Marc and Emma are on the graveyard shift onboard the Sycorax, an interstellar spacecraft bound for New Haven, a colony world fifty light years from Earth. For the crew of the Sycorax, interstellar flight is boring—that is, until they run into a tempest. Before long, they find themselves on a crippled spacecraft falling toward a black hole, but that's the least of their problems... The Tempest is a tribute to Shakespeare's final play and explores similar themes while weaving some of his dialogue into the narrative. It includes references to the 1950s classic sci-fi film _Forbidden Planet _and Michael Crichton's Sphere, both of which were influenced by Shakespeare's work. First Contact is a series of standalone novels that explore the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. These books can be listened to in any order.