Ethera Grave

Parallel universes pop like champagne bubbles in the fizzy and frenetic final space opera of Hansen’s Graven series (after Azura Ghost). Caiden Winn is locked into a hopeless mission to thwart the homogenized Unity, an ever expanding pocket universe ruled by Abriss Cetre, from swallowing up all the other individual bubbles of the multiverse. He finds an unlikely ally in Abriss’s estranged brother, Threi, and together they plot to sever Abriss from the noncorporeal Graven spirit, Ethera, that drives her and gives her power. While Threi and Caiden’s team assaults the Unity’s capital, Caiden projects himself back in time to find the threads that tie Ethera to Caiden’s own ancient Graven mentor, Azura, and to Vaith, a remnant spirit linked directly to Caiden himself. Not for the uninitiated, this outing takes a cosmic perspective, rapidly oscillating between distant pasts and wild futures with Caiden and his friends often caught in the turbulent temporal shifts. Luckily, a deeply human spark of loyalty among the fighters keeps the chill of the multiverse from freezing out its readers. This proves a worthy finale. Agent: Naomi Davis, BookEnds Literary. (July)