OR

Kindle Price:	$2.99
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

PJ McDermott

+ Follow

More books from this author

The Alien Corps (The Prosperine Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by PJ McDermott (Author), Tom Bentley (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 536 ratings

Book 1 of 4: The Prosperine Series

See all formats and editions

Supernatural science fiction mystery

Hickory Lace and her crew of special investigators in the Alien Corps have been dispatched to the newly discovered planet Prosperine to help untangle the threads of an ancient prophecy that speaks to the current day.

The team has been tasked with uncovering the reasons for the mob violence and anti-government demonstrations in the capital city, Ezekan. Their prime suspect is a native called Kar-ser-Sephiryth who leads a long list of potential messiahs whom the Alien Corps has been investigating for the last century. This alien appears to be responsible for the unrest in the city, but how is he doing it and why?

As Hickory seeks to unravel the mystery, she becomes immersed in the dangerous politics of a medieval alien world where predatory beasts and strange creatures abound. To add to the gravity of her situation, the planet is about to explode into a civil war — one that could seriously impact Earth's supply of the rare metal crynidium, essential for faster-than-light travel currently being mined on the planet.

To succeed in her mission, Hickory must embrace the empathic gifts she was born with. Only then can she hope to stop the rebellion, discover what this alien messiah is about, and decide whether he is a fraud or perhaps the very being the Alien Corps has been hoping to find for so long.

Books in the Prosperine Series:
Prelude: Born of Fire(also available in paperback and audiobook)
Book 1: The Alien Corps(also available in paperback and audiobook)
Book 2: Rise of the Erlachi (also available in paperback and audiobook)
Book 3:The Scarf (available in paperback)
Book 4: Fractured Prophecy (available in paperback)
What readers say about this supernatural science fiction mystery
“A Great read. Had me at the first chapter. Did not want to stop. Love the plot, the storyline, the action!!”
“Great characters; storyline with action, drama, and fast-paced intrigue; and unique description of an alien planet, society, and its population. Highly recommended. I would get other books in the series.”
“McDermott creates a very original and hopeful future world similar to the kind of sci-fi I grew up loving. His alien characters are delightful and believable. I could not wait to read the second book, Rise of the Erlachi which is even better!”
“This is a full-blown outer space adventure. Well-described characters and a story that has a nice flow to it. I read it straight thru cover to cover.”

From the Publisher

Avanaux - the northern continent of the planet Prosperine and its capital city Ezekan

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. McDermott is a talented writer. He is adept at pacing, characterization, dialogue and, important to me, he ensures verisimilitude throughout. From characters to plots, subplots and fantasy world building, he leaves the reader with a real sense of reality. This talent, coupled with his breadth of historical facts and science technology all come to play in building the universe in which heroine Hickory Lace (what a cool name) and the entire supporting cast must live, work--survive or die. Like all great characters, Hickory presents unique talents, counter-balanced by a heavy load of personal and professional concerns that haunt her... often at the most inconvenient times. The supporting cast is equally 'human' (even the aliens) with their own burdens and aspirations.

LAS Book Reviews

From the Author

The Prosperine series features Hickory Lace as a commander in the Alien Corps. The Corps are a group of space explorers created by the Vatican to investigate alien worlds for signs of the end of times.
The story contains spiritual and supernatural elements, but you won't find any preaching or Damascus-like epiphany in these pages! The Alien Corps is simply a ripping good yarn. Welcome to the incredible world of Prosperine!

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00S1SNAVE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Patrick McDermott Publishing (April 30, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 30, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 36872 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 312 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,468,081 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #265 in Teen & Young Adult Space Opera eBooks
- #274 in Teen & Young Adult Sci-Fi Mystery eBooks
- #751 in Teen & Young Adult Space Opera

Customer Reviews:
4.1 536 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

PJ McDermott

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

PJ McDermott was born in a one-bedroom tenement flat above the local cinema in the main street of Paisley, Scotland. Soon after, his parents moved into a council house in the impoverished suburb of Ferguslie Park. The author's first published book, the acclaimed coming of age novel, Small Fish Big Fish, reflects this early upbringing.

As a schoolboy PJ spent his free time in the library reading science fiction books day and night, reveling in the genius of Asimov, Herbert, and Le Guin. These days, he enjoys the fantasy novels of Robin Hobb and Alex Weir.

The author published the 4-book science fiction series, Prosperine, comprising The Alien Corps, Rise of the Erlachi, The Scarf, and Fractured Prophecy. All are available in e-book and print and the first two books are also in audiobook format.

The author lives in Australia with his wife, Sue, two daughters and three grandchildren, Mia, Ryder Patrick, and Ethan.

Visit him at his website: www.pj-mcdermott.com

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

536 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

B D

Original well thought out Sci- Fi thriller that kept me engaged!

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

Avanaux: A Hickory Lace Adventure

Overall impression: Original well thought out intriguing science fiction novel. I wanted to keep reading. The Author is clearly a student of history and has a firm grasp on the big picture, as evidenced by his realistic portrayal of the schizophrenic human condition. Medium paced in the beginning to fast paced at the end. The novel gave the bare details to move the action forward, which was helpful for people like my self with short attention spans. Many science fiction authors go on tangents describing the complexities of their worlds. Mr. McDermott has created a complex world but kept it simple. I would highly recommend it.

Feel of the story: The main character Hickory Lace is a dynamic character with real issues, and faults she is not a ‘super woman’. Her relationship with her father and her deep conflictions about her job was a continuous underlying thread and helped shaped her motivations throughout the story. The characters in any story are the foundation and glue that moves a story forward. Why read if the characters bore you? All of the characters had their own agenda’s, wounds and motivations. I wanted to hear their story.

Over all plot: I am not going to paraphrase the book. The plot was complex but presented itself in a way that did not bog me down and kept me engaged, again no easy feat. I have little patience. Geo politics on Earth is complicated enough. Now imagine another less advance world with its own politics, beliefs and regional biases. The chance for conflict is about as likely as a careless match causing a wildfire in California in July. The author again kept things simple and moved the action forward. Originally I was off put by the similarities between the aliens and humans, but then it dawned on me that it was quite appropriate. No matter what sun you live under the fact remains the same, all old things must fade away and give rise to new, not necessarily better, ideas.

Why you should read: Will the Humans agenda completely destroy the alien’s way of life? Will the various factions in the alien’s world crumble and collapse into civil war under the threat? Will Hickory come to terms with here conflicted loyalties and fractured relationships? Who is this mysterious ‘messiah’ who inspires and divides the aliens?

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bobbi R.

Visit a Strange New World

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2016

Verified Purchase

I was really impressed with this book from start to finish. The author's crisp, clear writing style was truly a pleasure to read. The adventure never let up. The characters were interesting and relatable. And the world! The author really lets you see the world of Avanaux, from the strange looking people, to the odd and sometimes terrifying beasts. The science is all believable and there's enough without it being too much. The book has a satisfying conclusion, while at the same time leaving you ready for the next adventure. I can't wait to read book 2. If you like sci fi adventure with strange alien races, political intrigue, and a guy who may or may not be the messiah thrown into this fascinating mix, then you're going to really like Avanaux and you should get it today!

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

fairly good

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Great characters; storyline with action

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

Hickory and her team travel to another planet who people are descendants frontier dinosaurs but looks humanoid. They are there to confirm or deny that the son of God existed on every planet they had ever found. Does he exists on Avanaux now?

This book portrays the old question of existence of Jesus on other planets, various times, and in other form humanoid or not. Interesting concept but this is not your topical story about the son of God. This is not a religious point of view but a what if....one happen to catch Jesus type individual of another species and of a certain period of evolution of that species.

Great characters; storyline with action, drama, and fast-paced intrigue; and unique description of an alien planet, society and it's population. Highly recommended. I would get other books in the series.

This review is based on a review copy I received.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Avanaux is a science fiction adventure set about a hundred and fifty years in the future. Earth has been through a New Dark Age after a catastrophic war, and has recovered under a United World Government based in New Rome. The city having been sacked during the war, Rome's famous landmarks have since been restored and are part of a futuristic cityscape of spiralling towers and domes, interlaced with multi-layered suspension roads. It isn't so easy to keep the Eternal City down, just ask the Goths and the Vandals.

That isn't all that is new, however. Faster than light travel has been made possible by the discovery of an extremely rare liquid metal called crynidium, enabling humanity to find and interact with other sentient races on distant planets. This has led to the establishment of an Intragalactic Agency of aligned planets; a watchdog which attempts to balance and control the competing interests of advanced space-faring races, and to protect less advanced ones like the dominant life form of Prosperine, a planet which is not deemed ready to be inducted into the alliance.

Prosperine is a potential powder-keg, however, as it is possessed of significant reserves of crynidium which have drawn the attention, not only of the IA, but also of certain non-aligned planets. Hamstrung by its strict policy of non-interference in internal planetary matters, the IA chafes at not being able to send forces to the planet to secure the crynidium.

But there is something else happening on Prosperine. A religious prophet has emerged among the people of Avanuax, the northern continent of the planet, an enigmatic individual who is preaching the word of a God named Balor, and performing miracles like healing the sick.

Enter the Alien Corps, the operational arm of an academy set up by the Pope to search for and study Christian-like religions on other planets. Decades earlier, a manuscript containing an alternative gospel was discovered, foretelling that believers would be found on other worlds, and that they would be brought to Earth at the end of days. Deftly hurdling the improbability of the Catholic Church ever giving credence to such theology, this fascinating premise catapults Commander Hickory Lace of the Alien Corps (daughter of IA Admiral George Lace) and her friends into an action-packed adventure on Prosperine. In addition to her official assignment of assessing the prophet's potentially messianic qualities, her father also wants her to find out what the authorities on the planet intend doing with its crynidium.

What happens is not my place to divulge, but what I will say is that there are many twists and turns, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book for its energetic pace, intrigue, and action sequences. If I had to explain why I have rated the book four stars and not five, I would say that, on occasion, plot information is presented without detail or explanation; for example, I finished the book wondering whether I had missed an exposition of how the prophet came to be recaptured.

But all in all, this is an entertaining story with a well-imagined future Earth, a well-constructed alien civilisation, and enough substance to exercise the mind of the reader, as all good science fiction should.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

EMcD

Another must read from PJ McDermott!

Reviewed in Canada on November 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

Avanaux is a wonderful exciting read! It takes place in 2179 and is such an interesting story that actually made me forget I was reading an e book which resulted in my attempting to turn pages on my iPad! Being a very novice science fiction reader, my attention was constantly captured, being almost unable to wait to discover what was going to happen next. PJ McDermott knows how to keep your interest and keep you on the edge of your seat! His description of the characters has you shaking your head wondering where he gets his ideas from. This is a must read for all audiences.

Sonyboy39

A marvellous read the best traditions of science fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

The best science fiction stories for me are works that build a universe with interesting plot, location and characters.
It appears to me that PJ McDermott’s new novel, Avanaux, the first part of a trilogy, is no exception in using these cornerstones of the science fiction genre. This is a fascinating and thought provoking story that mixes adventure, exotic locations and is filled with believable characters that I wanted to know more about.
The story itself involves a quest to the planet Prosperine and encounters with their avian/saurian indigenous population in search of the prophesied second coming of the messiah.
The plot briskly moves along, as we are taken on a journey of discovery alongside the main character Hickory Lace and her companions. One of the things,amongst others, I found interesting was the background history of the characters and indeed, the historical background that lead to the quest in the first place. Regarding the background to the story, there is a prelude short story freely available for download for kindle users. I read this and I was immediately hooked. It made me want to find out would happen next.
After reading the first part of the trilogy I am really looking forward to more adventure when the second part is released.
This is an exciting and riveting science fiction adventure.

One person found this helpful

Mandy Walkden-Brown

Unique story. Thoroughly entertaining!

Reviewed in Australia on April 26, 2016

Verified Purchase

Delightfully well written, totally intriguing tale.
Well, this book caught me totally unaware. I assumed, purely due to the rather fluffy name given to the main character and my in-built bias, that this was very much a young protagonist and yet another in a long line of coming of age tales, some good, but many not. It's not and Hickory is not. Although I don't think her actual age was ever mentioned.

It's a thoroughly absorbing story of an encounter with a technologically less advanced race, whom I found extremely fascinating. Alien humanoids of avian descent, who wouldn't be intrigued. Speaking of which, there's some great intrigue and conspiracies mixed in with the action.

The characters are very well developed, some charming, some downright nasty, but all enjoyable to meet.

It's the unusual premise of this series that makes it so unique and lifts it above many others. Hunting alien worlds for a possible re-emerged Jesus, as foretold by a prophesy. It's not preachy, ever, and most of the investigators are agnostic or atheist, which keeps a balance. No fanatics, just the scientific assessors of the Alien Corps.

And what and who they find on the planet of Prosperpine is truly intriguing.

Highly recommended!

I will most definitely be following the series - the teams next port of call - a planet called Atlantis. Now that's just irresistible!

2 people found this helpful

Aussie Reader

Religious Science Fiction?

Reviewed in Australia on September 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

It seemed to start slowly. Perhaps this was the sign of an intriguing story line. The non interference rule of the IA is reminiscent of most science fiction stories. The search for The messiah on other worlds adds a religious twist not often seen in this genre.

F2Andy

but jungle grows fine. And the natives do not eat meat

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book has a fair bit going for it, but it really needed to be checked over by someone who knows some science. Birds are not the only oviparous animals, and the whole thing about the native life at the start was just nonsense. The whole rare element things is so over done and just makes no sense in science. The FTL explanation was laughable. The natives apparently have problems growng crops, but jungle grows fine. And the natives do not eat meat, except for when they do. Oh, and nuts are actually vegetable matter. Some books that does not matter, but this one is trying to look like it knows what it is talking about, and ends up showing that really it does not.
Having said all that, I did enjoy it. The basic premise, looking for Jesus on alien planets, is a neat idea (and there is no sense of Christianity being preached in the book), but not sure I would bother with any more in the series.

OR

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

The Alien Corps (The Prosperine Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

Supernatural science fiction mystery

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Author

About the Author

Product details

Videos for this product

The origin of the Alien Corps

About the author

PJ McDermott

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries