A Gritty Science Fiction Series by L.A. Warren
In the year 2035, aliens arrive on Earth—claiming peace, trade, and humanity’s best interests.
They are lying.
The Vendel are not extraterrestrials at all, but humans who left Earth thousands of years ago and built a vast interstellar empire beyond our reach. When they return, they do so as conquerors. Billions die. The survivors are enslaved, tested, ranked, and remade
And one woman survives long enough to tell the story.
Vendel Rising is a four-book science fiction saga that blends first-contact horror, dystopian survival, and epic space opera into a gripping, emotionally charged narrative. Told through the personal histories of Elise Comwel and the New Terra chronicles, the series explores invasion, enslavement, transformation, and the terrible ambiguity of power.
The Vendel insist they are humanity’s saviors.
But how do you justify salvation to the dead?
As Elise is broken and reshaped through brutal Vendel training, she is forced to confront impossible questions:
What if the enemy is right?
What if survival requires obedience?
What if forgiveness is more dangerous than hatred?
Across four novels—It Begins With the End, Women of Rank, The Price of Power, and It Ends With a Beginning—the series charts a relentless journey of endurance, identity, rebellion, and revenge. Along the way, readers are immersed in richly imagined alien cultures, brutal hierarchies, and a future where humanity’s place in the universe is far smaller—and far more complicated—than anyone ever imagined.
Vendel Rising is a dark, intelligent, and unforgettable science fiction experience—one that asks what it truly means to survive… and what it costs to remain human.
Vendel Rising
Prologue
“To understand your enemies, you must first let go of your hatred. Only then may you forgive. Only then may you understand.”
May 31, 2136
Simple words for philosophers who know nothing of suffering. Pompous fools! I’m certain they never had to walk the path of forgiveness. What I will tell you is this…
That path? It’s lined with incredible pain. Never think otherwise. I have lived it. The day the Vendel invaded my world is a memory that will never leave me. It’s the day I lived. The day I died. It’s the day everything changed. The Vendel defeated me. Broke me. They destroyed me. I hated them. I didn’t want to forgive them. I didn’t care to understand them.
All I wanted was my revenge. What I got instead was something I never imagined possible…
This is my story.
JEM PUBLISHING 