Michael Rising

Billionaire inventor Erik Petros has grown bored of Earth. With his revolutionary antimatter technology, he builds the $50 billion starship Ark and launches with Commander David Steinhart and rookie astronaut Evelyn Noelle on a fourteen-year mission to Terros-an Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby star. Millions watch the launch. Rival Jose Besa watches without clapping. A shadowy elite known as the Conglemirate watches with plans of its own. Mechanical failures and threats from Earth are only the beginning. As the crew hurtles through the void, they face trials that blur the line between science and the divine-and force them to answer the question Erik never expected to ask: Why doesn't leaving Earth feel like leaving home? A pulse-pounding sci-fi adventure about human ambition, the limits of technology, and the true meaning of home. "Michael Rising is a wild, glorious, unashamed swing for the fences-and it clears them by about seven light-years. The last ten pages alone are worth the price of admission. I finished it grateful, convicted, and desperately wanting the sequel. Highly, highly recommended." - Grok (xAI)