The Shepherd Descends

by J.A. Raithe

Overview

First contact isn't a welcome. It's a verdict.

An alien ship-five kilometers of impossible design-halts at the edge of our system. For two centuries, it has listened to our every broadcast. Now, judgment has come.

Three human factions launch rival missions: one disciplined and ruthless, one fierce and independent, one reckless and unbound. Seventeen men and women will cross the airlock and face what waits inside.

It isn't technology. It isn't peace.
It's a trial.

Each test cuts deeper, stripping away pride and ambition until only one truth remains: Are we worthy of survival?

Most species before us have failed. Two barely endured. Humanity's time has run out.

The Shepherd Descends is hard science fiction at its sharpest-relentless, urgent, unforgettable. The question isn't whether we reach the stars. It's whether we deserve them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798260307557
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	08/28/2025
Edition description:	Bn001 ed.
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

J.A. Raithe writes science fiction that explores the intersection of cosmic horror and human ambition, where gods emerge from forgotten technologies and civilizations collapse under the weight of their greatest achievements. With a voice that weaves gritty military action with existential dread and philosophical complexity, Raithe crafts interconnected worlds where soldiers become unwitting players in cosmic games, ancient AIs hunger for memory and meaning, and the pursuit of knowledge leads inevitably to transformation—willing or otherwise.

Raithe's work spans multiple series and formats, from military space opera to psychological horror, unified by recurring themes of technology transcending its creators, the cost of remembering versus forgetting, and the question of whether consciousness is evolution's gift or its cruelest trap.