Earth of Gold and Light — Daniel Arenson

In a time of peace, a man of war is our only hope.They say hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.Marco Emery was born into hard times. He was raised in war. He grew up in bomb shelters and on battlefields, fighting to survive. He became a soldier. A war hero. Then, after vanquishing his last enemy, he retired to raise a family.And Earth moved on.After a century of peace, humanity has sunken into decadence. The grandchildren of soldiers obsess over celebrities. The military is an echo of its former glory. Weak men rule good times.Then the aliens attack. Merciless aliens. Terrors from deep space. They exterminate a distant colony. And now they're coming here. To Earth. And Earth is helpless.Almost helpless.Thanks to experimental life-extending treatments, Marco is still alive. In this new century, he's a relic. An oddity from the barbarous past. Yet in good times, strong men are Earth's only hope.