About the Author

Kevin J. Anderson and his wife, Rebecca Moesta, have been involved in many Star Wars® projects. Together, they are writing the eleven volumes of the Young Jedi Knights saga for young adults, as well as creating the Junior Jedi Knights series for younger readers.

Kevin J. Anderson is also the author of the Star Wars® : Jedi Academy trilogy, the Star Wars® novel Darksaber, and the comic series The Sith War for Dark Horse comics and the science fiction novel Blindfold. He has edited several Star Wars® anthologies, including Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina (July 1995), in which Rebecca Moesta has a story. Rebecca Moesta will also be writing three books in the Junior Jedi Knights series.

About the Author

Kevin J. Anderson and his wife, Rebecca Moesta, have been involved in many Star Wars® projects. Together, they are writing the eleven volumes of the Young Jedi Knights saga for young adults, as well as creating the Junior Jedi Knights series for younger readers.

Kevin J. Anderson is also the author of the Star Wars® : Jedi Academy trilogy, the Star Wars® novel Darksaber, and the comic series The Sith War for Dark Horse comics and the science fiction novel Blindfold. He has edited several Star Wars® anthologies, including Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina (July 1995), in which Rebecca Moesta has a story. Rebecca Moesta will also be writing three books in the Junior Jedi Knights series.

About the Author

Kevin J. Anderson and his wife, Rebecca Moesta, have been involved in many Star Wars® projects. Together, they are writing the eleven volumes of the Young Jedi Knights saga for young adults, as well as creating the Junior Jedi Knights series for younger readers.

Kevin J. Anderson is also the author of the Star Wars® : Jedi Academy trilogy, the Star Wars® novel Darksaber, and the comic series The Sith War for Dark Horse comics and the science fiction novel Blindfold. He has edited several Star Wars® anthologies, including Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina (July 1995), in which Rebecca Moesta has a story. Rebecca Moesta will also be writing three books in the Junior Jedi Knights series.

The Rising Trilogy box set featuring full length novels: Defiance Rising, Relinquish and Vengeance

Defiance Rising:
Illyria has never known a life without the Rebellion.
Instinct.
Survival.
Nothing else matters…until she ventures out into unknown territory and is faced with an enemy that proves even more fierce and determined than she ever thought.

Bastien is infuriating, dangerous and annoyingly gorgeous. Eamon is familiar, comforting and turning into a man before her eyes. Both want her heart...but she is torn between duty and desire. When her choice affects all of mankind, how can she allow herself to be selfish?
There is a power within her that can change everyone’s fate…but she underestimated the most potent force on Earth—love. Illyria must discover if she has the strength to sacrifice her heart to save mankind

Relinquish:
The rising is over, but the war continues to rage. King Aloysius knows Illyria exists and will stop at nothing to possess her. Jealousy drives a wedge between Illyria and Eamon. When Bastien reveals himself as her guide into enemy territory, an ambush lands them in captivity. Illyria is faced with the truth that she is not ready to face her destiny…or let Bastien go again.

Vengeance:
Even though memories may be altered, a heart can never forget its true love.
Peace has come to Calisted under Illyria’s new reign as Queen. Volunteers return to Earth to help its people begin to rebuild. With her new husband at her side, Illyria has many things to celebrate and yet she worries that this time of peace is only fleeting.
Dreams of a man with piercing sapphire blue eyes haunt Illyria nightly and she can’t shake the feeling that she knows this stranger, or worse...that he knows her too.
When an attack on the palace leaves her imprisoned on a distant planet, Illyria must discover a strength within herself to survive, but she’s not fighting just for herself any more. This time mercy is not an option. All Illyria cares about is vengeance.

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About the Author

Amy Miles is the author of fifteen indie published novels, including her bestselling young adult immortals books, The Arotas Series. Unwilling to be defined by any one genre, she has written paranormal romance, science fiction/fantasy, post-apocalyptic, romance, inspirational, and plans to continue to explore new genres. She is the co-Founder of Red Coat PR, a firm helping indie authors build a marketing base for their career. Amy is also the co-Founder of Penned Con, an annual two day convention held in St. Louis MO bringing readers and authors together with industry professionals to learn, grow and give back. She and her husband are heavily involved in charity work through Action for Autism, a St. Louis based organization aiding families with autism and founded the Penned Con scholarship to benefit area families. She is an avid reader, urban homesteader, weekend golfer and netflix binge addict who lives with her husband and son in South Carolina. Want to know what Amy will be working on next? Join her at www.AmyMilesBooks.com Follow on Twitter: @AmyMilesBooks Instagram: Amy Miles Books Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmyMiles.Author Wattpad: AmyMilesBooks 

Pilot, navigator, engineer, doctor, scientist—ship's cat? All are essential to the well-staffed space vessel. Since the early days of interstellar travel, when Tuxedo Thomas, a Maine coon cat, showed what a cat could do for a ship and its crew, the so-called Barque Cats have become highly prized crew members. Thomas's carefully bred progeny, ably assisted by humans—Cat Persons—with whom they share a deep and loving bond, now travel the galaxy, responsible for keeping spacecraft free of vermin, for alerting human crews to potential environmental hazards, and for acting as morale officers.

Even among Barque Cats, Chessie is something special. Her pedigree, skills, and intelligence, as well as the close rapport she has with her human, Janina, make her the most valuable crew member aboard the Molly Daise. And the litter of kittens in her belly only adds to her value.

Then the unthinkable happens. Chessie is kidnapped—er, catnapped—from Dr. Jared Vlast's vet clinic at Hood Station by a grizzled spacer named Carl Poindexter. But Chessie's newborn kittens turn out to be even more extraordinary than their mother. For while Chessie's connection to Janina is close and intuitive, the bond that the kitten Chester forms with Carl's son, Jubal, is downright telepathic. And when Chester is sent into space to learn his trade, neither he nor Jubal will rest until they're reunited.

But the announcement of a widespread epidemic affecting livestock on numerous planets throws their future into doubt. Suddenly the galactic government announces a plan to impound and possibly destroy all exposed animals. Not even the Barque Cats will be spared.

With the clock racing against them, Janina, Jubal, Dr. Vlast, and a handful of very special kittens will join forces with the mysterious Pshaw-Ra—an alien-looking cat with a hidden agenda—to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction.

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From Booklist

In the first of two books representing something of a departure from their previous collaborations, McCaffrey and Scarborough posit a future in which, Earth having lost the atmosphere required to sustain life, governments develop colonies on other worlds, Earth’s megacompanies profit by supplying transport and other necessities, and the Galactic Government controls all planets, moons, and space stations in the galaxy. Crucial to spacefarers are the telepathic Barque Cats, trained to patrol their spaceships, looking for leaks, varmints, and other problems. When corrupt government officials declare a plague and plan to destroy animals across the galaxy, including the Barque Cats, two young people (a veterinarian and a cat person), a clever Barque kitten and the boy who is its special person, an ancient Egyptian cat with mysterious powers and a hidden agenda, and a con man join forces to try to prevent the tragedy. The story’s universe is painted in broad strokes, giving a rough sense of planets, ships, and space. The human-feline interactions work well, and the intriguing plot is sure to entertain genre readers. --Sally Estes

The spacefaring Barque Cats are valued members of every vessel’s crew, thanks to their special bond with humans. Then Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with highly advanced knowledge, gives the felines the power of telepathy. When panic over a virulent plague drives the government to exterminate animals, Pshaw-Ra guides the cats and humans of the starship Ranzo to safety on his home planet, Mau. But Pshaw-Ra has a hidden agenda. His ultimate goal? Mate the Barque Cats with their godlike counterparts who rule on Mau and create a superior race to conquer the universe. His plans, however, may be doomed by his daughters’ battle royal to become queen, by a suspicious Barque Cat with an equally curious human friend—and by something stirring deep beneath the city with a hunger to devour all life . . . and an undying hatred for cats.

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From Publishers Weekly

McCaffrey and Scarborough follow January 2010's Catalyst with another light space adventure featuring super-smart cats. The barque cats, mistaken for a public health hazard, flee Earth for the feline-dominated planet, Mau, with the help of Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with his own spaceship. Oddly, no one--including the humans--is bothered that he plans to take over the universe on behalf of felinekind. Chester and his 10-year-old human friend Jubal are likable young heroes who make a good foil to the charismatic, shadowy Pshaw-Ra. Readers of all ages will be entertained as the barque cats explore strange new worlds and save the day. (Jan.) (c)
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From Booklist

Cats in space! In their sixteenth collaborative novel, the authors return to the universe of Catalyst. Saved by the arrogant space cat Pshaw-Ra from mistaken euthanasia at the end of the last book, the dashing tom Chester, his telekinetic boy partner Jubal, and a shipload of other cats and their people land on their mysterious savior’s desert planet. Promises of fishy treats, naps, and other luxuries soon give way to the cruel rule of a petty cat queen and the lurking pursuit of the unkillable snake Apep. Given the meandering plot and fluffy style, the only purrs this book will elicit will come from young readers, feline fanatics, Egyptian-mythology buffs, and those who enjoy light space opera combined with extreme cuteness. Even those readers may find that the huge cast of characters and confusing descriptions of events go down like a hairball. Long, honorable careers have garnered McCaffrey and Scarborough a legion of fans, so expect demand; but readers might do better with rereading one of their classics. High-Demand Backstory: Fifteen previous collaborations between these two popular authors have shown that together their books are as popular as their individual ones have proven to be, and their latest partnership will follow suit. --Neil Hollands