Viceroy's Pride

Daniel Thrush is the only known human capable of learning the magic that powers the various empires of the universe. Earth is in the crosshairs of the Tellask Empire — a race that discovered magic millennia before humanity mastered fire. For all of Earth's military might, the only hope is to incorporate alien magic into technology — and that means harvesting mana from monsters. Despite his better judgment, Daniel leaves Earth behind to bring back a future.

Dan did everything they asked. Shadowy organizations implanted him with experimental nanobots. He endured months of grueling training, learned magic despite ravenous monsters and hostile aliens — and still arrived too late. Returning home to a changed planet, Dan finds elves have already invaded, occupying most of the Amazon and fortifying it against modern incursion. The leaders of humanity are scrambling to put his hard-earned magic to work. If he doesn't want to be a footnote in the tale of mankind's enslavement, it's time for Dan to stop doing what he's told — and do what needs to be done.

Humanity is fractured. The world is burning. Ravenous Orakh have arrived. Dan Thrush has the capability, technology, and magic to stitch society back together — but not everyone wants things to resolve quickly. Even as he tries to clean up the mess left by the Elven invasion, rivals challenge him for control, isolated pockets of humanity fight aliens on their own, and others have quietly given up. Giving up is a bad idea: the Orakh hunt survivors like animals. Dan must jury-rig a force combining new magic, weapons, and fair-weather allies — all while bitter enemies conspire for him to fail.