Stratos

Alden Northcliff #2

by Chris A. Jackson

Ancient secrets run deep.
The mission was supposed to be simple: travel to the gas giant Stratos, inspect the newly discovered alien artifact, and file a report—a perfect opportunity to shakedown his new ship and crew. What Alden Northcliff finds, however, is a planet on the edge of rebellion and the economies of five different star systems at stake.

With Fleet reinforcements weeks away, Alden has to lie, trade favors, and battle terrorists to gain access to the gas giant's mysterious alien structure. What he finds aren't dusty ruins but an ancient weapon of war. In the wrong hands, it could kill tens of billions or, worse, awaken its creators. Can Alden stop the human infighting long enough to save them? And how will the gift he received from the Leviathans of Pacifica interact with Stratos's unique denizens?

From Pathfinder and Shadowrun author Chris A. Jackson, comes a brand new science fiction adventure series set in the massive and ever-expanding FiveFold Universe!

374 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 12, 2021

About the author

From the sea to the stars, Chris A. Jackson’s stories take you to the far reaches of the imagination. Raised on the back deck of a fishing boat and trained as a marine biologist, he became sidetracked by a career in biomedical research, but regained his heart and soul in 2009 when he and his wife Anne left the dock aboard the 45-foot sailboat Mr Mac to cruise the Caribbean and write fulltime.
With his nautical background, writing sea stories seemed inevitable for Chris. His acclaimed Scimitar Seas nautical fantasies won three consecutive Gold Medals in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards. His Pathfinders Tales from Paizo Publishing combine high-seas combat and romance set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Not to be outdone, Privateer Press released Blood & Iron, a swashbuckling novella set in the Iron Kingdoms.
Chris’ repertoire also includes the award-winning and Kindle best-selling Weapon of Flesh Series, the contemporary urban fantasy Dragon Dreams, as well as additional fantasy novels, the humorous sci fi Cheese Runners trilogy of novellas, and numerous short stories.
To learn more, please visit jaxbooks.com.

Reviews

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Alden Northcliff's and Wheke's adventure in Pacifica where he had encountered and made contact with the leviathans I thought that Jackson could not come up with such an exciting book again but boy was I wrong! This time Alden takes his first solo mission as an immortal and he and Wheke go to Stratos, the gas giant in order to study an alien artefact the deeps had found there. Wheke, Alden's bot was complaining that this trip was a waste of time and utterly boring. Little did they know what lay in store for them on Stratos. They arrive to find that the deeps, the miners were on strike, and that a terrorist faction was threatening every negotiation plan Alden came up with. The Triune were a religious fanatic group led by a charismatic leader who believed in faith, strength and unity and who wanted Stratos for themselves saying they were treated as slaves by their employers. The deeps were very disrespected but they had made Stratos their home and many wanted to fight to save it from whatever threatened it's security, not all deeps were terrorists. Alden wanted to study the artefact but what he found put a different perspective on the whole mission and his decisions could save billions of lives in the five star realm or doom them all. Once again Alden makes contact with leviathans, this time around they are known as cloud sharks and no one believes him when he says they are sentient and highly intelligent creatures, having previously been seen as just a danger. Unbelievably enough this 2nd book might be even more thrilling a read than book 1 and I know I cannot wait for further adventures with Alden and Wheke, who I really like. Wheke has a sardonic sense of humour, is loyal to a fault and there to save Alden's life time and time again and I want a Wheke! This series is one not to be missed.

[John Stonebraker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content ratings: Language - PG13, Violence - PG, Other - PG13

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The action and pacing were good from cover to cover, and I was engaged almost immediately. As with the previous book, the writing is good, and the grammar correct - something I always appreciate. Well done, and I look forward to book 3.

[Ellissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just gets better and better. This new segment in the Alden Northcliff series felt like an awesome blend of Aliens and Indiana Jones all set on Bespin. (if you get it, you get it). I had a legit moment where I went "Whaaaat?!" in genuine surprise which I find is so rare in a lot of books. I really enjoyed this continuation of the series and probably liked this even better than book 1.