/lit/ - Literature

Soulship (Book 1: First Orbit) – Nathan Thompson

[Our MC] Jasper Cloud is a teenage orphan, recycled through the system ever since his parents were executed by the Glorious State nearly 10 years ago. Having been targeted ever since, he’s a malnourished and skeletal figure that goes out of his way to protect others. This doesn’t make his life any easier, as the State has decided to get rid of him now that he’s ‘aged out’ of his orphanage. Our other MC is a fellow orphan, a young woman named Nova that Jasper protected at the orphanage. Thanks to his nurturing during their childhood, she was able to become an officer with the State and become a true citizen.

[Plot] Our story begins on Earth after a totalitarian police state has taken over the world government. After suppressing books and media, they've united the planet under one language - English. After Jasper is kicked out of the orphanage, he is escorted to a Rehabilitation Center by Nova… before they both wise up to what ‘rehabilitation’ truly entails. During all of this, the entire city is receiving messages in illegal languages which causes the state to go on high alert. The only person that appears to be able to decipher the language is Jasper, having been taught it by his parents before they were executed for thought-crimes.

Jasper receives instructions from a disembodied voice to ‘activate’ Nova by showing her a phrase in one of the banned languages. After reading it Nova is suddenly manifests super-human abilities. The two of them begin to flee from the city towards a secluded spot in the woods so that the incorporeal voice can lock onto their position. It turns out that Nova is an Emissary of a Soulship, a sentient biological colony ship that previously helped to spread humanity and life throughout the universe to combat the ‘great darkness’. Jasper is merely her ‘Defender’, expected to get Nova to the teleportation point and nothing else.

Best laid plans. In a turn of events, Jasper Cloud ends up aboard a derelict soulship WITHOUT Nova. After exploring the ship, he discovers a pale blue woman in a clear observable tube near the back who looks identical to his friend. With most of the soulship destroyed and the habitat infested with monsters, she reveals to Jasper that if he doesn’t help her save Nova… then the entire universe is DOOMED. Resolving himself to save both Nova and this Soulship, Jasper asks the ship to teach him.

[System] The system relies on the user intaking one of three magical sources: essence, qi or mana, with each providing a different benefit. In most cases a ‘Practitioner’ can only tap into a single source. It’s explained that our MC is the only one on the historical record to draw in all three. To balance the magical source within yourself, Practitioners will imagine a ‘Soulscape’ which is often an weapon or tool. By making his Soulscape a planetary body, our MC can apply each of the magical sources to its atmosphere, oceans and crust he can balance this power.