A hostile alien world. A stranded officer. He discovers his mind can manifest reality. The only way home is through a power he can barely control.
Title: Strandead
Author: R. Morello
Series: Standalone Novel
Publisher: Cathedral Rocks Publishing
ISBN: 9798882857102
Format: Ebook and Paperback
Pages: 50
Word Count: 12,105
Genre: Science Fiction, Aliens, Fantasy
Stranded on a hostile alien planet, a former space worker named Blue must harness the world’s power to manifest objects from thought, using this terrifying new ability to evade alien hunters and find a way back home.
In a distant future, Blue is stranded on a hostile alien world after a mission goes wrong. Forced to ally with a native inhabitant, he discovers he can manifest objects from thought, an ability tied to the planet itself. With alien hunters closing in and reality bending around him, Blue must harness this strange power to survive and find a way home.
In Strandead, Blue, a former space station engineer haunted by a failed mission joins an emergency crew sent to dismantle a malfunctioning orbital weapon. But when a red defense laser shreds his shuttle, Blue is hurled through space and crash lands on a bizarre alien world where the laws of reality shift without warning.
In this hostile jungle, Blue discovers that the planet itself grants him a terrifying ability: he can manifest objects through thought alone. Weapons, tools, food, anything he imagines takes shape. But the power comes with limits he doesn’t understand, and using it draws the attention of two native species locked in a violent cycle. The silver, fin headed warriors hunt anything that moves, while the orange, rock springing humanoids possess compassion but speak almost no human language.
Blue forms a fragile alliance with one of the orange natives, whom he nicknames “Bob,” and soon encounters a second impossibility, Kim, a woman from his past who materializes after he thinks of her. Their reunion is short lived when alien hunters drag them into underground caverns ruled by Odin, a monstrous entity who claims to be the creator of the planet’s species. Odin demands Blue exterminate both races so he can start anew… and threatens to kill him when Blue refuses.
As Blue, Kim, and Bob flee deeper into the planet, they uncover another human survivor: James, marooned for centuries and unsettlingly content to remain. He reveals that Blue’s powers will not last forever and that the only way home lies through the deadly labyrinth beneath the world, where Odin waits with a legion of creatures and enough strength to crush Blue’s will.
To escape, Blue must learn to control his volatile ability, face the literal embodiment of the planet’s nightmare, and confront the emotional ties he thought he left behind. The only path home demands a final, brutal confrontation in the flooded caverns where Odin rules.
Strandead blends survival sci-fi, creature horror, and mind-bending fantasy into a fast-paced, high-concept novella about power, fear, and the thin line between imagination and reality.
Survival on a Hostile Planet: Discusses the classic sci-fi theme of a lone human against a brutal, alien environment.
Psychic Manifestation: Explores the concept of a character whose mind directly influences and alters reality, blurring the lines between science fiction and fantasy.
Reluctant Heroism: Focuses on a protagonist who acquires immense power but must learn to control it under extreme duress.
The Alien Alliance: A key element is the necessity of forming an alliance with a native inhabitant for survival and understanding of the planet’s power.
A fast paced, action packed short novel (novella length).
Combines hard science fiction of space travel with the imaginative power of fantasy elements.
High stakes survival story with a unique twist on psychic powers and reality bending.
Ideal for readers who enjoy stories like Avatar or The Martian with a supernatural element.
Fans of classic science fiction survival stories and alien encounters.
Readers who enjoy novels where the protagonist develops powerful, unexpected abilities.
Anyone looking for a quick, thrilling read that blends genres.
R. Morello writes psychological and surreal science fiction that explores grief, identity, memory, and the hidden emotional worlds people carry inside them. Shaped by New England roots, his work blends speculative concepts with deeply human storytelling.
R. Morello is a speculative fiction author whose work blends psychological tension, cinematic surrealism, and deeply human emotional arcs. His novels and novellas, including Upside Down, Fractured Echoes, and the Simulation trilogy, explore grief, identity, and the unseen internal worlds we rarely reveal.
His stories often feature “dual selves,” mirrored identities, looping realities, and emotional architectures made literal.
He writes for readers who want more than escapism stories that feel uncomfortably true, beautifully painful, and haunting long after the final page.
ISBN: 979-8882857102
Author photos (on request)
R. Morello
Cathedral Rocks Publishing
