Darius Thorne - Author

  Are you wondering how Natalie's bunker was built and who was responsible? Well, things don't happen by chance: they're planned, designed, and built by powerful corporations who invariably who anything but the public interest in in mind. Taken from the name given to Zeus' shield the Aegis Collective is dedicated to providing secure buildings - homes, prisons, and other protective installations. But, who are they protecting? What role do they play in the 'Apertures of the Void'? Do they have a far reaching role in they Darius Thorne universe? There's only way to find but what can be revealed is the Aegis Collective built the bunker in which Natalie inhabits. The operate under a veneer of protection but underneath their intentions are more malign. Nothing more can be said except to warn you - look out for their logo and name, they'll crop up in Apertures of the Void more often than you might suspect.

'Apertures of the Void', is more than a collection of speculative fiction; it's an exploration of the architecture of isolation. It's a study of how the human psyche deforms or transcends when faced with the crushing weight of invisibility and solitude. The stories within this anthology are not random tales spanning disparate eras and universes. They are recovered artifacts, tools used by the frame narrative’s heroine, Natalie, to navigate her own psychological collapse. The Last Witness We meet Natalie in the shadow of an apocalypse that ravaged the Earth decades ago. For years, she has been a nomad, driven by a flicker of hope that the world might still hold a second heartbeat. But as the sandstorms settle and the silence remains absolute, that hope has gone. Natalie has retreated to The Terminal Vault—a high-tech reliquary containing the digitized ghosts of a dead civilization. Here, she contemplates a somber, dignified end. This is no sudden impulse, but a calculate...

Concept work has started on the first Darius Thorne project. 'Apertures of the Void' is a genre-bending anthology exploring  the "architecture of isolation."  Featuring a post-apocalyptic frame narrative, the collection weaves together eight tales of psychological horror, folk-lore, and hard science fiction. It is a study of how humanity behaves when the doors are locked, the lights are flickering, and no one is coming to save them.    A century after the nuclear holocaust, Natalie has finally confirmed the unthinkable: she is the last human alive. 'Resigned to the realities of this truth Natalie retreats back into the safety of her steel subterranean vault. In her solitary existence she turns to the Terminal Archive, a collection of salvaged records, forgotten histories, and digital ghosts.