Series: The Amargosa Trilogy
Book: 1
Summary:
When Amargosa’s hypergate is suddenly destroyed, orbital station resident Davra Andraste is ejected to the planet’s surface by her father, the station’s port master. Her pod crashes near a rural township, where panicked locals suspect her of being an alien. Rescued by cadet Eric Yuwono, she is drawn into the chaos of an unfolding planetary invasion.
Meanwhile, teenagers JT Austin and Lizzy Parker return from a day at the reservoir to learn their world is under attack. They become separated during the evacuation and rejoin each other just as the aliens—large humanoids in armored vehicles—begin razing the countryside. Lizzy’s parents are killed, and the pair go on the run.
The aliens, later revealed to be Gelt, use fossil-fuel-powered vehicles and brutal heat ray weapons. Their invasion seems intended to drive humans off Amargosa and claim the land rather than annihilate them outright.
Davra is sent with Eric and a boy named Suvi to reach the spaceport in Lansdorp, the nearest major city. Along the way, they encounter the devastation wrought by the Gelt and the collapse of planetary infrastructure. Eric commandeers a vehicle and eventually escorts them to the spaceport under fire, where Davra is slated for evacuation to share her eyewitness account of the destruction of the orbital station.
JT and Lizzy, traumatized and surviving by scavenging weapons and food, must choose between seeking refuge in the city or hiding in a remote summer cabin Lizzy’s father called “Walden.” After a brutal encounter with a wounded Gelt, JT coldly executes the invader, prompting questions about the humanity of both the attackers and themselves.
As the story concludes, Davra, Eric, Suvi, and other survivors—including Ellie Nardino and Connor Duffy—are evacuated off-world under fire, while JT and Lizzy turn back toward Walden, hoping to survive long enough to fight another day.