Species Imperative Series by Julie E. Czerneda

The first book in a hard science fiction series about a female biologist who must protect the human race after a devastating alien invasion . . .   Dr. Mackenzie “Mac” Connor is a workaholic and trained biologist at the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility. When she and fellow scientist Dr. Emily Mamani settle in to monitor this year’s salmon runs, an unprecedented arrival interrupts their Brymn, an archaeologist and the first Ohryn alien to ever set foot on Earth... moreThe first book in a hard science fiction series about a female biologist who must protect the human race after a devastating alien invasion . . .   Dr. Mackenzie “Mac” Connor is a workaholic and trained biologist at the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility. When she and fellow scientist Dr. Emily Mamani settle in to monitor this year’s salmon runs, an unprecedented arrival interrupts their Brymn, an archaeologist and the first Ohryn alien to ever set foot on Earth. He has come to get Mac’s help in uncovering what created the Chasm—a part of the universe whose once-populated worlds are now mysteriously empty of any life-forms. When a devastating attack on the Base results in Emily’s abduction, Mac is forced to flee with Brymn—and to wonder if Earth may be under attack by the Ro, the aliens Brymn suspects are behind the Chasm. Cut off from everything and everyone she knows, Mac finds herself in grave danger and charged with protecting the human race from extinction...   In this first novel in the Species Imperative science fiction series, biologist and author Julie E. Czerneda creates a stunning cast of characters, both alien and human, and a universe which will draw readers into a magnificent tale of interstellar intrigue. less

Senior co-administrator of the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility, Dr. Mackenzie Connor was a biologist who studied the spawning habits of salmon. Then, last season, just as she and Dr. Emily Mamani were starting their research, they were interrupted by the arrival of Brymm, the first Dhryn to set foot on Earth.And suddenly everything changed for Mac, Emily, Brymn, the human race, and all the member races of the Interspecies Union... moreSenior co-administrator of the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility, Dr. Mackenzie Connor was a biologist who studied the spawning habits of salmon. Then, last season, just as she and Dr. Emily Mamani were starting their research, they were interrupted by the arrival of Brymm, the first Dhryn to set foot on Earth.And suddenly everything changed for Mac, Emily, Brymn, the human race, and all the member races of the Interspecies Union. Base was attacked, Em was kidnapped by the mysterious Ro, and Mac and brymn had to flee for their lives to the Dhryn home world.What should have been Earth's best hope--an attempt to forge an alliance with the Dhyrn against the Ro--went horribly wrong. Mac nearly lost her life, and the peaceful, isolationist Dhyrn abandoned their world, hurtling out on an unfathomable path of destruction through civilized space.Now the members of the IU feel the only hope of stopping the Dhryn is to contact the Ro and ask for help. But no one knows how to accomplish that.As the enemy destroys life on planet after planet, the IU organizes a secret Gathering of every being with information on the Dhryn. With the data available there, Mac begins to suspect that the Dhyrn may not be ruthless destroyers. Their actions may be a response to something simpler and more deadly--the imperative to migrate. But even if Mac is right, can she and her team discover why this is happening and how to halt the Dhryn? less

With the alien Dhryn cutting a pathway through the inhabited spaceways-bringing about the annihilation of many of the races who have the misfortune to lie along the star trail they are following-time is running out for all sentient life-forms. Can biologists Mackenzie Connor and Emily Mamami solve the riddle of the Dhryn before their part of the galaxy becomes as dead as the mysterious region known as the Chasm?