But it hadn’t been just a few weeks for him. And that’s when the full impact of what Emil had been trying to tell me all this time hit me—the time I’d lost, I could never get back. I’d stayed the same, but they’d all moved on. And there was nothing I could do.

“Isaak?” Nadin said in a soft voice. “What’s wrong? Who is that?”

I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t find the words.

The man at the podium was Henry.

To be continued...

Isaak and Nadin’s story continues in

New World: Book Two of the Iamos Trilogy

Available now from Snowy Wings Publishing!

◦ • ◦

But before you dive into New World,

learn what happened to Henry and Tamara

while Isaak was missing in Different Worlds,

an Iamos novella, available now!

* The events of Different Worlds feature heavily in New World, so be sure to read this special "Book 1.5" in between Fourth World and New World!

◦ • ◦

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Glossary

ALOS/ALIN – an affectionate term for a child

ANNUAL – birthdate

ELYTHERIOS – a word in the old Iamoi language, dating to before the Progression. It means “freedom.” The Liberator’s faction has co-opted much of the old language, including this word.

ENILIKIN – a person’s eighth annual (approximately sixteen in Earth years), signifying the transition from childhood to adulthood. A person who is now an adult is called an enilin or enilos.

ESOTOI – the middle caste of the Iamoi, who work alongside both patroi and plivoi

FRAOULOI – known in Isaak’s time as the “spider weed”; a resilient, woody black plant that can grow in almost any condition

GEROI – the governors of a citidome (singular: gerouin [feminine], geros [masculine])

GEROTUS – the united body of all geroi on Iamos and Hamos

HAMOS – Venus

HAOI IFAISTEOI – “The Three Mountains”; the Iamoi’s name for the three Martian shield volcanoes we know as Elysium Mons, Hecates Tholus, and Albor Tholus

IAMOS – Mars

KYRIOS/KYRIN – a formal term of address, its closest English equivalent being “lord” or “lady”

PATROI – the most prestigious caste of the Iamoi

PLIVOI – the bottom caste of the Iamoi, considered to be the “drudges”

S.C.D. – “System Collective Date”; the annual-count system of the Iamoi, dating back to when the System estimates human civilization first arose on Iamos

SIMOS – Earth

YACUNOS/YACHIN – beloved, sweetheart

Acknowledgments