Downfall
Mayhem has erupted in the Skylands. Uncle’s iron-fisted grip has eroded peaceful governance, and the Meritocracy hovers on the brink of civil war. Disowned once again, teenage hero Conrad is sent to invade the Below’s colonies—a perilous mission with almost no chance of survival, where Conrad is left for dead.
Rescued by an old enemy and escaping capture by sky pirates, Conrad finds shelter on a faraway island in the Eastern Airs. Under the guise of a new identity, Conrad undergoes training from the King’s enemies and takes to the dueling pits where he competes for the status to challenge Uncle once and for all. Can a dead prince rise again, or will Conrad succumb to the brutal horrors of his world? To rally support and overthrow a despot, Conrad will have to prove the Meritocracy won’t be trading one feckless tyrant for another.
Take a seat for the bloodiest of showdowns in the final installment of the Above the Black fantasy trilogy. Marc J Gregson’s action-adventure revels in gory monster battles, fierce duels, empathetic characters, and a morally gray dystopia that is strikingly imaginative.
Marc J Gregson
Marc J. Gregson writes the kind of fantasy that makes you believe the sky really could fall—if not from weight, then from truth. His breakout YA trilogy, Above the Black, begins with Sky’s End, a story that drops readers into a world of floating islands, sky serpents, and brutal airborne arenas where survival isn’t a given—it’s a gamble. At the center is a boy fighting for far more than glory, and beneath the sweeping adventure lies Gregson’s signature touch: emotional gravity wrapped in high-stakes wonder.
Above the Black
Above the clouds, there are no rules—only survival.
In Above the Black, Marc J. Gregson crafts a world where islands float in the sky and gravity isn’t the only force threatening to pull people under. At the heart of this young adult fantasy series is Conrad, a seventeen-year-old boy with nothing to lose and everything to prove. When he's forced into a deadly competition aboard a warship that prowls the skies like a predator, he isn't just fighting to live—he’s chasing secrets that could topple the fragile order of this airborne world.
Above the Black consists of three books and considered as a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
