FOUR CULTURES—TWO HUMAN, ONE ALIEN, AND ONE CAUGHT IN STASIS BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. AND ONE QUESTION:

What price survival?

Ayrys, a glassblower and outcast.

Jehane, a skilled female warrior.

Dahar, with a deeply inquisitive mind.

Grax, an alien with profound doubts.

These four and hundreds of others are thrown together in an experiment to determine the fate of humanity, both on Earth and in her galactic colonies. For the Ged, the stakes are nothing less than the outcome of a war. For the humans, ignorant of the larger situation, the rewards for participating are incredible riches. But no one except the alien Ged understand the criteria for being chosen.

As the experiment spirals out of control, it threatens to destroy everything, including the experimenters. Only a small handful of humans come to recognize the true nature of what is on offer in the mysterious city the aliens have built, seemingly from nothing.

When that knowledge comes, there is no agreement about if, how, or when to use it. Some will betray others. Some will sacrifice. Some will die.

And some must succeed, no matter what the price.

Epic in scope, peopled by characters from every strata of profoundly different societies, An Alien Light is an unflinching look at the strengths and weaknesses of the genetic, evolutionary, and historical inheritance that all of us share.