Variance: Raise Your Weapon - Hardcover

Paul Benedict is not like his fellow Utopians, immortals who live in absolute peace and love. He possesses the will to fight back, and he knows he must do so in order to protect his wife and daughters.

When alien scouts terrorize Paul's planet, he and his family work together to engineer a nonlethal battle suit designed to stop the attacks. The source of the invasion is a man named Shadow who is intent on eliminating the Utopian race, whom he calls "violators of God's power of life." He is also the game master of Divine Might--a gladiator game that may represent the Utopians' only hope. Using his invented suit, Paul embarks on a journey to gain mercy for his race by conquering the game, in which the champion's wish comes true. Only time will tell if he will survive and manage to do what is right when everything around him is wrong.