Zach Parker

I am working on an anthology series (read: each book will star different characters, and the books tell more or less standalone stories) set in a large sci-fi world with strong fantasy elements. The first public work in this series is my short self-published novella: The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven. Check it out!

Here's what is known about the world so far, and/or isn't a spoiler to reveal!

How Interstellar Travel Works

Interstellar travel is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout human history, not a recent technological advancement. Throughout the Galaxy, there are invisble Doors that, when they interact with a mineral the Shilloans call Thria, Open to another place. The origin of the Doors is unknown. Some believe they are naturally ocurrying, others believe they are the work of the Gods. Because humans have only discovered other human worlds, the current scientific consensus is that humans spread throughout the galaxy via these Doors in prehistory.

Planets

Political Alliance	Planet	First Visited in Book	Notable Characters	Fun Facts
Shilloan Empire	Shillo	The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven	Birik	The only world on which Thria occurs naturally. Thria is the key to Opening the Doors that allow people to travel across thousands of lightyears in the blink of an eye. Because of this and the presence of several Doors on Shillo's surface, Shillo is believed to be the origin of humanity and, that, from this world, humans accidently spread throughout the galaxy in prehistory. Only the Earthers deny this obvious fact. The Shilloans used to have Gods, but the Gods left them long ago. It is the search for the Gods that drove the Shilloans to expand across the galaxy in search of Them.
Shilloan Empire	Tarven	The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven	Adiri	Tarven is the most recent world to fall under the Shilloan Empire, although the Shilloan conquest happened centuries ago. It is attractive as a vacation destination for the middle class of the Empire because it has the beautiful beaches and tropical climates missing from Shillo and Istol without the high prices associated with Bythal, due to its limited real estate.
Shilloan Empire	Istol	Not yet! But soon!	Chivi	Long ago, Istol was equal in power to the Shilloan Empire, which had only conquered Bythal at that point and could barely be called an Empire. They had their own religion — their own ambitions... But a technological mistake, an error in calculation, caused an environmental catastrophe and a rapid drop in Istol's temperature. Chaos spread. Economies toppled. Oceans turned to ice. Ancient nations folded, their neighbors absorbing them. The Shilloans took advantage of the suddenly crippled world. They arrived in force, ready for war, while the Istolians fought a fierce battle for mere survival. Istol surrendered immediately.
Shilloan Empire	Bythal	The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven (briefly).	Not yet!	Bythal was the first world to fall to the Shilloans. It never had a chance. Bythal is a large moon of a great gas giant, but the world is small compared to Shillo. They did not have the resources to compete. Despite being the first to fall, Bythal is the last world to truly integrate into the Empire. Tarvenians and Istolians see themselves as Imperial citizens and work alongside Shilloans. So do many Bythalians. But there is a faction on the moon who still seek liberation from the Empire after millennia. Bythal is a popular resort destination owing to its climate.
Earth	Earth	Not yet!	Not yet!	You are there right now! Of course, in your timeline, the 1960's US space program didn't discover a Door on the Moon, leading to one of Tarven's moons. So this Earth is slightly different. Earth is the most recently discovered human world, and the Empire has not yet campaigned to conquer it.