The Zygan Emprise (Updated)

Join Zygan Federation agents Shiloh Rush and William "Spud" Escott as they warp across the multiverse on their quest to rescue loved ones and save our Earth!  A fiery thriller ride for fans of sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and hope.

Award Winning! Renegade Paladins, Abyssal Redemption, and Rebirth (Renaissance) together in ONE volume. Join Shiloh Rush and  William "Spud" Escott as they race to find Shiloh's missing brother and save  the Earth from villainous intergalactic terrorists and traitors in their  midst.  Winner of a Mensa Sharp Writ Books Award!  A fiery thriller ride! 

Renegades:  Singularity Channel viewers may recognize Hollywood actress Shiloh Rush  as Ensign Tara Guard from the sci-fi TV series Bulwark, but nobody  knows Shiloh is leading a double life. Haunted by the mysterious  disappearance of her beloved older brother, Shiloh hopes to track him  down by following in his footsteps as a secret agent for the Zygan  Federation, an intergalactic empire still hidden from Earth. During this  quest, Shiloh and her British co-star Spud, also a Zygan agent, fly  into space--for real--to stop terrorists and invaders who could destroy  the Federation and kill millions throughout the universe. Sent back in  time to Earth's Ancient Middle East to save the life of a young prophet  and prevent Earth's destruction, Shiloh and Spud stumble on a diabolical  conspiracy and barely escape with their lives. Their assignment  sabotaged, Shiloh and Spud discover the villains' real mission, face  powerful enemy fighters from warrior planets and traitors from their own  ranks, and race against time to save Earth.

Redemption:  Hollywood actors Shiloh Rush and Spud Escott star in the sci-fi TV  series Bulwark, but, off camera, they’re real secret agents for the  Zygan Federation, an intergalactic empire hidden from Earth. Desperate  to save her long-lost brother, also a Zygan Intelligence agent, from the  clutches of an intergalactic terrorist and his minions, Shiloh enlists  Spud to travel to a desolate dimension and mount a rescue, using the  Golden Fleece she has borrowed from ancient prophet Immanuel.  On the trail, Shiloh and Spud risk their lives in the mysterious nebula,  The Plegma, and face menacing demons, vampires, guerrillas, and  Valkyries as they storm the gates of Hades. Returning to Earth, they  find that their actions have resulted in devastating changes in the path  of our history and that the Earth and the people they left behind no  longer exist. Will they have to sacrifice their lives to save Earth’s?

Renaissance/Rebirth:  Shiloh and Spud are ordered to capture a former friend and fellow Zygan  Intelligence trainee who is attacking Zygan outposts, murdering  innocent Zygans, and aiming to assassinate the Zygan Federation's King,  the Omega Archon, in the name of freedom. Shiloh and her friends  confront the insurgent and his minions, who relay a secret about their  lives that turns their ships--and their universe--upside down. Shiloh,  Spud, and their team must choose between submission and rebellion--a  revolution can save millions of lives, but risk billions in an empire  that has become a dictatorship. Calling on rebels, Valkyries, and  heavenly allies to join them in the war to overthrow their King, Shiloh  and Spud go rogue and face kidnappers and torturers to learn the truth  about themselves and their world, Join Shiloh and Spud on a thrilling  mission (which may be their last), across Andromeda and the Milky Way,  in the fog of the Plegma nebula, and the smog of Victorian-era London.  Will they--and the Zygan Federation--survive? 

KIrkus Starred Review "Get it"

In Pascal’s SF novel, a TV actress who is secretly an interplanetary/time-travelling agent ventures through different eras and dimensions seeking her MIA elder brother.

The author here compiles the three installments (some previously published) of her Zygan Emprise trilogy. In the present-day (more or less) universe, Shiloh Rush is an ingenue starring in the SF streaming series Bulwark, fighting Hollywood-scripted galactic evil. But this is actually a cover story for Shiloh’s astounding off-screen existence, which she shares with her gay British co-star William Escott. They are “catascopes,” secret agents employed by the powerful Zygan Federation of the Andromeda galaxy. Equipped with near-magical weaponry and techniques (including shape-shifting, size-shifting, levitation, teleportation, resurrection from the dead, and time travel), Shiloh and the impressively scholarly Escott (nicknamed “Spud”) embark on fraught missions all over the place (including one in 1947 to Roswell, New Mexico, that will have repercussions), often in the company of alien creatures who resemble everything from bears to whirlpools of liquid or vapor to “one being who looked like an animated Erector Set.” Shiloh’s overlord is the Omega Archon, a godlike entity with multitudinous rules for his minions; terrible punishment (simulated burning in literal Hell) awaits those who transgress—and Shiloh often transgresses. The Zygan Federation’s chief antagonist, it seems, is Theodore Benedict, an unimpressive office-clerk type who marshals the frightening resources at his disposal (including a gallery of well-placed traitors among the “Zygfed”) in a scheme to accumulate power and confound the Zygan Archon. Shiloh’s chief motivation is the fact that her cherished elder brother John Rush, a physics genius who was recruited as a Zygan catascope years earlier, disappeared on a mission six years ago. She hunts for him at every opportunity, her quest eventually taking her to parallel worlds and different dimensions. Is John alive, dead, trapped, or a secret ally of the slippery Benedict, rebelling against the increasingly malevolent Omega Archon?

While the narrative displays a certain Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy tongue-in-cheekiness, the overall effect of the novel is more akin bingeing on the vintage European Heavy Metalgraphic magazine—with a lot of Joseph Campbell and Neil Gaiman on the side. (Just for openers, there is a sortie to 2,000 years in the past that puts none other than Jesus Christ, alias Immanuel the Teacher, in peril.) The story luxuriates in both high and low culture, sometimes threatening to grow twee but righting itself with breathtaking flip-flops between the good guys and bad guys and those in between. Various plot threads reference The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Paradise Lost, Jason and the Argonauts, Star Trek, Norse mythology, and the two Arthurs—Conan Doyle and C. Clarke. The material is safe for a sophisticated YA-and-older readership; it’s the heavy slurry of fantasy jargon (like “Plegma,” “Syneph,” “M-fanning,” and “Octopodal”) and more arcane classical idioms that are tough to navigate. By the conclusion, the magical art of storytelling itself has become woven into the narrative, recalling William Goldman’s The Princess Bride (1973) and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2001). It is a trip worth taking.

A rambunctious space opera and metafictional celebration of the power of imagination. 

Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite

The Zygan Emprise  Trilogy: Renegades, Redemption, Rebirth is a collection of science  fiction novels written by author Y S Pascal. Collecting together the  award-winning books - Renegade Paladins, Abyssal Redemption and the new Renaissance: Rebirth - this epic sci-fi collection tells the tale of  heroine Shiloh Rush as she races against the clock to save her brother,  and the universe itself, from intergalactic terrorists. Time travel,  space travel, family ties, war, secrets, action and adventure abound as  Shiloh and her Hollywood co-star Spud shun their celebrity lives for  their real mission as Zygan agents. As each episode unfolds, the larger  threats within the universe encroach on our heroes, bringing them closer  to death with every step they take.

I loved this trilogy for its  action-packed quality, which made the reading experience easy despite  the book’s length. Each of the individual books rockets through the  narrative like a true sci-fi adventure would on television, reminiscent  of both Star Trek and Doctor Who for its time travel and episodic  qualities, which then build to a larger arc overall for the two  characters. Development on Shiloh and Spud was well created by author Y S  Pascal, giving an initially stylish façade which breaks down as we get  to know the main characters more personally. I enjoyed the unveiling of  each new big bad menace, and the cataclysmic heights to which the  disaster rises was like watching a Hollywood film play out in my head.  Overall, The Zygan Emprise Trilogy is an excellent space adventure  suitable for readers of all ages.

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite  

      
The  Zygan Emprise Trilogy by Y.S. Pascal features three books-- Renegades,  Redemption, and Rebirth -- in a great blend of science fiction, fantasy,  and terrorist thriller. In the opening book of the trilogy, Shiloh sets  out to find her older brother, a secret agent of the Zygan Federation who  has mysteriously disappeared. Aided by her co-star, Spud, Shiloh flies  into space, but what awaits them is a terrorist threat and these  terrorists are determined to destroy the Zygan Federation and bring  desolation to Earth. In Redemption, Shiloh Rush and Spud Escott use the  Golden Fleece borrowed from an ancient prophet and travel to a desolate  dimension to rescue her long-lost brother. But do they stand a chance in  the face of powerful enemies and mounting odds, including demons,  vampires, guerrillas, and Valkyries?Rebirth is a stunning conclusion in  the trilogy and it raises the stakes even higher. The lives of the  Zygans are under attack from vicious assassins and the Zygan Federation's  king, the Omega Archon, is the ultimate target. Can they beat what  stands against them -- terrorists,kidnappers, and mysterious powers?

Y.S.  Pascal is skilled at creating tension and building a conflict that is  phenomenal. The lead characters, Shiloh and Spud, are  professional actors, but they lead a double life. When off the camera,  they are fighters, intrepid secret agents for a covert intergalactic  federation.It is fun following these two characters as they face  impossible odds in very perilous missions. The setting is terrific,  taking readers across the galaxy, traveling with the characters across  Andromeda and the Milky Way. A lot of research has accompanied this  trilogy and the author weaves the elements of the research neatly into  the narrative. The prose is crisp, character development impeccable, and  the pacing fast. The Zygan Emprise Trilogy is packed with action,  mystery, and suspense. The reader quickly learns to care about the  characters and keeps on turning from chapter to chapter, concerned about  them. The unpredictability in the plot makes this trilogy a thrill for fans of science fiction and fantasy.  

Chanticleer Book Review 5 stars

Shiloh and Spud share a secret. By day, they’re actors in the sci-fi TV series “Bulwark.” By night, on weekends, and whenever they get the call from their ‘real’ boss, they return to their true work as secret agents for the galaxy-spanning Zygan Federation.

Their job is to keep the peace, fight terrorists and rebels, and protect the universal timeline from nefarious villains who would do anything to rewrite history in their favor. Earth is, of course, a key to the future of the galaxy beyond the imagination of even the most Earth-centric Terran.

This thrilling adventure pulls from all corners of the science fiction genre—from Star Trek: First Contact to classic movies like The Last Starfighter and Galaxy Quest, and even the sci-fi master Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy.

In Shiloh Rush, readers will find a protagonist with more than a bit of attitude as she searches for her brother. She soon learns he’s not the only one who needs saving, and along the way she discovers who her true friends are and just how many of them are also her real enemies. As many great sci-fi heroes do, Shiloh realizes that the black and white world she thought she belonged to is lined in shades of grey, and it’s easy for anyone to hide their current darkness behind the light of their past good deeds.

Shiloh’s adventures are tremendous fun, especially as her course grows darker and more dangerous along the way. Her partner’s secrets—many, many secrets—add to the depth of the story and ultimately to their true friendship. Political betrayals, heel turns, and Shiloh’s constant investigation into the falsehoods of the galaxy around her will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Whether it be through Shiloh’s hit TV series, her secret agent work for the Zygan Federation, or her journey to find the truth of her own origins, The Zygan Emprise Trilogy by Y.S. Pascal takes readers on exhilarating, heart-stopping romps through the universe.

The Zygan Emprise Trilogy, Renegades, Redemption, and Rebirth, is available as a paperback, Kindle, Hardcover, or Smashwords e-book.  Coming soon on Audible.  Blast off into a rapturous space adventure that's filled with action, thrills, suspense, romance, and humor.