"[S]pace opera that plays out on a grand scale, and Young conduct[s] it with aplomb."--Pop Cults, the website of Geek and Alternative Culture

For over seven hundred years, the Spartan Republic's citizens have known one truth: Terra is coming. Descendants of exiles who dared to defy an emperor, the star nation's 70 billion citizens spent the centuries training, arming...and waiting.

In 3035, Leftenant Ian Campbell, Spartan Defense Forces (SDF), discovers a strange anomaly on his corvette's sensors...and realizes the wait is over. The Spartans must convince the Terrans of the cost of subduing their nation. If they succeed, the Republic survives. If not, the SDF will be forced to paint the stars red with their enemies' blood.

The Confederation of Man was born in the terror of the Harran Empire's death throes. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, humanity now spreads from its cradle on Earth to hundreds of stars across the Milky Way, and seeks out new worlds to add. In the interest of stability, Terran law is quite clear: All humanity will answer to the Confederation.

Captain Marcy Cochran was hoping to find a habitable planet; she didn't expect the system to already have hostile humans. Now a captive, Cochran must contend with a crew proving to be as dangerous as their enemies. If she fails, what has started out as a misunderstanding will become a full-fledged interstellar war. For the Spartans believe the last vestiges of an terrible empire remains in the Confederatin's edict. Having escaped once, they would rather die on their feet than have a Terran government subjugate them again.

Aries' Red Sky is the first novel in The Spartan Trilogy. Set in James Young's Vergassy Chronicles universe, it is a prequel to An Unproven Concept. If you like space opera, high body counts, and capital ship battles on a galactic scale, pick up an author who has been recommended by Amazing Stories, Pop Cults, and The Midwest Book Review.