The Driftborn Book one in The Gate Origin Series by Simon Bullock

Kade Renn repairs broken machines on a dying salvage moon and tries to keep his younger sister alive. That is all his life has room for. Then a buried ship rises from the black sand. Inside is a dying Driftborn pilot, a blood-stained secret, and a black shard that speaks in the voice of Kade’s dead mother. She has been gone for nine years. Now she is calling him beyond the edge of authorised space. Hunted by the Sovereign Directorate and forced aboard Mara Venn’s battered smuggler ship, The Moth, Kade and Lira are pulled into a hidden war over ancient gates, erased histories and routes humanity was never meant to find. But the gates were not built for empire. They were built for something older. Something waiting. Something waking up. And some doors aren’t found. They find you. The Driftborn is a gritty, character-driven space opera about family, survival, ancient gates and the secrets empires kill to protect.

Adult • Fantasy/Science Fantasy • Science Fiction/Space Opera • Science Fiction/Dystopian • Science Fiction/Military SF