Fallow

Blood spilled. A Promise broken.And an Emperor who must die.The Empire spans a thousand planets and has lasted ten thousand years.With every Harvest, the Emperor takes his share of crops and livestock … and your eldest child, to join the Emperor's Service.However, the lives of the Harvested are far from secure. Assessed, sorted and counted on the Harvest ship, the unwanted are adjusted by the Counters without mercy.Trysk had escaped the Harvest ship, only to be re-captured by the Emperor's Counters on Zamir.With death on all sides, things are looking pretty bleak for Trysk … except for the prophecy from a Seer on the Harvest ship.Well, it was more of a command:The Emperor must die.And somehow, impossibly, she and Tristan were supposed to make it happen. James Jacob (J J) Mathews grew up with his nose stuck in books. A voracious reader in his youth, he devoured all of the science fiction and fantasy books he could find at the local library. J.R.R. Tolkein, Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Larry Niven, Voltaire and Greg Bear were some of his early influences, with many other authors added to his bookshelf as time went on. Broadening out to read more genres as an adult, J J has always held a special place for fantasy and sci-fi.J J is married and lives in Hamilton, New Zealand with his wife and three boys, and writes in his spare time. An evil Empire. A boy that nobody remembers.And a girl who must remember him, or die.The Empire spans a thousand planets and has lasted ten thousand years.On breadbasket colony worlds like Ockham, every family must give back to the Emperor a portion of their yearly crop, according to the Contract.Like clockwork, the Harvest ship comes to collect His share of grains, livestock, and your eldest child.~~~In the cab of the transport, the Counter took off his helmet and looked in the rear-view mirror."The mother's still following behind, calling out their names.""They know the rules. Whomever touches Harvest and is of age, becomes Harvest. But the whole thingwould be easier if they didn't name them. You should never name the livestock. And that's what they are. Livestock."