Author | D.J. Bodden

D.J. Bodden

Hi! I'm D.J., and I write smart, character-driven escapism.

What does that mean?
First of all, reading one of my books should be fun, something to take your mind off the stresses of your life and plunge you into a vivid world where the protagonist matters and it's possible to win. The descriptions won't be pages long, just enough to let you build the world you want to experience, because my books are about letting you live, feel, and anticipate what comes next.

To that end, I write simply and cleanly: my first drafts are always shorter than my final drafts, and I try not to go heavy on flowery language. I also won't always explain everything, but focus on what it's like to have to do thing things involved. If you like to know things, you'll see a lot of research went into that simplicity, but if you just want to relax and follow the action, that's fine, too.

Finally, my characters usually start out at a disadvantage and gain the upper hand by being obnoxiously bold or clever. They're decisive, which can take other people off guard, and they're almost always in over their heads. My plots are layered, and my books tie into each other in complex ways. As a result, I've been told a first readthrough of my work is great (>4.5* average on Amazon), but the second readthrough is even better because you get to see all the layering that went into building it.

Visit my FiveFold Universe site to learn about my newest projects and the expanded hard sci-fi universe I've built along with some amazing veteran and upcoming sci-fi authors.

All of my books are available on Amazon, and many on Audible too. Check out my books below or visit my Amazon Author page to follow me and keep up with my new releases.

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The Starborn Heir

An ancient secret. A legacy betrayed. A path to the stars.
Zack was bred and raised to be the heir to a planet, but he's decided he's not the chosen one. He wants to get offworld, see the galaxy, and track down a piece of lost technology from his family's past.

He'll need to steal a shuttle, get past the orbital defenses, and rendezvous with a smuggler on the star system's outskirts. But he can't do it alone—he's going to need a crew. Gathering a band of misfits from the colony's underworld, Zack strikes out toward the desert. The government is close on his heels, but Zack is willing to fight the gangs, make deals with aliens, and use illegal technology in wildly unsanctioned ways to blast his way to the stars. And if he can do a little good along the way, so much the better.

Zack and his crew have a whole planet after them. The only way out is up.

Voidburned Queen, book 2 of the Zack Lancestrom series

The Voidburned Queen

A broken ship. A legacy tainted. A path into the dark.
Zack's crew survived running a Federal Fleet blockade only to fall into the clutches of an unscrupulous space captain. They have minutes to take over a ship three times the size of their shuttle before they get marched out of an airlock, and they're outnumbered eight to one. To make matters worse, the ship is carrying cargo for the biggest criminal organization in the star cluster, the Venturi Cartel, and no one has crossed them and lived.

Not every problem can be solved with a gun. The Federal Fleet is still after them. The Cartel is everywhere. Their AI has been infected with a deadly virus, and the planet they're heading toward is suffering from not one but two pandemics.

The simplest thing would be to give Desdemona Venturi what she wants, but this time she picked a fight with the wrong crew.

The Sunforged Prophet

A hidden enemy. A legacy born. A path through fire.
Zack fled his homeworld to escape his inheritance and wound up the governor of a star system anyway. After three years leading the Venturi Nebula, Zack Lancestrom is on the verge of pulling the whole star cluster together into a grand alliance, a feat even his father couldn't achieve. But he's also made enemies, and as the day of the summit approaches, saboteurs and assassins move into position, ready to strike.

Soon, problems are cropping up all over the nebula. On Merton Creed, an agitator called the Kyrenian is inciting the dockworkers to violence, and food supplies are running low. On Asphodel, above the barren world of Duat, old resentments have spawned a murderous conspiracy, and starships prepare for combat. Are these isolated incidents or part of a greater plot? And can Zack and his team uncover the real force behind the conflict before the system descends into civil war?

His enemies may have Zack's number, but they've underestimated the courage of his people and how far he'll go to protect them.

Tears of Perseus Omnibus

Is This the End of Humankind, or the Beginning of Something New?

Humanity spread to the stars as soon as they broke the FTL limit, but a thousand lightyears weren’t enough to separate them from their natures. As a series of small incidents lead Earth and its colonies toward a galactic civil war, it’s up to people and AIs of good intent to pull us back from the brink.

But what if it’s already too late? As the super artificial intelligences sound the death knell of the galaxy, a few humans and machines struggle against the tide, to save their ship, their farm, their families, and their cause. In humanity’s darkest hour, the lives of a few heroes might make the difference, or serve as an epitaph for our species.

Buy it today to find out how we survived and if the beings that emerged from the nuclear fire were worth saving. Features an additional foreword by D.J. Bodden and three short stories not included in the individual novellas.

Tears of Perseus is one cohesive story told in six parts by six authors:

Truumeel's Light: A high-risk first-landing on an unsettled world.
Falk's Claim: A retired cybernetic soldier defending his claim against offworlders.
Mercia's Hammer: A daring prison escape, striking a blow for freedom in the colonies.
Metzler's Mistake: A final mission given to the Federal Fleet's craftiest admiral.
Raden's End: A surprise attack from a new enemy, forcing old foes to fight together.
Halloway's Charge: A choice to turn on each other or rise together from the ashes.

Written by Jennifer Brozek (Shadowrun, Battletech), Kevin Steverson (Salvage Title, 4HU), William Alan Webb (The Last Brigade, 4HU), D.J. Bodden (FiveFold Universe, Viridian Gate Online), Kevin J. Anderson (Star Wars, Dune), and Kevin McLaughlin (Starship Satori, 4HU), this omnibus combines life in the third millennium with all the space, air, and land high-tech combat you can handle.

Metzler's Mistake

They sent a soldier to force the peace.
He always said war was an extension of diplomacy. When rebels intercepted the wrong political mission, the Federal Parliament of Sol dispatched Joshua “the Butcher” Metzler to put an end to the revolution. To the war-weary admiral, it was one last chance to do it right, to make amends for past mistakes, and to pass the torch to his daughter, Commander Metzler, the captain of one of his ships.

The trap is set. By the end of the day, the rebel fleet will be captured or destroyed because no one can break a rebellion like the Butcher. But with a powerful AI looking over his shoulder and both spies and diplomats meddling with his plans, will Joshua be able to soothe his conscience, or will the inevitable battle forever be known as Metzler’s Mistake?

D.J. Bodden is a science fiction and fantasy writer, and creator of the FiveFold Universe, a hard sci-fi universe for fans of The Expanse, BattleTech, and Star Trek. Before he was a writer he was a Marine and military attack helicopter pilot, as well as being a coffee trader, tech COO and video game aficionado.
He currently lives in Switzerland and is always looking for a new story.

Stay in touch with D.J. to chat about his upcoming books, and talk stories by joining his mailing list, by CLICKING HERE.