What if Star Wars' species were all anthropomorphic walking talking animals instead?
This idea gripped me and refused to let go: an epic space saga where snakes fight cats, dogs with swords defend their kingdom, and intragalactic space combat is the norm. Inspired by Ninjago's Serpentine and Puss in Boots (among others), I decided to embark on an epic literary adventure.
Unfortunately, my lack of specific ideas came back to bite me. I wrote pages upon pages of notes about species' unique culture, weaponry, naming, down to minute details. But it all formed a rather large and overwhelming list of things to conform my writing to. How stressful!
So instead, after the initial inspiration died, I decided in late 2025 to give the idea another try. This time, I removed everything but the absolute minimum: space-faring anthropomorphic animals (hence the series name: Starborn Beasts) and instead focused on writing small stories to introduce readers to the universe, the species, and the exact interesting events that unfold.
The resulting work formed into The Coming Swarm, the first book, and a stepping-stone of sorts, into this new universe. It chronicles the tale of eight different species, and focuses around the coming of a ninth, extremely dangerous alien race, the Chyrrix. Five of the stories directly relate to each other.
If the idea of snakes and birds waging interplanetary war sounds interesting, give the book a try. You can read more about the book here. It's currently available in e-book format, with print format coming soon, inshaAllah.