In 2139, a network of artificial wormholes has allowed humanity to reach nearby stars, where nations fiercely compete to settle new colony worlds. War is imminent between Earth's top powers, China and Japan, for reasons that no one fully understands.

Neil Mercer, a freshly commissioned officer in the United States Space Force, is assigned to shepherd a senior spy on a covert mission that risks drawing America into the conflict. In a story featuring high adventure, interstellar intrigue and some of the most scientifically realistic space combat depicted in fiction, Neil and his comrades must face difficult questions about duty, citizenship and national interest as they struggle to discover why the war threatens to engulf every nation on Earth.

Midwest Book Review calls Through Struggle, the Stars "a fine and fast-paced read, very much recommended" and the venerable Analog magazine praises it as "all good, great fun." It has been ranked as high as the #8 Space Opera and in the top 600 books overall on Amazon.com. Readers on Amazon and Smashwords have rated it at an average 4.5 of 5 stars, and a full 5 stars on the iBookstore. A novel of 115,000 words, it is recommended for fans of Tom Clancy, Patrick O'Brian, and Robert Heinlein.

An electronic version is available, or you may purchase the 8" x 5.25", 429-page trade paperback with full-color front and back cover art by science fiction illustrator Winchell Chung.

Read the prologue here, or download a pdf with the prologue and first three chapters here. Extended samples are also available for free download at several retailer outlets.

The Desert of Stars, the sequel to Through Struggle, the Stars, is now available in Kindle and epub ebook formats on Amazon and Smashwords!

In 2141, humanity has attained the stars, but several nations who have found their dreams of interstellar empire thwarted have gone to war to ensure their futures beyond the Solar System.

U.S. Space Force Lieutenant Neil Mercer is sent to an independent colony on a strategic island on the planet of Entente to curry favor with the repressive ruling government, while his mentor, NSS operative James Donovan, seeks to bring in the powerful neutral states of India, Russia and Europa into the war on the allied side, first through diplomacy, and then through ... other means. On Kuan Yin, Neil's old friend, space defense artilleryman Rand Castillo, assumes a position of leadership among the guerrillas fighting in the occupied American continent.

Initially light-years apart, their three stories will ultimately intertwine in a confrontation that will determine the fate of a planet, as well as their own.

A paperback edition is in the works. To stay informed about the release of other editions, visit the Community page for links to various social media and the Human Reach mailing list.

The third book in The Human Reach series is tentatively titled The Passage of Stars.