Discovery

In Book 1, "e;Discovery"e;"e; (118K words), ambitious explorer Ragnar Thornqvist finds alien life light-years from Earth, and dreams of pharmaceutical riches. An accident leaves him blind. The alien ecosystem he found isn't just valuable—it's vital, engineered to maintain the planet's habitability for its creators' return. He returns to Earth, hoping to regain his sight and mount a second expedition to the planet he named Firefly. Aided by his digitally uploaded aunt, Ragnar heads back to Firefly with a prickly female biologist and an unexpected cargo: 5,000 uploaded human minds seeking a new home. He is pursued. In book 2, "e;Reckoning"e; (90K words) he must navigate competing interests, hostile opponents, and his own romantic and moral awakening to determine whether humanity's expansion will establish our foothold among the stars or trigger our extinction. He must survive to transcend, but both are hard.