The Demon Star

"Mythic, propulsive, and rich with characterization, The Demon Star is one hell of a debut." -Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Red Rising series On a ruined planet oppressed by eldritch gods, a rebel leader forces his son to become the vessel of a god-killing demon. Caught in a conflict spanning galaxies and millennia, two unlikely allies must decide whether to save the child, their world, or themselves. The otherworldly religious conflict of Dune, the cosmic strangeness of Gideon the Ninth, and the heart-pounding action of Red Rising converge in this horror-tinged epic science fantasy debut Ysira Naktis was a human sacrifice, destined for death. But unlike the thousands "harvested" each year, she did the unthinkable. She survived-and what she brought back with her could rewrite the fate of her civilization. When Ysira's son is chosen for demonic possession, she is faced with a choice: allow him to harness cosmic power at an unspeakable cost or doom millions to save him. She finds an unlikely ally in Brother Jacen Kheris, once a gifted exorcist, now an addict desperate for purpose. From a demon-haunted canyon to a starbound satellite, they must battle their way through cultists, aliens, and the gods themselves. The truths they unearth send them hurtling down a path that can only lead to apocalypse.

Jesse Aragon is an SFF writer based in St Louis. She grew up overseas, and "home" for her is everywhere from Brussels, Belgium to Albuquerque, New Mexico. When she's not writing, she enjoys drawing, lifting, watching horror movies, and hanging out with her cat. She has a BA in Psychology from CU Boulder, and has been a home health aide, an ER tech, an EMT-I, and an RN. Her jobs have consistently been much stranger than any fiction she writes.