My Second Book, The Exiled Earthborn, is On Sale Now

Whew. Now that I’m releasing my second book, I’m realizing that my stomach feeling flipped upside down while doing so is not a one-time occurrence. I’m excited to share The Exiled Earthborn with you, which is indeed the sequel to my original book released last year, The Last Exodus, and the second part of the trilogy.

The book is on sale here for $1.99, half the price of what The Last Exodus was initially because I just want more people to read it, and don’t care all that much about making money from it. And again, this is an eBook, so to read it you need either a Kindle or a Kindle app, which is available for nearly every device under the sun from phones to tablets to PCs.

I’ve already talked a little bit about writing a sequel and the challenges that it poses. In this instance, I had to shift sci-fi genres from the post-apocalypse to something based on alien planets and civilizations. There’s still a bit of survivalism in here, but The Exiled Earthborn features an expanded cast and landscapes that aren’t all just apocalyptic ruins or lonely spaceships.

There will be some general spoilers for the first book here, and again, I’ve recently put it on sale for $1.99 ahead of the release of this sequel. Pick it up if you haven’t, then you can immediately read the sequel afterward, which is about 25% longer than the original, it turns out. Nearly 400 pages.

Downtown Elyria, Sora (Jan Urschel)

Here’s the synopsis of the new book:

“In this thrilling sequel to The Last Exodus, Lucas and Asha have survived the decimation of Earth at the hands of the invading Xalans, and seek safe haven with their enemy’s true foes, the Sorans. They find a lush planet inhabited by civilization far more advanced than their own, waging an endless war against a constantly evolving enemy.

The Sorans call them the “Earthborn” and they’re welcomed as heroes, almost as gods. They swear an oath to avenge their fallen planet by aiding the Sorans in their war against Xala. But soon Lucas and Asha find Sora just as dangerous as apocalyptic Earth when they’re targeted by the Fourth Order, a rebel collective who decries them as false prophets and harbingers of further bloodshed.

Their friend and turncoat Xalan scientist Alpha believes he’s located someone who can help them turn the tide of the war for good, stranded on a conquered colony planet. After taking on the mission, Lucas and Asha find themselves in even greater peril off-world as a mysterious beast known only as the Desecrator has been dispatched to make them atone for their sins against the Xalans.

Escaping Earth was only the beginning. Their war isn’t over. Not yet.”

The Dead City, Makari (Westly LaFleur)

The goal of the sequel was to keep the focus on the first book’s three core characters of Lucas, Asha and Alpha, while introducing them to new outsiders and a bunch of different locations. I’ve found a few gorgeous art pieces representing the various cities and planets I’m envisioning that I’ve scattered throughout this post. They weren’t commissioned for me, but it’s how I picture many of these new locations.

I opened the book imagining what it might be like if a pair of aliens showed up on our planet, claiming to be the last survivors of a distant civilization. How would we react? How would the government treat them? How would the public?

Perhaps they’d be locked up in a glass case indefinitely, but I wanted to ensure that Lucas and Asha were still able to contribute to the larger war effort, and that the book wouldn’t be dull. Though the two of them are well-received initially, they stir up trouble with fringe Soran rebels and also still have a target on their backs with the Xalans after the events of the first book.

The Cliffs of Rhylos, Sora (Timo Mimus)

Though the core characters remain the same, as there are now billions of people populating the story instead of a few hundred roaming around a desolate Earth, the character list was going to have to expand a bit. Joining the cast are Talis Vale, High Chancellor of Sora and her brother Tannon, an Admiral tasked with defending the homeworld from the Xalans. Talis has a beautiful daughter named Corinthia who has been genetically engineered to physical and intellectual perfection, and Mars Maston is the charming, but hot-headed leader of the elite Guardian squad on Sora with an instant distaste for Lucas.

Villain-wise, we quickly learn of a man named Hex Tulwar, who leads a resistance group on Sora and deems Lucas and Asha, the Earthborn, a threat to his cause and people. And from Xala, we hear whispers of a powerful creature known only as the Desecrator, tasked with exterminating Lucas, Asha and Alpha.

It was different and difficult writing so many characters as before I’d only had to work with three. I also tried to include a number of compelling mysteries to help drive the plot forward and keep people reading, and hopefully they’ll do their job.

Vas Raksis, Xala (Peter Prime)

Anyway, I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. If you read the The Last Exodus, I hope you enjoy The Exiled Earthborn, or if you’ve missed the series so far, I hope you eventually read and like them both.

Please, please give me any feedback at paultassi@gmail.com, and if you do end up liking the book once you finish, an Amazon review would go a really long way in helping me out. And of course, tell your friends.

Thanks so much to all of you who have read my first book, which motivated me to finish this sequel over the course of the past year. There’s one more book to go after this, and yes, I’ve already started it.