Book 1

Seeds Of Earth

by Michael Cobley

Published 5 March 2009

'Proper galaxy-spanning space opera' Iain M. Banks on Seeds of Earth

The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth's last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on . . . somewhere.

150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien's forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilisation. Unknown to its colonists Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle, where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?

For more epic space opera action from Michael Cobley, check out:

Humanity's Fire Trilogy:
Seeds of Earth
The Orphaned Worlds
The Ascendant Stars


Standalone novels in the Humanity's Fire universe:
Ancestral Machines
Splintered Suns

Also look out for Cobley's epic fantasy trilogy, Shadowkings!


Book 2

The Orphaned Worlds

by Michael Cobley

Published 22 April 2010

'Proper galaxy-spanning space opera' Iain M. Banks on Seeds of Earth

Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic power struggle. Hegemony forces control the planet, while Earth merely observes, rendered impotent by galactic politics. Yet Earth's ambassador to Darien will become a player in a greater conflict as there is more at stake than a turf war on a newly discovered world.

An ancient temple hides access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has ever known. Millennia ago, malignant intelligences were caged there following an apocalyptic struggle, and their servants work on their release. Now a new war is coming.

For more epic space opera action from Michael Cobley, check out:

Humanity's Fire Trilogy:
Seeds of Earth
The Orphaned Worlds
The Ascendant Stars


Standalone novels in the Humanity's Fire universe:
Ancestral Machines
Splintered Suns

Also look out for Cobley's epic fantasy trilogy, Shadowkings!


Book 3

The Ascendant Stars

by Michael Cobley

Published 3 November 2011

'Proper galaxy-spanning space opera' Iain M. Banks on Seeds of Earth

Darien's future hangs in the balance as conflict rages across the planet's surface and, in the skies above, interstellar power politics has turned to war.

On one side lies the Construct AI and its millennia-long mission to protect sentient species. On the other is an army of twisted machine intelligences and its allies, whose goal is nothing less than the destruction or subversion of all organic life. They were caged in a hyperspace prison beneath Darien in a past age but now they are roaring to the surface, to freedom and an orgy of destruction which will rend the planets - starting with Darien.

Their allies circle above Darien and their armies are rising from below as an ancient battle is about to recommence. Machine vs human. Life or the sterile dusts of space.

For more epic space opera action from Michael Cobley, check out:

Humanity's Fire Trilogy:
Seeds of Earth
The Orphaned Worlds
The Ascendant Stars


Standalone novels in the Humanity's Fire universe:
Ancestral Machines
Splintered Suns

Also look out for Cobley's epic fantasy trilogy, Shadowkings!


Ancestral Machines

by Michael Cobley

Published 12 January 2016
"It was named Bringer of Battles, three hundred worlds orbiting a single artificial star, three hundred battlefields where different species vie for mastery and triumph. It is a cage where war is a game -- brutal, savage and sudden. In this arena, all must bend the knee to the Lords of Permutation and the ancient sentient weapons with which they have merged. Or suffer indescribable agonies. Trapped in this draconian crucible of death, Brannan Pyke, captain and smuggler, must fight his way to freedom. Because in the Bringer of Battles, the game of war is played to the death and beyond." --