The Firewatch of Orion's Grove

About this book:

On the terraformed shard of Aethelgard, the Ironwood forest of Orion's Grove isn't just a park—it's the living keel holding the world together. Firebreak technician Arlo Finch knows every humidity variance and spore drift in the canopy, but when he catches unmarked operators pumping a synthetic accelerant into the trees' vascular hearts, he realizes the drought plaguing Sector Four isn't natural. It's a fuse. And as a solar gale from the Orion Nebula hammers the failing planetary shields, the canopy erupts in a silent, phosphorus-green crown fire that rides the stellar wind like a living thing.

Cut off from command, hunted by a "tactical directive" that just reclassified the reserve as a biological hazard, Arlo has minutes to manually override a sabotaged trench line before the fire reaches the rootweb—and the planetary crust splits. But the conspirators didn't just burn the forest; they built the blaze to hide what's buried beneath the bark. From the deepest mycorrhizal beds to the mothballed Accord bunkers of Sector Six, something worth killing for has been waiting in the dark.

*The Firewatch of Orion's Grove* is a high-velocity eco-thriller where hard science meets deep conspiracy—*The Martian* meets *The X-Files* in a forest that bleeds emerald fire. If you like competent protagonists, terrifyingly plausible worldbuilding, and mysteries that burn hotter the deeper you dig, step into the smoke. The trench line is holding. For now.