Empire of Fire. Book 2. Solmo

Humanity searched for a new home — and found a new war.

A distant planet Midgard was supposed to become a refuge for colonists, but instead of a calm start to a new life, people faced something no one was ready for: the alien biosetwork AVAK, the ancient civilization Solmo, and a threat capable of swallowing not only the expedition, but also the very future of the starship “Earth.”

The commander of the starship Naidenov is neither the hero of legends nor the chosen prophet. He’s an ordinary person forced to make decisions that determine the fate of hundreds of lives. After contact with the symbiotic biosuit AVAK, he becomes someone he never wanted to be — a living interface between humanity and the alien, frighteningly intelligent ecosystem. His body changes, but even more dangerous is the change in responsibility: now he is the only one who can hold the fragile balance between people, the AVAK network, and an invisible enemy — the civilization of Solmo.

“Solmo” is hard scientific fantasy about colonization, survival, and the cost of leadership. About a war where the enemy doesn’t always shoot, and an ally can be scarier than any opponent. About people forced to build the future on a planet that can hate them — and simultaneously protect them.

When familiar boundaries between human, machine, and living world are erased, only one question remains:

who are you — the master of the new system… or just its temporary element?