The War of the Red Dragon

Sometimes the greatest journey begins with leaving everything you know behind.

Steven Fogleman is desperate to leave his old life behind. When his former physics teacher, Mr. Waterman, disappears in the middle of the night, Steven follows him, never imagining that the journey will take him beyond Earth itself.

Waterman has been keeping an extraordinary secret. He comes from a civilization that has stretched across the stars for thousands of years: twenty-one inhabited worlds bound together by an ancient empire, guarded by technologies far beyond anything humanity has imagined. By following him, Steven has crossed a boundary he can never uncross.

But the empire is not at peace. A mysterious enemy known as the Ilu is drawing closer, old political tensions are stirring, and Steven's unexpected arrival may have consequences far beyond his own fate. Stranded among people whose customs, beliefs, and history are utterly foreign to him, he must discover where, or whether, an Earth-born human belongs in this vast new world.

The War of the Red Dragon is a sweeping science-fiction adventure about friendship, loyalty, faith, culture, and the dangerous choices that shape civilizations.