At the end of Requiem, I said ‘the story of Aurora has come to an end, but the story of Amaranthe is just beginning.’ I hope you knew I meant it.

If you’ve finished reading The Stars Like Gods, you know some of what I’m going to talk about—but stick around anyway, because there’s yet more. If you haven’t finished The Stars Like Gods, there’s a big surprise at the end of the book, and you’re about to find out what it is unless you avert your eyes right now. The choice is yours.

I’ll wait.

Okay, done waiting.

From the beginning, we knew that the Asterion Noir trilogy was taking place elsewhere in the Amaranthe universe, and a little number crunching from available facts would tell you the events of ANR were occurring within about 50K years of the events of Aurora Resonant. Now, we’ve learned that interval was a mere 14 years. While Alex, Caleb and the crews from Aurora and the Mosaic were working to get settled into their new home, the Asterions were stumbling onto the Rasu, Nika was getting psyche-wiped, NOIR was rising up and…well, you know the rest.

Now those meddlesome Kats are up to their old tricks again and have conspired to bring Asterions and humans together, by way of a dramatic encounter between Nika and Alex.

Raise your hand if you’re excited to see Alex again. We’ve missed her, haven’t we?

One of my readers had this to say about it: “The only thing that might be more powerful and explosive than 8,000 Nikas or 8,000 Alexes is one of each!” He’s not wrong, so get ready to strap in for the ride.

Fourteen years after The Displacement, a tenuous alliance among humans, Anadens and over a dozen alien species has taken root. The wounds of war and revolution have begun to heal and peace and prosperity are within reach.

But when Nika Kirumase, leader of a splinter group of former Anadens thought aeons dead, arrives bearing a warning of a terrifying enemy advancing across the void, that alliance will be pushed to the breaking point and beyond.

COMING THIS WINTER

That’s a fun little tease, but what does it really mean? Well, a lot has happened in the last fourteen years, and few things in the former Anaden Empire will be precisely as we left them. Humans have tried to adapt to living amongst dozens of alien species; Anadens have tried to adapt to living without their Primors and integrals—to living as equals rather than rulers. No one will claim the transition has been easy or smooth, but it hasn’t descended into rampant bloodshed…for the most part.

Now the Asterions are returning to a changed empire, and they’re about to toss the dynamite that is the Rasu into the middle of it. Miriam is sure to be just thrilled.

I suspect you’re curious about what all has transpired in those fourteen years. How is Caleb and Akeso’s new shared existence working out? Has Eren seriously been able to settle down, be happy and stop blowing himself and large structures up? Were Valkyrie and Vii able to bring Abigail back to life? Have the perpetually squabbling governments of Aurora finally managed to get over themselves and coexist in harmony (or even, heaven forbid, unite)? Where did Nisi and Nyx disappear off to? How’s that regenesis-for-everyone research coming along?

Most importantly of all: has anyone found where the diati stashed the dragon planet???

I expect Riven Worlds to be six novels, but I reserve the right to change my mind along the way. A new series will follow it, and another after that, all under the Amaranthe banner (more on that below). Alex, Caleb, Nika and Dashiel will likely demand to be the brightest stars much of the time, but not always. The journey may take us to some unexpected places with fascinating new characters and dangers. The universe is quite literally the limit.

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Now for a few technical matters. If you’ve been here from the beginning, you can probably give an impromptu speech in an elevator about how the trilogies and universes link together—which is awesome, by the way; send me video if you ever do. Newcomers, however, are bound to be more confused than ever when Riven Worlds comes around, and that’s no good.

So over the next several months, the books of Aurora Rhapsody and Asterion Noir will be lightly rebranded, keeping their trilogy subtitles but bringing them all under the rubric of the AMARANTHE universe. If you’re all caught up with your reading, this won’t have any impact on you. For new readers, it is my hope that this will present a clear, consistent and easy-to-follow roadmap of my books.

You can already see some of this rebranding in the new look for the website. Below, you can see more of what it will look like for the books.

Finally, I’ll repeat what I said at the end of The Stars Like Gods. No matter what, you can expect the same kind of stories that have brought you here: grand and complex tales of adventure, struggles and heroism woven through with intricate layers and interconnections that bind together into a cohesive whole. Tales of purpose and meaning, with evocative locations, inventive technology and memorable characters who fight, fail, persevere and refuse to fade away.

Welcome to the next chapter in the Amaranthe universe.