Assassination of Hope

*Assassination of Hope* is the second book in the Star Marked series, written by Justin Doyle and released on September 13, 2022.

### Plot

After the destruction of the embargo, Darynn has gained a lot of enemies. Chief among them is Senator Shuka, who has hired fearsome bounty hunter Nova Karr to dog Darynn's steps until he eventually kills him.

Meanwhile, Darynn knows that he, Fyra, and Kaylaa must travel to the planet Yiptae to discover the Iveleen's Great Secret. But while pursuing his quest, immigrant Yiptaens (called Astrin Yiptaens, or Astrins for short) start a revolution against the ruling native Yiptaens, called Tundrans. Kaylaa seems to know all the players, including one leader who was reluctant to take such a drastic step. When they find that leader assassinated, Kaylaa feels compelled to find his killer while the others have to continue chasing down the secret.

Will Darynn, Fyra, and Kaylaa solve the riddle before their enemies catch up to them, all while avoiding getting caught up in the tide of revolution?

## Synopsis

Spoilers ahead!

While Darynn and Fyra wait for Kaylaa to find a secret way to Yiptae, the Wyn'Iveleen celebration of 500 years since the Rise of the Iveleen proceeds. As part of it, the Grand Cardinal decrees that Fyra, Makaro, Lia, Darynn, and even Pavlar will be Lifted from the Olan-Har. Darynn distrusts it from the start, and worsens things when he accepts a suit from the local lord, Lord Searon.

As expected, the ceremony goes awry, and instead of being Lifted, Darynn starts a brief fight in the Grand Cathedral, including a duel with Master Templar Al Duin. Cooler heads prevail, thanks to silver-tongued Count Astar, and an uneasy truce is found. But Kaylaa knows it's time to go, and she sneaks them on a merchant's ship. Piloted by Zil's former pilot Miktel Palinurus, a stealth ship drops from the carrier to travel the rest of the way to Yiptae.

Unfortunately, Nova Karr is tipped off, and he shoots them down from orbit. Mik dies, and Kaylaa nearly does, but the trio is united on the bitter tundra of northern Yiptae. They travel south, fighting yetis and avoiding other terrible beasts until they reach the capital city of Akuun Dey.

There, they find the situation changed since the last time Kaylaa was there. Two immigrant Yiptaen (called Astrin Yiptaen) factions have joined together to forcibly take over part of the city. While Fyra starts to investigate the connection between the Iveleen and Yiptae, Kaylaa meets with the faction leaders: Dragon Karn (Militarists) and Alvia Sharp (Separatists). She expects to find the Immigrant Association leader, Micah Istfen, but doesn't, so she and Darynn travel to his apartment. Unfortunately, they find him dead, and they find a young native Yiptaen (called Tundran Yiptaen) named Mara there instead.

That sends Kaylaa on a path to find his killer before the trail goes cold. Meanwhile, they're being hunted by Tundran Yiptaens and Nova Karr. They hide out in Fantissia, a village in Akuun Dey populated by only magical Astrin Yiptaens. Of all places, they hide with Kaylaa's grandfather, Izado, who she still has a strained relationship with.

The group breaks into a downtown museum to investigate the *Castroika's* sister ship. Izado helps Fyra tap into her sympathetic psychic powers to find that the ship not only flies to Vastire, but returns to Yiptae. The occupants on the way there: the Iveleen, who turn out to be Khalerian terrorists. On the way back? A single Ivelenian child.

However, Fyra paid a great cost for the amplified powers, and seems to slowly lose sense of who she is. Kaylaa warns the group that the events are eerily similar to what happened to her mother before she disappeared. An older man in the village says that the only possible way to save Fyra is to go to Khaleri and find a chief with unique powers. Darynn and Fyra decide to travel to Khaleri to save her, while Kaylaa stays behind to further investigate Micah's killer.

Kaylaa calls in a favor with friend Captain Veriya, who flies Darynn and Kaylaa to Khaleri on her smuggling ship *The Dust Runner.* Despite Fyra's uncontrollable powers, they enjoy their time alone traveling on Khaleri until they find Chief Arkrah. Shockingly, they find Kaylaa's mother, Liance, there for the same reason as Fyra. But she's a slave to Arkrah: he keeps her power in check, uses it for himself, and she stays alive. Unfortunately, that's the only way it works. But Darynn refuses to leave Fyra behind.

They formulate a plan with a rival chief to take kill Arkrah, but the plan seems to backfire when the rival chief is easily killed in single combat by Arkrah. Fyra and Liance nearly kill themselves to sever the bond with Arkrah, and Darynn is left to battle him in a weakened, but not powerless state. With Fyra's help, Darynn narrowly vanquishes Arkrah, but at that moment Nova Karr realizes his advantage. With a volcano erupting in the background, Darynn wearily fights Nova Karr, and only manages to escape with Liance's help.

Hoping to find out more about the Khalerian roots of the Iveleen, they travel to a large city where one of the Iveleen's descendants still rules as Chief. She completes the story, noting that the Iveleen were actually Khalerian heroes, the last to mount any kind of resistance against the oppression of the Yiptaens. So while the Iveleen did terrorize the Yiptaens, they were fighting for a (hopeless) cause.

They finally return to Yiptae, and after a brief, complicated reunion of Kaylaa and her mother, they continue the hunt for Micah's killer. Kaylaa believes it to be an Astrin Yiptaen named Sir Antrak, and the trio goes to his home to corner him. He slips away, but they follow him to a secret meeting of masked elders. What they find are remnants of a secret society called the *Wye Paternai,* a once powerful group of Tundran Yiptaens that manipulate events in the favor of the Tundrans. However, they do not take responsibilty for Micah's murder. A brief battle with Sir Antrak, who happens to be a distant cousin of Kaylaa controlled by the *Wye Paternai,* ensues, leading to a larger battle when the Yiptaen Military appears. The Astrin rebels join the fray, leading to a massive battle. Many of the *Wye Paternai* die, but the leader, Dr. Alvrai, gets away, as does Senator Shuka. It also turns out that one of them is Mara's father.

When the battle concludes, everyone is injured, burnt out, and exhausted. Yet again, Nova Karr uses that chance to strike. It's a battle Darynn can't win, but he remembers some advice he learned from his father's trainer: his father frequently won by sacrificing what no one expected. Darynn throws his Edge, the last remnant of his father, into a massive cannon, causing a chain reaction that kills Nova Karr.

Sometime later, Sir Antrak explains how he worked with Micah to stage his suicide to reveal the *Wye Paternai* and finally advance the Astrin agenda. With Mara's father's cooperation, they take the story of the Wye Paternai to the Yiptaen Senate, causing shockwaves for the Astrin Yiptaens. An uneasy truce is called with the rebels. Darynn, Fyra, and Kaylaa are finally ready to return to Vastire with the gods' secrets, but unfortunately something terrible awaits them: a war with neighboring Erodia.

### Development

The first draft of *Assassination of Hope* was completed in 2009, but it sat dormant for a long time while Doyle completed *Embargo on Hope.* A few key things Doyle wanted to accomplish with the novel was to further explore the role of religion in a futuristic, fantasy universe, and to expand that universe to other planets.

By the end of October 2021, Doyle had the updated draft ready to go for alpha readers. After the alpha readers completed, Doyle incorporated their feedback and other ideas he had floating around to create a polished draft by March of '22. He sent that draft to beta readers and his development editor, Julie Eshbaugh, in April. Thanks to her awesome feedback, he was able to complete the novel by the end of June, and release in September.

### Critical Reception

As missiles tear through churches and lives, the fast-paced story proves hard to put down... The mix of fantasy, interpersonal relationship developments, and social and political evolution makes for an engrossing struggle that invites attention on different levels... As a leisure read, Assassination of Hope is a captivating adventure; but under its surface of entertainment value beats the heart of social, psychological, and political inspections...." - D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"5 Stars - Author Justin Doyle has crafted an epic sci-fi saga set in space that fans of Dune or Star Trek will find thoroughly captivating. Full of action, political intrigue, and rich lore, Assassination of Hope is an absolute page-turner of a novel devoid of fluff. The twists and turns keep you on your toes, and the reveals add layers of backstories to the characters... Darynn, Fyra, and Kaylaa make an excellent trio, and their inter-dynamics were one of my favorite aspects of the book. If you love science fiction, don't miss out on this one." - Readers' Favorite

"I love the voice. Darynn has a young, brash, crackling voice that is so refreshing. You use such careful detail to create situations that aren't exactly Earth-like but have a level of similarity to day-to-day life that the world of the story overflows with realism... [I]ncredibly engaging, peopled with authentic, rootable characters in a unique, yet accessible world." - Julie Eshbaugh, Author of Ivory and Bone

"5 Stars - As with the first book, I also enjoyed Assassination immensely. Sometimes second books in a series can be a letdown from the first, but that is not the case here. It is well paced, written, and edited. If you are into action packed books, this one will appeal to you...I also was fascinated with the world-building... I loved the way Justin could bring the science and technology together with magic to produce a plausible story all readers can enjoy... The fights were epic in scope..." - Jim's Sci-fi Blog