Taylor Neeran Chronicles

A.D. 3485Missing out on the next semester of university was the least of my problems.Getting stuck on an alien planet was infinitely worse.It could have happened to anyone, really.Except they don't generally invite university students along to survey new planets.There are probably good reasons for that, but, well – the captain of the ship was my absentee mother, and an exception was made.I was supposed to have two whole months to get to know her better while I sharpened my Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise. With any luck, I would graduate early.Then I messed up, big-time.Now I'm lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home. 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

A.D. 3485Twenty-year-old Taylor Neeran is settling in to her new life on the forest planet called Aeden, but all is not well in paradise. She has sent messages off to the stars to let the crew know she is alive, and hopes that one day her mother and the crew will return. She has also transmitted details about the Illiya and the exotic wonders of the planet to the crew of the Zanzibar and the University, but others have intercepted her messages.A ship arrives bearing comforts of home, and a terrible secret. When the visitors' true purpose is revealed, Taylor finds herself fighting to defend her new home alongside unexpected allies.Trapped on an alien planet ten thousand light years from Earth, Taylor will soon bear witness to the fate of Aeden as the planet is engulfed in a war they have no hope of winning… 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

AD 3486Aeden was suffering.The Reapers had finally been destroyed, leaving the planet scarred and countless creatures lost.The process of recovery had begun, but it will take lifetimes to repair the damage inflicted upon the planet. Now is a time of recuperation, new growth, and family... and new hope in a future that had almost been lost. Balance must be restored for the planet to fulfil its purpose, even as Taylor finds new life blossoming within her.However, recent events have attracted unwanted attention. The Xathen are coming to investigate, and no act of intrusion goes unpunished.When the Xathen arrive, Taylor finds herself an invader on a world that is not her own, in command of forces she barely comprehends.With the Orion Spur once again on the brink of destruction, the only thing that stands between the Xathen and the unsuspecting Commonwealth is... Taylor Neeran. 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

A.D. 3487Taylor Neeran, Star-Killer.That's what she was being called throughout the Xathen dominion. Turn the minor star of the Franath binary system into a black hole, and they gave her that title. She was famous, infamous, whatever. It's not like it was a handful of stars, one star wasn't that many, the galaxy had plenty of them. But sometimes it was the small actions that got the most attention. One star to save a hundred unsuspecting planets and a trillion or so lives, in some ways it was more than a fair trade.It wasn't her fault the minor sun had failed to complete its transformation into a black hole and changed its spin. Instead, it had become a neutron star, a pulsar – tilted on its side, spraying death across the Franath system as it wobbled on its axis.Franath was now spoken in whispers or not at all, as if the word itself was cursed.But she was going to fix it.In order to save eight billion souls, Taylor Neeran, Star-Killer and Spirit-Mother of Aeden was going to tame a star.Or die trying.Of course, not actually die, that would help nobody. But she was going to try really, really hard… 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

A.D. 3596While Xathen are of many body-forms, they are all Xathen, one and united.However, a billion years ago the Xathen fought each other in the bloodiest civil war the galaxy has ever seen. Trillions died and hundreds of star systems were extinguished as battles raged all across the Milky Way.They fought not over race or body-form, but over a single ideal:Thou Shalt Not Interfere.The losers fled the galaxy entirely, cast out into the great dark between the stars.The winners were left to play as gods with the Orion Spur, fostering one cluster of new intelligences after another, wiping them out, then starting again.We are the result of their toils.Now those who had fled have returned. They call themselves the True Xathen. 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

A.D. 3596Descendants of those who fled our galaxy during the great Xathen Civil War have returned, bearing the Message of the Grand Designer.All who receive His Message will believe, and all will become One.Or, more likely, dead.Strathow, a colony world inhabited by Xathen religious Ascetics, has been decimated.A rescue ship disappears after the crew are slaughtered by the survivors they had come to save.The galaxy as we know it is in grave peril, but few believe that the Returning Xathen represent a serious threat towards the Xathen of this galaxy.Instead, the Xathen Galactic Committee is preparing to welcome the Returning Xathen with open arms, despite Taylor's warning.Because Xathen are Xathen under the eyes of the Grand Designer, after all. 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.

A.D. 3597Descendants of those who fled our galaxy during the great Xathen Civil War have returned, bearing the Message and Blessing of the Grand Designer.All who receive His Message will believe, and all will become One.Taylor and her daughters are presumed dead after the attack on Strathow.Oxim-four has fallen. The entire Oxim system has been cut off from the rest of the Xathen Dominion, but far too late to prevent the Blessing's relentless spread.It's only a matter of time until Xathen everywhere succumb to the Blessing and all that it entails, including vastly-shortened life-spans and the inability to Ascend to cheat death.When Taylor learns the galaxy-shattering truth behind the Blessing and how they might stop it, she is faced with an impossible choice:Should she save the civilization that tried to kill her family and the entire Orion Spur, including Earth?Or should she embrace the Returning Xathen who took her family in, and let the Blessing take its course?Read the thrilling conclusion to The Taylor Neeran Chronicles. 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. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.