Studio Roadmap
This roadmap follows the seven frontiers currently under exploration at Ninth Orbit Studios. As stories evolve, this page will evolve alongside them. Check back throughout the year for development updates and new milestones. Or better yet, sign up for the Ninth Orbit Expedition Log newsletter to stay informed of seasonal updates from the field that are delivered directly to your inbox.
Series #1: Ankou series (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: “Milo did it.
On the last night of the year, he took his own life-just as he planned, and just as everyone insisted he would never do.
They were wrong.
They also thought his story ended there.
It didn’t.
Little did Milo know that the last person to die in a region before the New Year becomes the Ankou -the guide of the dead for those who will meet the same fate in the year to come.
Now burdened with leading souls whose pain mirror his own, Milo must navigate the dangerous landscapes and Spirits of the Afterlife while confronting the despair he thought death would silence.
Fearing the Unknown while traversing its depths, he is left to wonder-how can he guide others to peace when he has yet to find his own?”
Conception Year: 2016-2017
Series Length: 7
Themes: Gothic horror, Dark Fantasy, World mythology around Death and the Afterlife, Philosophical and Religious Reflections
Current Phase: Series Architecture Complete | Book #1 in Progress
Planned Companion Project: Screenplay TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: This story originally began as part of another series before growing into a mythology of its own. The deeper I ventured into death traditions and grief across cultures while exploring my own personal experiences with death, the clearer it became that this world deserved to stand on its own. Interestingly, it has since become connected to another series within the Ninth Orbit universe, but I’ll save that reveal for another time.
Series #2: Space Apocalyptic Responders (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: “Every civilization believes it will survive. Most are wrong. That’s why they watch.
Peering from afar is an elite coalition of intergalactic first responders tasked with monitoring worlds on the brink of collapse. Their mission is simple in theory: assess the threat, respond to catastrophic events, and preserve life whenever possible.
Reality is far more complicated.
Every intervention carries consequences. Every civilization cannot be saved. Every decision leaves another person or even another world behind.
As a new responder enters the ranks, they must confront an impossible question: who decides whose future is worth saving?”
Conception Year: 2o23
Series Length: 7
Themes: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Apocalyptic events, Social & Political upheaval, Climate Change, Space Travel, Alien Civilizations, Crisis Response, Philosophy
Current Phase: Series Architecture Complete | Book #1 in Progress
Planned Companion Project: Screenplay TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: I originally expected this to remain on the shelf for several more years, but it refused to wait. My crisis response work unexpectedly reshaped the entire series, while the research into astrophysics, disaster science, and planetary civilizations has become one of the most rewarding creative challenges I’ve undertaken.
Series #3: The Changed Series (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: “For years, Taylor has been dismissed at her department as the strange one.
An Autistic cop with an unmatched eye for patterns, she begins noticing unsettling inconsistencies surrounding a string of missing persons cases.
The victims often return, yes. But something isn't right.
The people who come back aren't quite the same.
As disappearances continue and those around her dismiss concerns, Taylor hones on the idea that something sinister could be replacing people one by one while hiding in plain sight.”
Conception Year: 2021
Series Length: 7
Themes: Psychological Horror, Mystery, Case-based Files, Law Enforcement, Neurodivergence
Current Phase: Series Architecture Complete | Book #1 in Progress
Companion Project: Teleplay (Adaptation for Television Series) TBA
Kai’s Frontier Notes: In a lot of my stories where there are obvious monsters or villains, I find that the story doesn’t often focus on them, but on the people who enable them. I think that is a much more fertile space for reflection and conversation.
Without giving away a core piece of the plot, I really enjoy writing this series because it allows me to explore an aspect of psychology that I became instantly fascinated with and rarely see explored explicitly in fiction.
Series #4: World Faery Series (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: In Development
Conception Year: 2004-2005
Series Length: 7
Themes: World Faerie mythology, World historical events, Social & Political upheaval, Family bloodlines, Religion & Spirituality
Current Phase: Series Architecture Complete
Planned Companion Project: Screenplay TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: This world has lived in my imagination for twenty years, and it was the very first series I ever conceived. Over time, its mythology expanded so dramatically that it ultimately gave rise to two entirely separate novel series. Although inspired by faerie traditions from around the world, this story explores a much broader mythology than its working title suggests.
Series #5: VR Society (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: “In a future where society exists within immersive virtual city-states governed by powerful corporations, every world is carefully designed, monitored, and secured.
Specialized penetration testers are responsible for ensuring those worlds remain that way.
During what should have been a routine security assessment, one penetration tester discovers something impossible.
A room that doesn't exist on any blueprint.
A building that no database recognizes.
Artificial intelligence insists they were never there.
As more impossible spaces begin appearing throughout the virtual world, a close-knit underground community of cybersecurity professionals and hackers uncovers evidence that the greatest threat to society isn't a person, a corporation, or malicious code.
It's something hiding beneath the digital world itself.
Blending cyberpunk, speculative technology, and mystery, this series explores what happens when reality develops vulnerabilities no one was meant to find.”
Conception Year: 2023
Series Length: 7
Themes: Science Fiction, Dystopian Horror, Cybersecurity, Mystery
Current Phase: Series Architecture in Progress
Planned Companion Project: Indie Videogame TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: I feel like the plot is still evolving as I continue drafting out the series.
Series #6: Vampire Series (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: In Development
Conception Year: 2023
Series Length: TBD
Themes: Horror, Science Fiction
Current Phase: Series Architecture in Progress
Planned Companion Project: TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: This series has become one of the biggest surprises in terms of world-building development and expansion. I’ll share more once the architecture of the world has settled.
Series #7 Mermaid Series (Untitled)
Book #1 Summary: “In a future where natural reproduction has been outlawed, every person is genetically engineered, every citizen is bound by a social contract, and every life is measured by its value to the state.
As a doula working within one of the world's elite most elite hospitals, Mara has dedicated her life to helping bring engineered children into existence. But after a devastating personal betrayal threatens both her career and her future, she discovers a truth that could unravel everything society believes about its origins.
Hidden beneath the world's oceans is an ancient civilization of mermaids whose history reaches far beyond legend. Through them, Mara uncovers forgotten mythologies and secrets that challenge humanity's carefully engineered future.”
Conception Year: 2023
Series Length: TBD
Themes: Dystopian Futures, Dark Fantasy, World Mermaid Mythology, Human Genetic Engineering
Current Phase: Series Architecture in Progress
Planned Companion Project: TBD
Kai’s Frontier Notes: I really thought I finally had a standalone novel on my hands. The world of this series seems to have other plans.