The world we left Behind

When a dying alien civilization arrives in peace, Earth greets them with fear. They ask Earth for a refuge, but humanity demands something unprecedented in return: A single game of quantum chess to decide their fate. Aveline Rao, scientist and diplomat, becomes Earth's representative—expected to protect her world through strategy, not violence. But when the match begins in orbit, she discovers that her opponent, Veyr, is nothing like the threat Earth imagined. He is gentle, luminous, and bound by directives that forbid him from harming any innocent life… even at the cost of his own people. When the board destabilizes under the weight of an impossible paradox—win and doom Earth, or lose and doom his species—Veyr collapses trying to save everyone. And Aveline, seeing the truth of him, makes the choice that will brand her a traitor. As the alien ark-ship suffers catastrophic failure and political fear swallows the planet, Aveline defies her own government to protect Veyr and the million exiles depending on him. When Earth finally demands that the aliens leave forever, she faces the decision that will define both species. She boards the ark-ship at Veyr's side. Together they abandon the world that rejected them, carrying the fragile hope of building a home somewhere beyond the stars—one shaped not by fear, but by compassion. The World We Left Behind is a quiet, emotional science-fiction novel about first contact, exile, and the love that grows when two souls choose each other over the boundaries of species and worlds. Perfect for readers of Arrival, Becky Chambers, and literary sci-fi with heart.