For fans of Ender’s Game , Red Rising , and The Hunger Games comes an explosive, epic science fiction debut... Cities vanished, gone in flashes of world-shattering destruction. An alien race had come to make Earth theirs, bringing a power so far beyond human technology it seemed like magic. It was nearly the end of the world—until we learned to seize the power, and use it to fight back.   The war has raged for five centuries. For a cadet like Jax, one of the few who can harness the enemy’s universe-altering force, that means growing up in an elite military academy, training for battle at the front—and hoping he is ready. For Naomi, young nomad roaming the wilds of a ruined Earth, it means a daily fight for survival against the savage raiders who threaten her caravan.   When a new attack looms, these two fledging warriors find their paths suddenly intertwined. Together with a gifted but reckless military commander, a factory worker drafted as cannon fodder, a wild and beautiful gunfighter, and a brilliant scientist with nothing to lose—they must find a way to turn back the coming invasion, or see their home finally and completely destroyed.   Praise for Ninth City Burning   "Grabbed my attention from the first page—fresh and un-put-downable. An intriguing cocktail of science fiction, fantasy, and military adventure stirred into something new and satisfying."—Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fire Touched   “A finely crafted and original science-fantasy epic full of wonder and spectacle. Highly recommended.”—Anthony Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Waking Fire   “Ninth City Burning is simultaneously an epic fantasy, a science fiction adventure, a coming of age story, and a delight.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Magic for Nothing   “Fans of Ender, Harry Potter, Starship Troopers , and manga-style armored mobile suits will find Black’s debut the perfect ticket to a fantastic new world…This thrilling kickoff to an action-packed series will appeal to those who enjoy science fiction mixed with fantasy.” – Booklist   “Black is a fresh new voice who pays respect to the classics of SF in this enjoyable adventure debut…Given this strong foundation, readers can expect more thrilling adventures from this new author.”— Publishers Weekly   " Ninth City Burning is an intense, complex, engrossing story, a tale of multiple lives intersecting… Fans of both fantasy and science-fiction will want to keep an eye out for the next, and the next… "—Jean Johnson, national bestselling author of The Terrans J. Patrick Black has worked as a bartender, a small-town lawyer, a home builder, and a costumed theme-park character, all while living a secret double life as a fiction writer. While fiction is now his profession, he still finds occasion to ply his other trades as well. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he likes to visit the ocean. Ninth City Burning is his first novel. Jax 1. We’re only a few minutes into our quiz when the sirens start, and the first thing I feel is relief, even though I know that’s totally wrong, totally not how I should feel. I can still remember the panic, the terror that used to come over me when I heard the atmospheric incursion siren, the signal that our city is under attack. And I know that’s how all the kids around me must be feeling this very second. But it’s different for me now. Once the first shock of the wailing siren passes, it’s true I’m afraid too, but it isn’t the same kind of fear I used to feel. It’s more like fear of letting everyone down, and even that’s not so bad yet, though I know it’s going to get worse. But for a moment, just a moment, there was that relief, because I’m totally not prepared for this quiz, which I know is crazy, because what kind of person is like, Oh great I won’t have to take a quiz because everybody is going to die. I’m not a bad student, really. Even in biology, which is the subject of this quiz, which is about photosynthesis, which is how plants turn sunlight into energy. The trouble is whenever I sit down to study I end up picking up the Academy Handbook. It isn’t a long book, but each time I finish I just flip back to the beginning, like maybe if I read it one more time I’ll find the answer I need. Like maybe I just missed it the other hundred-million times. But even though the Handbook has all the rules for life at the Academy, it doesn’t tell me the one thing I really need to know. Oh, and there’s nothing about photosynthesis either. “Pencils down, cadets.” That’s Danyee, our rhetor. Everyone in Sixth Class Section E has her for biology, physics, and irrational mechanics. She had been pacing the rows of desks, looking over our shoulders one by one, but at the sound of the siren she walked to the front of the room. “In line by the door, please,” she says, her voice calm, almost cheerful, like this is just another lesson. All around there i