Eyes Open, Hands Empty

Content levels

Trigger warnings

Positive tags

Hero archetypes

Protagonist archetypes

Tropes

Themes

Synopsis

Three weeks ago, Ethan Cross was nobody. A factory worker from Earth who stumbled onto something impossible in the dark, made one bad decision, and woke up on the other side of the galaxy with a sentient starship bonded to his soul and a life he never could have imagined. He's been catching up ever since. But catching up is over. When a distress beacon arrives from deep in contested space, it doesn't just mean a teammate is in danger — it means the enemy has done something that should have been impossible. Something that rewrites every assumption the network has been operating on for years. Something that reaches further than anyone expected. Including inside Vesper herself. Ethan has spent weeks learning to trust a ship, a network, and a universe he barely understands. Now the universe is asking how far that trust goes — and how fast he can move before the window closes. The enemy isn't waiting. The clock isn't stopping. And the stars just got a lot more dangerous.

Tags

Is Eyes Open, Hands Empty appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 13 and up.

This space opera features moderate action violence in contested space with a working-class protagonist bonded to a sentient starship. Expect team-based military SF action and themes of trust and belonging.