Canestro Books in Order

This branch of Locke's Paradisi fiction begins before life on New Eden is settled and established. Instead of starting on a distant colony world, it opens on Earth in 2092, when collapse has become ordinary. Some places are underwater, others are burning, diseased, or under military control, and even a city that still functions feels unstable. That backdrop gives the series a different energy from Caelestis. It is less about exploring a new world and more about surviving the last days of an old one.

In The Stars are Red Tonight, Trevor and Saya are not powerful people. They are just trying to hold on to steady work and a measure of safety in Seattle, which already makes them luckier than most. Then an encrypted flash drive lands in their hands, and the scale of the story changes fast. What begins as a private problem turns into a dangerous collision with secrets far larger than either of them expected.

Safe is a fragile thing in this world.

That is what gives this series its pull. The suspense comes from watching ordinary people realize how little control they actually have over the systems around them, and then decide what they are willing to risk anyway. The romantic thread matters too, because Trevor and Saya are not solving a puzzle from a comfortable distance. Their relationship is part of the pressure. Trust, fear, and divided loyalties all sit close to the surface.

This strand also introduces the Kuttners, one of the ten Founding Families tied to humanity's escape from Earth and the later colonization of New Eden. That makes the series useful as backstory for readers who want to understand how the Paradisi project looked before it became legend. You get a clearer sense of who held power, who had access, and what kinds of compromises shaped the future long before the colonists reached another planet.

Because the opening book is a novella, the pacing is quick and the stakes arrive early. The mood is more near-future thriller than slow-build space opera, with corporate secrecy, social strain, and personal danger driving the story forward. It is a compact entry point into the wider Paradisi setting, especially for readers who like their science fiction with suspense and a strong emotional core.

For now, this corner of the universe begins with The Stars are Red Tonight, and that makes it easy to try. If you want the Earth-side setup to the larger Paradisi world, this is the place to start.