The Beyond the Red trilogy is a series of young adult dystopian science fiction novels by Gabe Cole Novoa, writing under the pen name Ava Jae.

[1] Set on a planet where humans and a humanoid native species are in violent conflict, the books include action, forbidden romance, political intrigue, and queer themes.

The story, which follows a half-human who finds himself caught in the middle of two cultures, was informed by Novoa's experiences as a white-passing Latinx person.

On the fictional exoplanet of Safara, humans are second-class citizens, ruled over by a humanoid native species: the tall, tattooed Sepharon.

Eros is a young half-human, half-Sepharon soldier who has grown up with nomadic "redblood" humans in a world where "half-breeds" like him are generally killed at birth.

Eros finds an ally in Deimos, a charismatic gay Sepharon bounty hunter and member of a royal family, and the two develop a flirtatious relationship.

She returns to Elja, her homeland, and convinces her brother to give power back to her, and forgives him for the coup that deposed her.

To appease the people, she asks them to elect a populist representative who will work with her, and they pick a man named Uljen.

In the capital city, the Remnant unleash a biological weapon: many Sepharon are infected with a deadly virus that humans (and half-humans like Eros) are immune to.

Eros and Deimos hold hands and watch as the spaceship departs: a rising gold streak in the sky.

In 2013, he won representation from Louise Fury, a literary agent then with The Bent Agency, by submitting an excerpt of Beyond the Red to an internet contest; this ultimately led to the book being published in 2016.

[7] The diversity of the characters in the books has been noted, with Kirkus Reviews saying that "Humans and Sepharons alike come in varying shades of brown to pale" and that Eros is queer.

[10] A partial glossary: The audiobook of the first novel was performed by Caitlin Davies and Will Damron and produced by Brilliance Audio.

"[2] The School Library Journal called it "an engaging and amusing read," but said "the concepts and characters are not fully developed.

The School Library Journal indicated that the language was part of what made the books' world "beautifully conceived...with unique details",[14] but Kirkus Reviews complained about "the inaccessible and forced jargon".