Five years later, the eldritch mysteries uncovered at Nether Station remain unsolved. Its crew is missing. Earth hasn’t heeded their final warnings. And time is running out …
Karla Arkourian wakes from emergency cryosleep on a failing space station at the edge of the solar system. The last person she expects to see is Margot Noor, new head of NOOR industries, who has taken the reins when her brother Benedict failed to return home after all contact was lost with Nether Station.
Apparently the only survivor of that ill-fated mission, Karla carries an urgent warning not just for NOOR industries, but for all the horrific ancient enemy, the Agoc, are coming, and Earth must prepare every defense against this all-powerful cosmic horror.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, the crew of the Neil Armstrong have survived their trip through the Nether wormhole, finding themselves thrown into the midst of a vast interstellar war. With their new alien comrades and under the careful watch of a lost member of the 1930 Miskatonic University expedition to the Antarctic, these refugees have been hardened into a crack team. This Alliance of many embattled races is commanded by the mysterious, all-powerful star beings against their mortal enemies, the Agoc. Truly, the fate of the universe is at stake.
But when an unexpected revelation puts Earth in the crosshairs, long-forgotten ancient mysteries rise again. Will humanity be able to stand against the Agoc? And can Cammie save her friends—and her entire species—from an even older, darker threat?
From New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson comes Nether Vortex, the sequel to Nether Station, another thrilling mix of epic science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.
Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.
I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.
I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.
My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.
In NETHER VORTEX, trillionaire sister and now sole owner of NOOR Corporation, the vast Earth and Solar System industry, Margo Noor, founds a mission to the Nether Wormhole, five years after the seeming disappearance of her brother Benedict Noor and his crew. After years of Silence, they have to assume no one survived, but after discovering the shambles of Nether Station, which had been constructed from the mission ship Lethe, they are astonished to discover one cryopod survivor, Lethe's captain, and learn her astonishing information gleaned from the alien asteroid compounds. Her urgency to protect Earth isn't quite sufficient to convince Margo Noor, until the Captain reveals that the Asteroid can be flown to Earth orbit, just as a spaceship.
Meanwhile, the "missing" crew from the first mission have spent the past five years battling, together with several alien races, at the guidance of Star Beings, against the soul-devouring psychic Agoc. Weaving in not just Lovecraftian Cosmic immensity but actual Lovecraftian characters and settings and expanding on these, NETHER VORTEX (and Book 1, NETHER STATION), are unputdownable heart-in-mouth Space Opera excitement.
A continuation of Nether Station, this story takes place five years after the Neil Armstrong and its crew traveled through the wormhole. Unfortunately, I found this installment very slow-going, without the sense of wonder and awe that made the first novel so compelling. It was also quite repetitive, returning to the same points again and again—almost as though the story were being stretched to fill the page count. This also felt much more like space opera than horror, in my opinion. While it didn’t work particularly well for me, I would still recommend it to readers who enjoy slower-paced space opera.
Nether Vortex is the upcoming second novel in The Nether Series by New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson. Published by Blackstone Publishing, the 410-page epic is scheduled to hit shelves on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Serving as the direct sequel to Nether Station, the book continues a fast-paced blend of massive, sweeping space opera and dark Lovecraftian cosmic horror.