Worlds Asunder: Ardent Red (Paperback)

<p>In the mid twenty-second century, humanity has colonised much of the Solar System. The era of geopolitics has passed into history; in its place, a new system of heliopolitics has arisen in its place, dominated by supranational alliances, multi-trillion dollar megacorporations, and wanderers seeking to stake their claim in the lawless Frontier Space. All aim to profit from the near infinite bounty of resources that the Solar System presents. As billions of asteroid miners, corporate aristocrats, mercenaries and pirate kings vie for command of Sol's veritable treasure chest, a Shadow War is brewing in Core Space, where the vast majority of civilisation resides. On one side is the United Federation of Earth, a supranational political union comprising most of the former First World. On the other is the Commonwealth of Mars, a quasi-fascist, heavily militarised world state that seeks to defend its sovereignty from Earth by any means necessary. Both hyperpowers glare at each other while the outside braces themselves for another interplanetary war. Edward Frost, once a decorated soldier fighting for the Federation, now a corporate security officer working for a major mining company in the Asteroid Belt, thought he could escape the coming storm by hiding on Ceres. His deepest suspicions confirm that the powers that be have other ideas for him and his family. Even the veteran soldier Frost, however, can only begin to comprehend what those plans are when one side of the Shadow War draws first blood on his world of refuge. WARNING: Contains strong graphic violence, depictions of torture, alcohol usage, and very strong language.</p>