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Assimilation
Assimilation tells the story of Kercy, a fragile and often isolated young woman whose life is split between the harshness of her family and the eerie beauty of the Soshone Islands. The calm of her summers fractures when she hooks a grotesque, severed limb in the lake, only to be visited that same night by strange beings who invade her room and her body. That moment becomes the axis of her entire life, leading her toward hidden truths about her parents, her own biology, and the horrifying forces lurking beneath the water. The book follows her journey from isolated child to self-possessed adult as she navigates love, danger, loss, and the long shadow of whatever visited her that night.
Reading it pulled me around emotionally in ways I didn’t expect. Some sections felt tender and slow, almost sleepy with the warmth of summer afternoons, then suddenly the story lurched into fear and chaos. I kept feeling this knot in my stomach because the writing toys with dread in such a quiet way. Busch’s descriptions of water and landscape are gorgeous and simple. They gave me a sense of calm. Then he ripped it away with scenes so bizarre I actually had to pause. The alien encounter scene hit me hardest. It felt weirdly intimate, almost like watching someone relive a trauma they barely understand. It made my skin prickle because it blended dream logic with physical detail in a way that felt too real.
But the part that stayed with me most wasn’t the creatures. It was the messy and painful bond between Kercy and her parents. Her father’s coldness stung every time he appeared. Her mother’s love felt too thin in some moments and heartbreakingly fierce in others. The whole time, I felt this quiet anger building under the surface. He disappears early in the book, yet his absence keeps shaping her life like a bruise that never fully heals. By the time the story reaches its later chapters, where Kercy reflects on the ruins of her past from adulthood, I felt this soft ache for everything she carried that nobody helped her set down.
Assimilation struck me as a story for readers who love emotional tension mixed with strange, unsettling mystery. Assimilation blends the emotional depth of The Girl with All the Gifts with the eerie, slow-burn dread of Annihilation and the intimate character focus of Room, creating a story that feels both tender and terrifying. If you like atmospheric fiction with sci-fi elements woven into human pain, or if you enjoy stories that linger in your mind, this one will absolutely grab you.
pages: 335 | ASIN: B0FSSJP5CP
Hypocrisy
The novel Hypocrisy drops you right into a wild mix of government secrets, alien power plays, and strange visions that blur the line between what is real and what is imagined. The story opens with Ché Anaconda, a UAP hunter who lives knee deep in lies and threats. From there, the book cuts across galaxies, following Alen Innocent, Honor, Charisma, and a cast of beings who shift forms, twist timelines, and chase after knowledge that could change everything. The plot swings fast, with violence, politics, and cosmic mysteries all happening at once, and it creates this feeling that the universe is breaking open in every direction.
The writing has this bold energy that keeps the scenes jumping. The author clearly loves big ideas. I could feel that passion on almost every page. Scenes would explode out of nowhere. But then I would get pulled back in by some strange image, like blood on a bedsheet turning into a vision. The book has a way of surprising you right when you start to doubt it, and that made the experience weirdly addictive. It felt like watching someone open doors faster than you can peek inside them.
This whole concept of powerful beings feeling lost, insecure, or tired struck me more than I expected. I liked how the book kept poking at the idea that knowledge can be both a gift and a curse. There is something human in the middle of all the chaos. Some moments made me feel a real ache, especially scenes that touch on memory and trauma. Other times, I felt thrown off by the heavy social commentary. Even so, those rough edges gave it a raw emotion that stuck with me.
I think Hypocrisy is perfect for readers who enjoy fast, unpredictable sci-fi with big stakes and messy characters who feel alive. It will hit the sweet spot for people who like their stories loud, strange, and full of cosmic drama, and who don’t mind a little narrative chaos in the mix. If you like to dive into a universe that punches first and explains later, you’ll have a good time.
Pages: 378 | ASIN : B0FV55K9F8
Immense Beauty and Terrifying Wilderness
Blood of Yarumaya follows a botany student from Stanford, headed for an internship in the Amazon rainforest, who learns about a rare tree and its resin, which holds the secret to human longevity. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the setup of BLOOD OF YARUMAYA is my college-student daughters, and imagining them experiencing this story and wondering how they would respond and adapt to being forced into such a dramatic situation. The protagonist, Isabella Bryn Delgado, is a Gen Z girl from Malibu with a privileged life and a certain naivety about the world, similar to my own daughters. I wanted to explore how Isabella would respond and grow as a result of her experiences.
Was there a reason why you chose this location as the backdrop for your story?
The reason I chose the Amazon rainforest as the setting is simple: Its immense beauty and terrifying wilderness that transform it into its own unique character, and its isolation from civilization. There are so many mysteries associated with the rainforests that it became the logical choice to immerse the reader in. Plus, I am fascinated with the Amazon rainforests and their wildlife and people.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
A theme of survival was critical to the growth of the young protagonist. In the most primal situations, we are all subject to our instinct to survive, and out of this instinct grows knowledge, confidence, and a deeper understanding of who we are. Intertwined with survival is a theme of environmental issues that Izzy has to face and make choices where she stands. Other themes involved finding genuine love and how rare and precious it is once discovered, and how it drives us to do things we didn’t think possible before–pushing us to do the impossible. A theme of power and corruption was intertwined in the story: The exploitation of indigenous tribes, government conspiracies to steal and monetize the greatest scientific discovery in history, and the attacks on the natural resources of our rainforests, and from that a theme of ethics emerges. If you possessed a secret that could save the world and extend life expectancy dramatically, would you share it or keep it hidden away?
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
My current project is Book #5 of my Timepiece Series, titled The Timepiece Origin. It is the fifth and final book of the series and a prequel to the story. The book should be available in late Spring 2026. Books One through Four are currently available on Amazon in eBook and paperback.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook | Website
Isabella Bryn Delgado thought a research trip to the Amazon would breathe life into her failing Master’s degree in botany—and give her one last shot at salvaging her gymnastics scholarship before her injured knee gave out for good. Far from Stanford’s campus and the chaos of Palo Alto, she just wanted a quiet jungle escape. No pressure. No balance beam. And no more awkward run-ins with her soon-to-be ex.
But the man who was supposed to supervise her internship—reclusive microbiologist Dr. Dominic Quinn—is nowhere to be found when she arrives at his remote field lab. Alone in one of the most dangerous ecosystems on Earth with no contact to the outside world, Isabella soon realizes she’s been dropped into more than just a science experiment.
When a mysterious man claiming to be Dr. Quinn finally appears, he brings with him secrets buried deep in the rainforest: an uncharted tribe, a sacred tree called Yarumaya, and a miraculous resin that may hold the secret to human longevity. But the trees are dying—and the tribe’s survival is in danger.
As Isabella and Quinn race to uncover the cause, they find themselves tangled in a web of ancient rituals, vanishing ecosystems, and a connection neither of them expected. But some secrets aren’t meant to be shared. And some discoveries are worth killing for.
Blood of Yarumaya is a pulse-pounding eco-thriller about love, legacy, and the dangerous line between scientific discovery and cultural exploitation.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
Reviewed by Ronél Steyn for Readers’ Favorite
Kevin D. Miller delivers a captivating environmental thriller in Blood of Yarumaya. Isabella Delgado is two weeks late in arriving for her assignment with Dr. Dominic Quinn in the Amazon. This was her opportunity to write her thesis on botany with firsthand rainforest experience, but now the doctor is missing. She just broke up with her boyfriend and is still dealing with a knee injury that shattered her gymnastic goals. To make things worse, the radio is broken, it’s humid, and the mosquitoes are hungry. When Dr. Quinn finally arrives at the field lab, he doesn’t resemble the forty-something man Isabella expected. Instead, he looks closer to her twenty-six years. What follows is a race to uncover the secrets of the Kawirén people’s longevity and help them survive the impending destruction of the Amazon.
Author Kevin D. Miller proves to be a master storyteller. Vivid descriptions immerse readers deep in the rainforest and awaken all their senses. With strong protagonists leading the story, there’s no doubt about wanting to turn those pages and keep reading. The pace is swift, creating an urgency that drives the plot forward. It ticks all the right boxes for action, adventure, love, and discovery, ensuring any reader will fall in love with the Amazon and making Blood of Yarumaya perfect for fans of nature and science. The dialogue is sharp, and the detailed stages of experimentation won’t leave you confused. Due to some strong language and closed-door sexual scenes, this book is best suited to a mature audience.
The Illuminated
The Illuminated tells the story of a lone survivor crossing a poisoned and broken world with his dog, Toko. The narrator moves from a desert wasteland to strange canyons, dangerous forests, and the ocean. Along the way, he faces mutated beasts, starvation, grief, and moments of rare hope. The book follows his physical journey, but it also dives into his emotional struggle with memory, loneliness, and the faint belief that something good might still exist.
The descriptions of the ruined world are stark. They feel honest without trying too hard. I kept thinking about how tired he was, and the book made me feel that same exhaustion. The writing is simple in a way that makes the emotion hit harder. I found myself pausing when the narrator talked to Toko, because those moments felt tender and raw. The pacing, though slow at times, added to the heavy atmosphere and made the rare hopeful scenes shine brighter.
I also liked the way the story leaned into small, ordinary joys. A berry. A cup of clean water. The way the dog leans against him. Those moments landed with real weight. The ideas beneath the story stayed with me. The book made me think about what people hold on to when everything else falls apart. I appreciated how the author handled grief in such a grounded way. It never felt forced. The emotional beats felt natural, even when they hurt. And they did hurt. The parts with Stella and May stayed with me after I finished reading.
I walked away feeling that this book is meant for readers who like quiet stories that rely more on feeling than spectacle. It is a post-apocalyptic novel, but it is really a story about what it means to keep going when life keeps taking. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reflective survival stories, or anyone who wants something that sinks in slowly and leaves a mark.
Pages: 169 | ASIN: B0FH8FS27J
Heirs of Empire
S A Melia’s Heirs to Empire is a sprawling space opera of loyalty, survival, and rebirth. The story sweeps through twelve human worlds known as the Dodecahedral Empire, where young King Teodor, once presumed dead, claws his way from slavery on a plague-ridden world to reclaim his crown. Alongside him are soldiers, nomads, and lovers bound by webs of duty and betrayal. Melia threads political intrigue, biological warfare, and deep personal transformation into a story that feels both intimate and epic. It’s part military science fiction, part mythic hero’s journey, and part meditation on power and belonging.
Reading this book, I felt pulled between admiration and awe. Melia’s world-building is stunning, dense, and alive with detail. Her writing has a cinematic rhythm, with scenes that pulse between horror and beauty. There’s a strange poetry in how she describes destruction, especially the plague-ravaged London and the living forests of Sas Darona. The characters feel raw and human, even when they’re riding giant spiders or waging interplanetary wars. I loved the contrast between Teodor’s noble stoicism and Guy Erma’s rough-edged loyalty.
What struck me most was how personal the story feels beneath all the spectacle. This isn’t just about empires rising and falling, it’s about what happens to people when the idea of “home” burns down. Melia writes grief and hope side by side. Her characters are always torn, always trying to choose between love, survival, and duty. I found myself angry with them one moment and rooting for them the next. That unpredictability kept me turning pages, even when the politics grew thick. There’s a pulse of emotion here that feels tender, painful, and real.
Heirs to Empire is a bold, emotional ride. It’s perfect for readers who love the grand scope of Dune but crave the grit and heart of Battlestar Galactica. If you enjoy stories that blend science fiction with myth, politics with passion, and chaos with redemption, this book will grab you and not let go. It’s ambitious, heartfelt, and riveting.
Pages: 466 | ASIN : B0FCCX2672
Respecting Water
The Tralls of Mundi follows a group of tralls headed to the Coming Together celebration who, along the way, discover a dark and dangerous adventure that threatens the tralls’ future. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Illegal damming of water sources is becoming an issue in Australia, especially in areas that have a lot of agriculture and limited water resources.
There are many reasons for this, some quite understandable, and in a vast country like Australia the situation is hard to monitor.
Unfortunately, however, Illegal dams can have a negatively impact on the environment and ecosystems.
They can lead to habitat destruction, degrade water quality, negatively impact aquatic life and cause health risks for humans through contaminated water.
I wanted to make my young readers aware of these issues and hopefully encourage them to be respectful water users in the future.
Were there any characters that you especially enjoyed writing for?
Each book in The Tall Series is dedicated to two of my grandchildren. The two represented in “The Tralls of Mundi” are often complimented on their leadership, persistence, courage and resourcefulness so I was keen to highlight these traits in the main characters, Jete and Jak.
What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?
There are two memories that are very special to me. The first was when I lived with my grandparents in Tasmania. We spent a lot of time traipsing through the bush and marvelling at the beautiful flora and fauna during the daytime and then at night, we’d read and re-enact the classics. Those memories are very dear to me and I tried to share them with my family and my readers through this series.
The second very precious memory is of the time we spent living on Badu Island in the Torres Strait.
The laid-back, happy, communal life-style of the islanders and the friendly way they included us in their lives had a strong impact on us and Badu and the friends we made there still mean the world to us.
My hope is that by threading that happy, peaceful ambience through my stories , I could impart the same feeling to others.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from The Tralls of Mundi?
I hope “The Tralls of Mundi” engenders a deep respect in my readers for the environment and a desire to protect it. I also hope they learn the importance of all water resources and treat them with consideration and care.
Author Links: Facebook | Website
When the terrified tralls discover that the village of Mundi and all its inhabitants have disappeared they are convinced the Chameleons have returned, and when they find that the mighty River Maire is now only a dried-up mudflat, those fears are strengthened.
Jete and Jak are determined to save their friends but what they find when they enter the Sacred Caves of Mundi leaves them so confused and horrified, they are no longer sure they can save the tralls of Mundi or even their own kinships.
The Tralls of Mundi is the second book in The Trall Series; a collection of environmentally based portal fantasies set in the Australian bush. It is recommended for readers 9 years to 13 years.
The Next Leap Into the Universe
Those Alien Skies follows three gripping stories that explore the uneasy bonds between humans and aliens as flawed, desperate people search for truth, redemption, and meaning across the vast unknown. For readers new to the Milijun universe, what do you hope they take away from Those Alien Skies as their first entry point?
As the scope of the Milijun books developed, I grew to love the characters [human, alien, and robotic] decorating their pages. ‘Those Alien Skies’ is a cosmic extension of their escapades and a substantial broadening of their horizons; the next leap into the universe, if you like.
For readers new to the Milijun universe, I hope they can closely relate to the various personalities, the situations they face, and the world-building of their universal surrounds. After finishing this book, I hope they remember the intimate reflections on survival and belonging. Hopefully those will linger long after the final page.
Humans are unique and wonderful creatures—but likely not the zenith of creation. We should remain open to sharing our life journeys and unafraid of what may seem paranormal or beyond our understanding. Where do we lie within the vast measure of creation? What is our relationship with the universe and what lies within it?
Elias Weber’s moral unraveling is one of the most memorable parts of the collection. What inspired his internal struggle, and did you always know where his arc would end?
Elias Weber first came to the fore in ‘Alien Whispers: Conflict and Communion’, Milijun Book 3, where he was a strong leader of an aggressive Tellurian military group based on the moon. The Tellurians are a powerful world-wide organization with an archaic mandate for their home planet—no exploration beyond Earth’s atmosphere. They are also the sworn enemy of the breakaway ‘Alien Communication Enterprise’, known as ACE, a group that vehemently opposes the Tellurian creed. There is a warlike rift between the Tellurians and ACE.
Captured by ACE, and totally embittered, he endures a meaningless life on Mars. Resentment grows, and Elias needs to understand what has happened to the Tellurian cause on Earth, and why it appears to be waning.
His future is in his own hands. He can accept the ACE doctrine of universal exploration with the alien Rbuzen, or he can seek revenge fuelled by a wistful desire for days long gone.
Each novella balances awe-inspiring sci-fi concepts with deeply personal emotional beats. How do you decide which element leads a given scene?
There is no conscious decision making involved. The overall immediate plot comes first—something that can be described in a few sentences. From then on, it is the characters that create their own sub-plots and the flow of events: what they think, how they react with other people and their surrounds, how they overcome adversity, how they develop, how they succeed or fail.
The characters’ actions in given circumstances tell the story, and I just need to get inside their heads and make their reactions plausible. Quite often it is a balance between action and reaction – as are many of the things in our daily lives. Life is full of decisions – some of them minor, others critical to our future.
In a nutshell, I believe the plot is the foundation of the book, the characters are the stuff it’s made from.
The stories touch on belief, doubt, and the shaping of truth. What drew you to explore these themes in a futuristic setting?
I wonder at our universe, even though we are seemingly only a small part of it. Transitioning to interstellar space and coming across other lifeforms is just another mode of creative exploration that can become a wonderful backdrop to any story. How close would aliens be to ourselves? How different?
Ideas can come from everywhere and anywhere. Pondering the universe. Pondering religions. Checking out the human condition. Exploring possibilities. And quite often surfing thoughts on waking up in the morning.
From the Milijun Series there is a Terran translation of an Rbuzen idiom, well before the aliens’ discovered extra-dimensional space: ‘Like the worm in the soil, or the spider in the web, we know nothing of creation, save that of our immediate surrounds, for that is all we need to know in order to survive.’
I believe that well describes the human condition. Who knows what lies outside our visible spectrum?
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook | Website
✅ Few and Far Between is a story of a search born out of love, an otherworldly encounter, and a reminder that children are the future. The action takes place on Venture and a strange alien artificial planet. As always, nothing can be taken for granted.
✅ Battle Lines takes place on the alien planet Glieze, and illustrates the futility of war and the necessity of trust. It is a contest between World War and extinction or survival and faith in the future. Sometimes the way forward springs from the most unlikely source.
Each novella offers a glimpse into strange new worlds, where danger, wonder, and discovery go hand in hand.
Perfect for both longtime fans and newcomers who enjoy bold ideas and thought-provoking adventures, Those Alien Skies is a smart, suspenseful collection that challenges the limits of imagination and defies expectations.
It is a timely reminder that the universe still has secrets waiting to be found.
The perfect addition to your sci-fi library.
Prima Nocta: A Mystical Quest for Love
Prima Nocta is a sprawling, intimate, and deeply passionate novel that moves through time and culture to explore the idea of soul connections, those rare and fated relationships that transcend logic, distance, and even death. Through a series of interconnected vignettes told from different perspectives and historical settings, the book traces recurring meetings between soulmates over centuries. It begins with a hunted philosopher in 16th-century France and moves to a grieving daimyō in Edo-period Japan, a nobleman in Renaissance England, and onward into modern and future lives. Each tale crescendos in a moment of intense emotional and erotic connection, all part of a larger narrative arc about love, memory, and the spiritual bonds that tether us across time.
From the very first page, I was struck by the raw emotion Pratt brings to the prose. It doesn’t hide behind elaborate metaphors or highbrow literary tricks. Instead, it opens its heart right to you. The writing is so personal. There’s a genuine ache that lives in every chapter. I felt it most in the quiet moments, those simple exchanges of glances, the gentle touches, the characters’ longing to be seen and understood. The dialogue doesn’t try to be clever. It tries to be true. And it is. That’s what makes it hit so hard. It’s not clean or tidy. It’s messy and complicated and bursting with yearning. The characters aren’t perfect, and neither are their lives, but the connections they form are electric. You believe in them. You want them to win. Even when they can’t.
There’s something haunting about the way Pratt weaves the spiritual and the physical. These aren’t just love stories. They’re meditations on fate, identity, time, and what it means to truly know someone. The way the book blends sensuality with existential questions is bold and surprisingly tender. It’s not erotica for the sake of titillation. It’s about finding divinity in the act of connection. The erotic scenes feel earned, not gratuitous. They’re emotional revelations just as much as physical ones. And that’s where the book shines most. It dares to suggest that sex, love, and meaning are all wrapped up in the same tangle, and I completely bought into that.
The pace is slow in places. It lingers, it wanders, it reflects. But if you’re someone who likes your stories soaked in feeling and not afraid to be a little weird or mystical, you’ll find something special here. I’d recommend Prima Nocta to readers who crave emotional intensity, who love deeply romantic fiction with spiritual undertones, and who are open to a narrative that feels more like a journey than a destination. This book isn’t afraid to look you in the eye and ask big questions.
Pages: 333 | ASIN : B0F1YTBGR1
LITERARY TITAN 