Tag Archives: NEXUS

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Mara

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Last in this short series of character spotlights is Mara, Vanguard inquisitor.

Mara

Mara graduates into the Vanguard at the same time as Solan and Rialen, easily matching the intelligence of the former and skill of the latter. She is the first of them to be sent on a mission: a hostage situation on an alien world. Something is off from the start – there are no Necurians among the hostages and these aliens don’t like anyone meddling in their affairs, so why call for the Vanguard?

The mission goes bad. People die. Mara kills. The natural compassion of Necurians is pushed aside by necessity and her specialised inquisitor training allows her to cut her way to the hostages with ease. But if she survives, she won’t soon forget that huge blade, or the mountain of a so-called ‘man’ who wields it.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Rialen
Ailan

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Ailan

Posted by Ross Harrison on

Next up is the moody teenager, Ailan Suhn. Sent to try talking him round, Solan and Rialen quickly realise he is more than just a typical teen.

Space Katana

Suhn is dangerously sympathetic to the so-called ‘Fallen’: those men and women who do not adhere to the conventional ways of Necurians. He feels that they are unfairly treated and vilified for simply wanting to do their own thing. He identifies with them. Perhaps even feels as though he would find his place among them.

But when he witnesses a brutal murder committed by one of these misunderstood people, his sympathy disappears. He becomes obsessed with hunting down the killer, now the symbol of those he suddenly hates more than anything: the Fallen. He’s in over his head, but he won’t let anything get in his way; least of all the laws of other, lesser galactic races.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Rialen
Mara

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Rialen

Posted by Ross Harrison on

The second character in this short series of introductions is Solan’s closest friend, Rialen Solaax.

Rialen's Katana

Seventeen-year-old Rialen has already developed his psionic abilities beyond the reach of most students and likes to meet Solan’s lectures with practical jokes and displays of aptitude his friend is yet to attain. Twenty-two-year-old Rialen is a powerful inquisitor with anger problems.

The murder of a Vanguard agent in front of his eyes drives the practical jokes and rash, thoughtless actions from Rialen’s repertoire. His only focus becomes joining the ranks of the Vanguard and protecting his people.

But when the ferocious killer again drives a blade through someone he cares for, Rialen’s anger may get in the way of him preventing the same fate befalling a friend he feels responsible for. If he can’t get a handle on it, will he become what he is fighting?

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Solan
Ailan
Mara

Blades of the Fallen: Meet Solan

Posted by Ross Harrison on

As we draw closer to the release of the third book in the NEXUS universe, I thought I could write a brief series of introductions to some of the characters in the book. The cast of characters is not as broad as in previous books, but there are still a handful to meet. These men and women are agents of the Vanguard, the Necurian people’s first and last line of defence.

Solan's Katana

Eighteen-year-old Solan Ashar sometimes remembers to check his arrogance before he lectures his fellow students. Mostly, he forgets that he hasn’t even started his training for the Vanguard yet, let alone graduated. Twenty-three-year-old Solan is full of doubt and worry. He is an inquisitor of the Vanguard, but is the responsibility of this role too heavy? Is the darker side of his new position too much to bear?

The moment teenage boy is suddenly forced into adult is the moment he witnesses the brutal murder of a Vanguard agent. The moment his ideas of a noble, adventurous life of sailing the stars and spreading peace to undiscovered races is shattered by the wrathful and merciless face of reality.

If he is to help bring a murderer to justice and uncover the truth behind a spate of child abductions, Solan will have to come to terms with the contrast between his once rose-tinted view of the Vanguard and its true nature.

Blades of the Fallen is coming 1 August.

Now meet:

Rialen
Ailan
Mara