A Span of Longing: A Space Opera Epic Twilight of the Godchosen Book 3
Science Fiction, Aien Ivasion, Space Marine Psy-Fi
Aethon Books
Jan 25, 2022
Kindle
499
Amazon
Aric kan Ingan is an Exile...
Stripped of title, wealth, and citizenship for treason against the Arcanian Empire, a crime of which he is innocent.
For a decade, he’s wandered the Emeraunt Galaxy, haunted by fear of instant death, while earning barely enough to survive, performing chores no self-respecting citizen would touch.
Destitute and addicted to the two most powerful illegal substances in the galaxy, he finds only one path left open: He enlists as a guard for a Terran mining colony.
From his point of view, he’s now hit rock-bottom.
Life among aliens is bad enough, but life with Terrans is near-unbearable for the prejudiced former prince whose pride is currently wallowing in the mud…until Aric meets two people who become a special part of his life.
Susan Moran is the company physician, a woman with secrets of her own. Miles Sheffield is his former mistress’ brother, a young, brash, wet-behind-the-ears Terran, who is as shocked as Aric when he becomes the Exile’s best friend, especially since their first meeting ended, not with a handshake, but with a fist to the jaw.
With Susan and Miles, Aric will experience friendship, passion, and grief, and eventually make a decision affecting the future of the entire galaxy as he unknowingly takes another step in the ancient prophecy of the GodChosen.
Grab Book 3 in the Twilight of the Godchosen Series today! Scheming, intrigue, war ... If you liked the characters from Firefly, with the passion and planetary intrigue of Pandora, and the action from The Tomorrow War, try Twilight of the GodChosen.
Review By S.C. Principale
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Aric kan Ingan’s journey in exile continues, awaiting forgiveness from his uncle and the gods. Once the most precious being on the planet of Arcanis, Aric is now roaming the planets of the Emeraunt Galaxy, as an Exile, the lowest of the low. Formerly a proud military commander and heir to the throne, he is now addicted to drugs and keeping the company of thieves and streetwalkers. What adventures and heartbreak will Aric face in this book?
Having read the previous book in the series, I was happy to get more of Aric’s backstory and hear about his love for the Terran, Elizabeth. This was a confusing part of the previous book, and helped clarify some things. However, the book has a sense of waiting about it, as if we are also stuck with Aric, waiting for the real action to begin.
The book is an engaging read, especially if you’ve already met Aric, a man who started off arrogant and became more loveable and “human” as the book went on. However, the information was doled out in bits and pieces, requiring readers to really be on their game to follow the plot. It’s been eight years since we last saw
Aric, and in that time, he’s done many odd jobs. It looks as though he’s in the same boat once again, until he happens to hear of a mining company who will hire Exiles, even those who are classified as addicts.
The main bulk of the book is spent with Aric as he enlists in a Terran mining company, which has five-year, military-esque terms. On Aric’s very first day, he runs into Miles, the younger brother of the woman he loved, Elizabeth, the woman who betrayed him and caused his exile. After a heated fight breaks out between the two men (Aric refuses to tell Miles the whole truth of what happened), Aric finds himself in the care of the corporation doctor, Susan Moran… and for the first time in all his years of exile, Aric’s feelings for Susan tempt him to break his vows to abstain from all physical intimacy.
As the book progresses, a reluctant friendship grows between both Miles and Aric and Aric and Dr. Susan. There are so many beautiful scenes of friendship and trust blooming. One finally feels hope for Aric, but how will this end, knowing that he can’t have Susan and honor his vows? One of the key scenes is when Aric saves Miles from a lion-like wild creature while they’re on maneuvers. Miles also saves Aric’s life after the creature backtracks. Dr. Moran, who lost her former pilot and friend/love JJ to the same beasts, is the only one who can treat Aric and Miles after the attack. After both men survive the attack, Aric gives Miles the Arcanian honor of a “Warrior’s Stone,” what we would call an earring. To make the gesture extra special, the earrings are a matching pair, so each of the true friends has one of the set. Through a dozen different heartbreaks and obstacles, Aric and Susan slowly lose the battle to remain only friends and become lovers.
But Aric cannot marry the woman he loves as an Exile. Just as he finally gave up on returning to Arcanis, realizing everything he wants his friends, his work, and now his lover are elsewhere, Aric has to make a decision. His dreams of an honest, open, and free life with Susan as his bride cannot be achieved as an Exile. There is only one thing to do. He must return and finally stop shielding Elizabeth. He must find the only man who can clear his name on the planet he must never see again. For love, Aric will risk breaking every part of the Exile’s code. I cannot wait to read this next one in the series!
TS Snow’s Twilight of the Godchosen is now one of my all-time favorite science-fiction series and I would love to see it dramatized. While it is a long, complex read, it’s worth it!