BETA READERS WANTED – PENDULUM: Dark Tomorrow Hard Science Fiction with Serious Christian Theological Themes | 92,000 Words | Book One of a Trilogy Feedback requested by the end of Summer 2026
Hello, everyone!
I am looking for a small number of beta readers for the first book in a science fiction trilogy called PENDULUM. Books One and Two are complete and Book Three is currently in progress.
Here is what you need to know:
WHAT IT IS:
Humanity has been exiled from Earth for five hundred years. The official histories are vague, the records corrupt. Generations born under the dim red light of an alien star have all but forgotten where they came from. Where they belong.
In 2881, Aries Loe, a former UNAS Marine and private military contractor, awakens to discover he is the seventeenth Iteration to carry his name, his face, and his unique, vivid memories of the Earth that humanity left behind centuries ago.
In a fractured society that has come to view the Earth as an accursed and forbidden myth, Aries-17 alone knows the truth.
And that makes him dangerous.
PENDULUM is the story of a man who has died sixteen times and been brought back each time by a technology that preserves his mind, his memories, and his mission — to find out what really happened to Earth, and to bring humanity home.
Nearly six-hundred years after his death, we join the latest Iteration of the original Aries Loe, Aries-17, who discovers that his predecessor was murdered one week before his awakening. What follows across three books is a hard science fiction story set among the colonized worlds of the Trappist-1 star system — a place of warring factions, political corruption, advanced technology, and a vast, insidious conspiracy, a plot conceived and quietly engineered by forces beyond human understanding.
PENDULUM does not wear its Christian faith lightly, nor does it wield it as a weapon. It is a story that takes Christianity seriously — as a source of hope, as a framework for understanding suffering, and as the only lens through which the true nature of what Aries is facing can be understood. The theology is intentional. The questions it raises are real.
It is also a hard science fiction novel. The world-building is detailed and internally consistent. The characters are flawed, funny, and human. The stakes are enormous. And the story does not flinch from the cost of doing what is right in a universe that does not always reward it.
If you enjoy stories that challenge your mind and engage your faith in equal measure — stories that ask hard questions about suffering, sovereignty, identity, and grace, refusing to offer easy answers — and you are a fan of James S.A. Corey's Expanse series or Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, this trilogy was written with you in mind.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:
I want honest, thorough feedback across all areas — no need to specialize.
That includes:
- General impressions and emotional impact - Pacing (does it move well, where does it drag, where does it sing) - Character arcs (do they earn their weight, do they feel real) - Voice and consistency (is it easy to follow the narrative as it transitions from third-person limited to first-person journal voice) - Theological content (does it land with integrity, does it ever feel preachy or heavy-handed, does it ever feel too subtle, or too on-the-nose) - World-building (does the setting feel lived-in and coherent) - Anything else that strikes you — good or bad
WHAT I'M NOT LOOKING FOR:
- Line edits or proofreading (that comes later) - Readers who aren't genuinely interested in the genre intersection — this book takes both its science fiction and its faith seriously, and it needs readers who are willing to meet it there
TIMELINE:
I'm hoping to have feedback in hand by the end of Summer. I understand life happens — just communicate with me if something comes up.
A NOTE FROM ME:
I'm a disabled writer managing chronic health challenges, so this project moves at its own pace. I mention this not to ask for sympathy but to be transparent: I am serious about this work, I have put enormous care into it, and I am looking for readers who will bring the same seriousness to their feedback. If that's you, I would genuinely love to hear from you.
Feel free to comment below or send me a direct message. I'll follow up with everyone who expresses interest.
Hard Science Fiction with Serious Christian Theological Themes | 92,000 Words | Book One of a Trilogy
Feedback requested by the end of Summer 2026
Hello, everyone!
I am looking for a small number of beta readers for the first book in a science fiction trilogy called PENDULUM. Books One and Two are complete and Book Three is currently in progress.
Here is what you need to know:
WHAT IT IS:
Humanity has been exiled from Earth for five hundred years. The official histories are vague, the records corrupt. Generations born under the dim red light of an alien star have all but forgotten where they came from. Where they belong.
In 2881, Aries Loe, a former UNAS Marine and private military contractor, awakens to discover he is the seventeenth Iteration to carry his name, his face, and his unique, vivid memories of the Earth that humanity left behind centuries ago.
In a fractured society that has come to view the Earth as an accursed and forbidden myth, Aries-17 alone knows the truth.
And that makes him dangerous.
PENDULUM is the story of a man who has died sixteen times and been brought back each time by a technology that preserves his mind, his memories, and his mission — to find out what really happened to Earth, and to bring humanity home.
Nearly six-hundred years after his death, we join the latest Iteration of the original Aries Loe, Aries-17, who discovers that his predecessor was murdered one week before his awakening. What follows across three books is a hard science fiction story set among the colonized worlds of the Trappist-1 star system — a place of warring factions, political corruption, advanced technology, and a vast, insidious conspiracy, a plot conceived and quietly engineered by forces beyond human understanding.
PENDULUM does not wear its Christian faith lightly, nor does it wield it as a weapon. It is a story that takes Christianity seriously — as a source of hope, as a framework for understanding suffering, and as the only lens through which the true nature of what Aries is facing can be understood. The theology is intentional. The questions it raises are real.
It is also a hard science fiction novel. The world-building is detailed and internally consistent. The characters are flawed, funny, and human. The stakes are enormous. And the story does not flinch from the cost of doing what is right in a universe that does not always reward it.
If you enjoy stories that challenge your mind and engage your faith in equal measure — stories that ask hard questions about suffering, sovereignty, identity, and grace, refusing to offer easy answers — and you are a fan of James S.A. Corey's Expanse series or Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, this trilogy was written with you in mind.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:
I want honest, thorough feedback across all areas — no need to specialize.
That includes:
- General impressions and emotional impact
- Pacing (does it move well, where does it drag, where does it sing)
- Character arcs (do they earn their weight, do they feel real)
- Voice and consistency (is it easy to follow the narrative as it transitions from third-person limited to first-person journal voice)
- Theological content (does it land with integrity, does it ever feel preachy or heavy-handed, does it ever feel too subtle, or too on-the-nose)
- World-building (does the setting feel lived-in and coherent)
- Anything else that strikes you — good or bad
WHAT I'M NOT LOOKING FOR:
- Line edits or proofreading (that comes later)
- Readers who aren't genuinely interested in the genre intersection — this book takes both its science fiction and its faith seriously, and it needs readers
who are willing to meet it there
TIMELINE:
I'm hoping to have feedback in hand by the end of Summer. I understand life happens — just communicate with me if something comes up.
A NOTE FROM ME:
I'm a disabled writer managing chronic health challenges, so this project moves at its own pace. I mention this not to ask for sympathy but to be transparent:
I am serious about this work, I have put enormous care into it, and I am looking for readers who will bring the same seriousness to their feedback. If that's you,
I would genuinely love to hear from you.
Feel free to comment below or send me a direct message. I'll follow up with everyone who expresses interest.
Thank you for your time.