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Runebound Earth #4
Future Present
Escaping the past doesn’t end with leaving the darkness behind. A fractured timeline reveals the cost of tampering with fate.
LILAH
Time travel shattered my life. I glimpsed a better future—then snapped back to the year 2242 in a near-death return that left me broken and changed. A corrupt government keeps me captive, and each passing day makes escape feel more impossible. I know my time is running out. The World Union wants my secrets, but I’ll die before I let them use me to hurt my twin.
VERNE
I couldn’t save Lilah two years ago, and I’ve lived with that failure ever since. Using time travel data stolen from the World Union, I perfect a plan to bring her to Avice. Traveling two millennia into the past should be a simple rescue, yet danger awaits us in the shadows of New Rapids. Forging alliances is risky. I’ll gamble with history if it means saving her.
Tinkering with time exposes how fragile life truly is, forcing Verne and Lilah to confront long-buried secrets and fight for the future they’ve only just begun to rewrite.
***
Dive into a high-stakes rescue where defying time offers a chance at something more. Join the residents of Avice as they take risks and explore the unknown, from personal trials to threats of destruction.
LILAH
Time travel shattered my life. I glimpsed a better future—then snapped back to the year 2242 in a near-death return that left me broken and changed. A corrupt government keeps me captive, and each passing day makes escape feel more impossible. I know my time is running out. The World Union wants my secrets, but I’ll die before I let them use me to hurt my twin.
VERNE
I couldn’t save Lilah two years ago, and I’ve lived with that failure ever since. Using time travel data stolen from the World Union, I perfect a plan to bring her to Avice. Traveling two millennia into the past should be a simple rescue, yet danger awaits us in the shadows of New Rapids. Forging alliances is risky. I’ll gamble with history if it means saving her.
Tinkering with time exposes how fragile life truly is, forcing Verne and Lilah to confront long-buried secrets and fight for the future they’ve only just begun to rewrite.
***
Dive into a high-stakes rescue where defying time offers a chance at something more. Join the residents of Avice as they take risks and explore the unknown, from personal trials to threats of destruction.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 28, 2025
About the author
Ann Hosler
15 books9 followersAnn Hosler is the author of the Runebound Earth and Sapphira Space Station sci-fi series. Several of her sci-fi, fantasy, and humor short stories are published in the Fark Fiction anthologies.
As a natural walking dictionary, Ann currently moonlights as a newspaper copy-editor and collegiate teaching assistant/essay reader. She is also a former video gaming journalist who spent years living and breathing the worlds of fantasy and sci-fi games.
Born and raised in Ohio, she offset the uncertainty of growing up with a fountain of creativity, producing poetry, short stories, and flash pieces that introduced fantastic elements amid reality. Now living in Michigan, she continues to create those worlds through her writing.
As a natural walking dictionary, Ann currently moonlights as a newspaper copy-editor and collegiate teaching assistant/essay reader. She is also a former video gaming journalist who spent years living and breathing the worlds of fantasy and sci-fi games.
Born and raised in Ohio, she offset the uncertainty of growing up with a fountain of creativity, producing poetry, short stories, and flash pieces that introduced fantastic elements amid reality. Now living in Michigan, she continues to create those worlds through her writing.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 21, 2026
We often think of time travel as a way to fix things, but in Future Present, it’s exactly what shatters everything. This story isn't just about moving through years; it's about the heavy price of a "better future" and the lengths we go to for the people we love.
What I loved most is how Ann Hosler explores the fragility of life. It’s not just about the "cool" aspects of sci-fi; it’s about the secrets we bury and how rewriting the future requires confronting a painful past. The tension between the high-tech corruption of the World Union and the "simpler" past of New Rapids created a contrast that felt incredibly vivid.
This was a fast-paced, deeply emotional read. The stakes felt real because the characters felt real. It made me question: What would I sacrifice to save someone I love? If you enjoy stories where the sci-fi elements serve a powerful, human narrative, you need to read this. Ann Hosler has crafted a world that is as beautiful as it is dangerous.
What I loved most is how Ann Hosler explores the fragility of life. It’s not just about the "cool" aspects of sci-fi; it’s about the secrets we bury and how rewriting the future requires confronting a painful past. The tension between the high-tech corruption of the World Union and the "simpler" past of New Rapids created a contrast that felt incredibly vivid.
This was a fast-paced, deeply emotional read. The stakes felt real because the characters felt real. It made me question: What would I sacrifice to save someone I love? If you enjoy stories where the sci-fi elements serve a powerful, human narrative, you need to read this. Ann Hosler has crafted a world that is as beautiful as it is dangerous.
April 21, 2026
Aw my, what a series!! 😳🤩😎
This is defintely one of the best ones i’ve read so far!
And it only gets better!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is defintely one of the best ones i’ve read so far!
And it only gets better!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 21, 2026
Before starting to read this 4th book of the series, with the teaser at the end of Perfectly Imperfect (Runebound Earth #3), I had to wonder, time travel, what could possibly go wrong? And whatever happens in this book, it's skillfully written by the author. Lots of suspense moments, some more romance, and more character development as the series progresses. It's a solid favorite of mine so far. Highly recommended, but read the other books first to accompany the how and why there is time travel.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews