escape.

So many lost to the monsters. The destroyers. The eaters.

“Devourers,” I say.

The skipper gives me a sharp look. Then she nods. “A good name for them, love. A very good name.”

She looks tired. Jaded. Worn out.

I lean over her and press my lips to her hair. “You need to rest.”

“Later. There’ll be time to rest later.” She doesn’t say that will be when we’re all dead, but she might as well. “Set course for Egereia.”

It takes a little while. While I drop the Sappho into normal space to reset the hyperdrive engines and plot the navigation, she calls the rest to the bridge and tells them that whoever’s in command at Daemon Station has finally made a decision and humanity has a survival plan. Of sorts.

“We’re going to run. We can’t stop them,” the skipper tells us.

Being helpless, being the butterfly caught in the spider’s web, is sickening. She gives us a minute to cry and mourn, but we’re all mostly quiet. Only Edie lets out a sob. The rest of us weep in silence. I can barely see the navigation controls, and my eyes sting like poison.

They’ve formed a sort of huddle, down on the floor where we’d sat and listened to Earth and Mars being eaten. No one wants to be alone, and we ground ourselves and each other by touch; holding hands, or arms around each other, mouths against another’s cheek. Connection, that’s what’s keeping us going. When I’ve put us back into hyperspace, I join the skipper. She’s in the centre of the group now, one arm around Baum’s waist. I’m pulled into the huddle, held safe, and take her free hand in mine. Her fingers squeeze hard against mine.

“Daemon will be the gathering point,” the skipper says. “We’re to get as many people on board as we can, and rendezvous there. Egereia’s the closest colony to us, and we’ll head there and see what’s to be done.”

Author Bio

Anna was a communications specialist for many years, working in various UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to organizing conferences for 10,000 civil servants to running an internal TV service. These days, though, she is writing full time. She recently moved out of the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London to the rather slower environs of a quiet village tucked deep in the Nottinghamshire countryside, where she lives with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockerpoo.

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