The Aetherium Culling: A Choice of Stars and Shadows

By Wayne L. Chavez

What would you give for a second chance at life?
And what would you have to become to survive it?

Bryony Crofton has made peace with her fate. At nineteen, she is counting down her final days in a sterile hospital room, her long battle with illness nearing its end. But when a mysterious stranger offers an impossible cure, her resignation is shattered. The price? Her participation in the Aetherium Culling, a secret, brutal interspecies mating tournament far from Earth.

Cured and thrust into the breathtaking, coldly beautiful Aetherium Spire, Bryony is an anomaly. She is fragile humanity among ruthless alien rivals and powerful suitors who see her not as a person, but as a prize. Her only potential ally is the enigmatic Cassian Vale, a high-ranking Scion whose striking perfection is matched only by his dispassionate clinical interest in her. To him, she is a fascinating specimen to be collected, not a woman to be loved.

As a hidden clock ticks down and her new cure proves terrifyingly temporary, Bryony must navigate a deadly game of galactic politics and primal competition. To survive, she must be chosen. But winning could mean sacrificing the very humanity that makes her unique, and losing the last piece of her soul to the cold void of space.

Step into a universe of stunning beauty and deadly intrigue, where love is a weakness and humanity is a weapon. Discover a story of breathtaking romance, fierce survival, and one woman's defiant choice in the face of impossible odds.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FVDCVQPB
• ISBN13: 9798268930801
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"