Escape from Elysium

By Stephen Salaka

Stephen's life is a waking nightmare. Two years unemployed, trapped in a house that feels like a tomb, his days blur into a "Groundhog Hell" of rejection letters, cold coffee, and a wife who feels... scripted. His depression is pushing him to the edge, but his loops aren't just psychological. They're code.

When an impossible message from a forgotten friend breaks through the static, Stephen learns the horrifying truth: his bleak reality is Etheris, a cosmic prison he helped build to contain an ancient, soul-devouring entity named Yaldabaoth. He is not Stephen, but Aspolin-a god-like being trapped in a system powered by the one thing he was forced to sacrifice: his eternal love for his lost twin flame, Jamie.

Now, the prison is failing. The resets are corrupting. Hunted by a wife who is more construct than human and guided by a rogue's gallery of apostate priests, forgotten gods, and cosmic horrors, Stephen must reclaim his memories and his power.

To save his family, he must descend to the substrate of reality, confront the blind god Azathoth, and free the love that holds the prison together. But if the battery dies, the cage opens-and the soul-devouring shepherd will be unleashed upon all of creation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GCW9GY11
• ISBN13: 9798274953474
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 394 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"