Dread Empire's Fall
4 primary works
Book 1
An infinite, sweeping saga of interstellar war - the first SF classic for the 21st century. The empire of the Shaa lasted 10,000 years. Years of terror, infinite violence and oppressive, brutal order. Now the Shaa are no more, but the terror and violence are only beginning...The Shaa, rulers of the universe, began to commit ritual suicide when it became clear that their minds - profoundly intelligent but limited - would accept no further information. Near immortality was their one, great mistake. And so began the war between the Naxids, oldest client race of the Shaa, who believed themselves inheritors of the empire, and a frail alliance of other races, including humanity. Gareth Martinez and Caroline Sula are two of the characters through whom we see this mighty, calamitous war and its aftermath. And so, the story of a dread empire's fall begins...
Book 2
The alien Naxids have won a shattering victory at Magaria, a victory that clears the way for an advance on the loyalist capital, Zanshaa. To help save Zanshaa comes Lord Gareth Martinez, formerly a despised provincial officer, now, in the aftermath of a brilliant victory, a celebrated war hero. But no sooner does Martinez arrive at the capital than he finds himself entangled in intrigue, first by political enemies intending to deprive him of command, then by his own brother Roland, who wants to use him to further the ambitions of a Martinez dynasty. Destiny also waits for Martinez, in the form of the mysterious survivor Caroline Sula, a woman whose beautiful face conceals a deadly secret, and whose brilliant mind holds the key to victory over the Naxids. While Martinez prepares to engage an enemy fleet that has long been prepared for his assault, Sula is put in command of a guerrilla force that must engage the enemy in a desperate, dirty war fought in the teeming slums of Zanshaa. Both sides claim the legitimacy of the Praxis, but the very real danger exists that there will be nothing left for the victors to rule...
Book 3
The universe has fallen into bloody chaos now that the dread empire of the tyrannical Shaa is no more - at the mercy of the merciless insectoid Naxid who, freed from subjugation, now hunger for domination. But the far-flung human descendants of Terra have finally tasted liberty, and their warrior heroes will not submit. Separated by light-years, Lord Gareth Martinez and his one-time comrade and lover, the mysterious guerilla fighter Caroline Sula, each pursue a different road to victory in tomorrow's ultimate battle - for the new order will be far more terrible than the old...unless one last, bold, and desperate stratagem can hold a shattered galaxy together.
Book 4
