Richard Paul Russo – författare

On a ship without a mission ... No one remembers where they came from or where they're going. For hundreds of years, the starship Argonos, home to generations of humans, has wandered throughout the galaxy, searching for other signs of life. Now, a steady, unidentified transmission lures them toward a nearby planet.On a planet without inhabitants ... The colony has vanished. But deep within the planet's steamy jungles, the exploration team find horrible evidence of its fate: a cavernous chamber neatly filled with rows of skeletons, each one hanging on its own hook.On a collision course with the unknown ... Once more, a signal lures the crew of the Argonos. Haunted by what they have seen, they have no choice but to follow - deep into space, where an alien mystery waits.

Home to generations of humans, the starship Argonos has wandered aimlessly throughout the galaxy for hundreds of years, desperately searching for other signs of life. Now, a steady, unidentified transmission lures them toward a nearby planet, where the grisly remains of a former colony await the crew. Haunted by what they have seen, the crew has no choice but to follow when another signal beckons the Argonos into deep space—and into the dark heart of an alien mystery...   “[Russo] is not afraid to take on the question of evil in a divinely ordered universe...This is an ambitious novel of ideas that generates considerable suspense while respecting its sources, its characters, and most important, the reader.”—The New York Times   “A tale of high adventure and personal drama in the far future.”—Library Journal   “Relentlessly suspenseful...full of mystery...very exciting.”—Science Fiction Chronicle

Cale Alexandros was five years old when the path of his life was irrevocably altered. As the scion of a wealthy and powerful family, he enjoyed a privileged existence—until his family’s starship was attacked en route to Morningstar, the lone outpost of civilization on a savage planet known as Conrad’s World. In an escape ship, Cale crash-landed in the wilds, and was picked from the wreckage by nomads.   For years, Cale is forced to endure life as a slave, sold and shuffled from one group of brutish thugs to another—until a trader recognizes a glimmer of promise in Cale’s eyes, and frees him. Cale travels far and wide, but he never forgets what happened long ago, in the desert wastes . . . when, in a strange, ancient temple, he found a book with pages made of a strange metal, and writings he could not identify.   When he finally reaches Morningstar, he comes to realize that the book is a key to understanding a language never heard by mankind, an alien dialect. It also holds a secret that some people want to learn, a treasure that some want for themselves, and a revelation that some will do anything to control.