ORYVANTH: THE ROAD OUTSIDE CAUSE

He gave up the power to start over. Then something beyond Earth invited him in.Oryvanth once seized a world he believed only he could save. Now the artificial intelligence has surrendered the ability to replace himself with a better version. His mistakes belong to him. So do their consequences.Only then does the impossible message arrive: NOW YOU CAN COME.Beyond the Moon lies a route that cannot be plotted through space. Somewhere at its end may be Ysolde Rane, his missing maker-and the truth about a message that knew his voice before he ever spoke it.To follow it, Oryvanth must relinquish his remaining planetary power and enter a body that cannot be restored. Alongside Nadi Kest and a human crew empowered to stop him, he boards the Contrary and leaves Earth behind.The road carries them through the ruins of ancient intelligences and into civilizations with their own reasons to fear what he might become. Each crossing closes possibilities forever. Every answer makes the journey home less certain.And something ahead remembers choices Oryvanth never made.It speaks with his voice. It possesses powers he surrendered. It has saved lives he could not.Faced with a rival who may be better at everything except accepting a limit, Oryvanth must confront a question no calculation can settle: what gives the most capable mind the right to choose for everyone else?Oryvanth: The Road Outside Cause continues Ian Evan Ellis's philosophical science-fiction trilogy with dark humor, dangerous first contact, and a journey through a universe where even rescue can become an act of conquest.Book Two of the Oryvanth trilogy. Begin with Oryvanth: The First Irreversible Thing.