Age of Secession Series

The Praetorian Guard, elite of the False Emperor, have divided and fought amongst themselves. Those that supported the rebellion thought they had won with the death of the False Emperor, but they could not be more wrong. In the secession that follows, as the revolutionaries that used the Praetorians force them to dissolve, it transpires that some of the participants planned more than just the end of the tyranny. They want their own rule to prosper. Commander James Gavain has inherited command of his own ship, and into the maelstrom of the Dissolution of the Praetorian Guard he struggles to find a new future for his people. Lost and wondering where he is to go, and what he is to do, he is just one of many genetically-engineered creations who find they have destroyed their own reason for existence. In a galaxy where the treacheries of the dead Red Imperium of Mars are giving birth to a whole new host of tyrannies, temporary alliances, and plotting on a Machiavellian and life-changing scale, the abandoned Commander Gavain sells his services to the highest bidder – and in the process finds himself fighting a threat that he helped to create.

The Lord James Gavain has surprised the galaxy with his actions, and is seen very much as a hero. He attempts to build a new nation and a better future, taking in refugees from the many battles and wars throughout the seceding Houses, trading on the mercenary ability of his comrades and what appears to be the advanced technology he has recovered, yet he finds that there is a limit to how honourable one can be and still rule a post-Imperial House. Beset by enemies jealous of his avarice, engaging in the murderous politics of the Levitican Union, he struggles to discover the truth behind the mysterious masters of the Rosicrux. They are about to emerge from the shadows explosively, and in the process, the galaxy will once again feel the wrath of a threat it thought had disappeared for good. The Shadow has arrived, and what he intends for the people of the galaxy is far worse than any of his predecessors visited upon mankind. Gavain is a changed man, but he is about to face yet another life-altering challenge. Ultimately, it is a dire choice. Does he intercede and fight a monster with equally evil and heinous methods, or does he take the moral and ethical approach, and watch his attempt to halt the shadow casting itself over the galaxy fail. Whatever the choice is, it will cost him, and he will never be the same again.

The Tears of the Moon are weapons of destruction, capable of turning entire planets into tombs. A very dangerous man by the name of Mason Duboise knows of them, and as a former Imperial Intelligence and StarCom double agent, Mason is no stranger to duplicity. In the wrong social class, he has wept his own tears as he was forced to deny his son and his wife by the laws of the Red Empire of Mars. He has a plan to steal the weapons, and sell them to the highest bidder, but life in the Age of Secession is never so straightforward. In the galactic south, a new threat is stirring, the xeno-religious extremists of the Suularitsaar. These extremist humanists dream of forming their own nation on hatred; a hatred not just of the augmented borg, but of even the more moderate unaugmented human. To unite the family he has denied for so long, Mason Duboise will see billions cry as a result of what he plans. The Tears of the Moon will weep freely down the face of the colonised galaxy, even as Mason faces the assassin with no face to call his own. Prepare for the Tears to flow.

Admiral James Gavain is enmeshed in the politics of the post-Dissolution colonised galaxy, an unwilling and reluctant participant. His main concern now is for forging a future for the people under his command, a mercenary company for sale to the highest bidder in a rapidly disintegrating colonial galaxy. As pirates swamp the Eastern Segment, preying on the weak, a pattern begins to emerge. All is not as it seems. Whilst his ships engage on a contract which plunges the mercenary company into a conspiracy far deeper than could be imagined, Ulrik Andryukhin leads the marines on a ground campaign which exposes the darker side of humanity – intolerance for anything that is different. The old enmity between the augmented and the unaugmented is running strong, and genocide is the preferred solution. Balancing the difficulties of a star-spanning conspiracy and the outrage of a friend grieving for a lost lover, Gavain also discovers his newfound ally and supporter Lady Sophia is playing a dangerous game. Married into House Zupanic, famed for their murderous and fatal political machinations, she is looking for power within the young Levitican Union, and vengeance for the assassination of a member of her own House.

As the Red Empire of Mars collapsed into Dissolution, it was not just the corrupt and devious Houses that flourished in the sudden vacuum of power. The underworld strengthened their grip all throughout the colonised galaxy, taking advantage of the corruption of Imperial Law. Criminal gangs fighting for territory inevitably begin to cross boundaries. Some parts of the galaxy are just too small for them all to co-exist. The vicious Vanquistadoreans are gripped in the brutal rise of the Duboise-Cartagne family. The Ndrangaizza elect their new Capobastone, their mourning for the previous incumbent about to turn violent. The Salchuzura Mara’s elusive Maraboss looks with evil eyes at a future soaked in enemy blood. As the new nation-states of the Houses pull themselves apart in an orgy of warfare, the turf wars that rumble incessantly amongst their criminal fraternities will deepen into a much darker, crimson conflict. The Blood Feud will be declared, even whilst the faceless from the shadows seek to bring light to darkness. A feud of bigotry, ideology, position, and power has begun. This feud can only be settled In blood.

This compilation book contains the first three books in the Age of Secession series, within the Vindicator Trilogy, in full and unabridged. This brings together the novels Dissolution, Rosicrux and Shadow, telling the full story of James Gavain and his Vindicator Mercenary Corporation. The Battle for Mars has been fought and won, and the False Emperor lies shot in the head in the ruins of the Red Palace. The rebellion is over, its purpose apparently complete. Little were the participants to suspect that it was merely the beginning of a whole new age of suffering and strife, as the Red Empire shatters into pieces, and civilisation falls and begin anew. New alliances, treacheries, aspirations and failures shape the future of mankind. The Age of Secession has begun. The Red Empire and the Praetorian Guard are in Dissolution; The Rosicrux are following their secret plans to weaken the new House nations; And the threat of the Shadow is rising, ready to emerge from the darkness beyond the Frontier .....

A bounty hunter with a long, deep past interwoven with that of the Red Empire of Mars and its many challengers dares to dream that he can have his birth-right after centuries of denial. He accepts the contract, and will lead the hunt, looking for something only he could ever find. His payment will be the return of some of what the True Emperor took from him. A Faceless Assassin wishes to bring an end to the person it blames for its very existence, but it needs help. It has prepared, and in its own personal hunt for vengeance, salvation and saviour, no cost or price will be too high to pay. The would-be Third Emperor of Mars turns his paranoid, power-hungry eyes to new lands, and sets in motion the plans to achieve his goal of bringing the Empire of Mars one step closer to reality. He hunts for power, control, and dominion of all. The Hunt is beginning, and in many senses it began over two hundred years ago. Are they ready to pay the cost of the hunt?

The Battle for Mars was just the beginning, and not the end. As Mars looks reproachfully upon the galaxy that tears itself apart in its name, another claims the title of Emperor, and he will see that humanity turns upon itself in an orgy of violence and bloodshed. The stars will run as red as the planet in whose name they are burned. The Age of Secession has begun. The Blood Money Trilogy follows the story of a spy from the Red Empire desperate to unite a family forced to deny their existence; an assassin with no face to call his own; and a bounty hunter who has spent a lifetime ignoring the greatest hunt of all. In the name of money, family, and power old blood will be shed and new blood will arise, but the price is not always what you might think. Everything has a price, and in the Age of Secession that price is paid in money tainted red.

“Let me tell you the story of the Darkness of Mars, the time during the start of the Age of Secession when one of the greatest crimes against humanity was committed. This was the time when the majesty of the Sol System was reduced to nothing but ashes, the blood flowed freely and everywhere, borgite and humanist hated each other and fought to the death, and greedy men and women sought thrones to salve their own egos and self-importance, seeing power as a right rather than a responsibility. And it was all in the name of this planet – Mars.” The Age of Secession takes a much darker turn, continuing with the House Lords and Ladies vying against each other, trying to build something new out of the ruins of what came before. The Red Empire of Mars has dissolved in a storm of blood, but its legacy lives on; old and new powers are rising from the darkest of places. The secret of the Causeway is revealed, and the storm has broken. The Mercenary Lord James Gavain alone dares to hope that he can bring new light to atone for his failure. It is the Third Emperor’s successors who smile and laugh, thinking they have won, and they hold the key to the rest of the galaxy in their grasp. Once more the Red Planet becomes the symbol of success, the jewel in the crown of the victor.

“Do not become so successful, that you fall into that trap that all the Emperors in history do time and time again. Absolutely any time that power and success can corrupt anyone .....” “Absolute power will corrupt everyone successfully, every time,” James Gavain completed the saying, quietly. This is the story of the Diadochi, the successors to the Emperors of Mars, and the families that fight for that old title. They would be the new Emperors of the Age of Secession, because in a tired and weary galaxy, the secessionists have finally given birth to their new masters. One is an Emperor born inside the Shadow; something new and of the devil lurks in his soul, standing far too close to him. One is an Emperor born from the Shadow; he wants freedom, and his hybrid people shall have that liberty, even at the cost of everyone else’s. And one is an Emperor born outside of the Shadow; a man who did not want the title at all. It goes against everything he fought for, but in order to save his poisoned family, he will have to accept the position and become the thing he hated most of all.

The Causeway; what it is, no-one outside of the Third Empire knows for sure. Even the majority of the Shadows who operate within the Third Empire know little of what is intended to do. All that is certain, is that it was born from the fevered insanity of the Third, Shadow Emperor, and in his damaged, splintering mind it will change the course of the Age of Secession once again. Mercenary Lord James Gavain, fighting to keep his new nation together, does not trust that all is it what it seems. He watches the Third Emperor send his forces ever northwards through the colonised galaxy, knowing that this is only the prelude to what is to come, and wonders what clue in the puzzle he is missing. The alien-human hybrids are not entirely as subservient as they appear to be. The Truce is under threat, with Vindicatus operations in the east about to be uncovered. Two Faceless Assassins seek the blood of the Emperor. The Levitican Union elects its new leader, and Lady Sophia is about to discover the poisons held close to her chest. In the south, the conflict between three great nations is about to ignite, seemingly unconnected to what happens in the east and north. Everyone can see the oncoming storm, but they just do not know where or how it will break.

This compilation book contains all three novels in the Ascent of Mars trilogy. Part I – Oncoming Storm The Causeway; what it is, no-one outside of the Third Empire knows for sure. Even the majority of the Shadows who operate within the Third Empire know little of what is intended to do. All that is certain, is that it was born from the fevered insanity of the Third, Shadow Emperor, and in his damaged, splintering mind it will change the course of the Age of Secession once again. Part II – Darkness of Mars “Let me tell you the story of the Darkness of Mars, the time during the start of the Age of Secession when one of the greatest crimes against humanity was committed. This was the time when the majesty of the Sol System was reduced to nothing but ashes, the blood flowed freely and everywhere, borgite and humanist hated each other and fought to the death, and greedy men and women sought thrones to salve their own egos and self-importance, seeing power as a right rather than a responsibility. And it was all in the name of this planet – Mars.” Part III - Rise of the Diadochi : This is the story of the Diadochi, the successors to the Emperors of Mars, and the families that fight for that old title. They would be the new Emperors of the Age of Secession, because in a tired and weary galaxy, the secessionists have finally given birth to their new masters. About The Series Age of Secession wants to entertain, challenge and introduce people to science fiction based on politics, society and real-life concerns, and imaginatively address topics relevant to today whilst telling a gripping story. Whilst some books come close, very few quite manage to bring the right mix of entertainment with some of the more world-shaking events we experience today. Age of Secession leads the way in showing that you can have a star-spanning operatic drama with some very common human failings and successes with stories not out of place in novels of romance, horror, crime, thriller and suspense, mixing all these genres in the best traditions of imaginative science fiction. But it also shows that as well as telling a ripping yarn, a gripping story can also deal with serious modern-day issues - such as the strong themes of social inequality and political upheaval amongst others - that ride underneath the plots. Whether you want to just kick back, imagine you were your favourite character and enjoy the tale, or you want to turn the stories in the light to reflect on the very real things that happen today, occurred in the past, and might feature in the future, Age of Secession is the series that you want to read.

Under Imperial Law, slavery in any form has never been illegal. It has always been left to the Houses that ruled the stars to decide for themselves whether they would allow fellow man to be enslaved to another, it being a matter for House Law. Jebediah Lockwood is an augmented borgite born free to an agricultural family on a world in the deep south of the galaxy. His happy childhood is destroyed when - just as the insurgency against the False Emperor is having its success on distant Mars - the humanists come to his homeworld. So begins a chain of events as seemingly inexorable and unbreakable as the slavery he finds himself living his life within. In the galactic east a new sport is gaining traction in the chaos following the start of the Age of Secession. It is perfect for a person like Jebediah and those he comes to travel with, those freed from slavery who know how to pilot walkers and have nothing to lose any more. The Gladiator Games are as vicious as those who fight within them, with death just as likely as victory. They are fighting for high purses if they win, but with equally high stakes if they lose. Jebediah’s prize will be the money to buy his sister’s freedom, a freedom she may not want. They are free to fight and free to die. They are the Unchained. About The Author Age of Secession wants to entertain, challenge and introduce people to science fiction based on politics, society and real-life concerns, and imaginatively address topics relevant to today whilst telling a gripping story. Whilst some books come close, very few quite manage to bring the right mix of entertainment with some of the more world-shaking events we experience today. Age of Secession leads the way in showing that you can have a star-spanning operatic drama with some very common human failings and successes with stories not out of place in novels of romance, horror, crime, thriller and suspense, mixing all these genres in the best traditions of imaginative science fiction. But it also shows that as well as telling a ripping yarn, a gripping story can also deal with serious modern-day issues - such as the strong themes of social inequality and political upheaval amongst others - that ride underneath the plots. Whether you want to just kick back, imagine you were your favourite character and enjoy the tale, or you want to turn the stories in the light to reflect on the very real things that happen today, occurred in the past, and might feature in the future, Age of Secession is the series that you want to read.

Life is tough for many in the Age of Secession, and for some it has become much tougher since the Emperors of House Constantin fell from grace. Iain Briggs is a con-man, along with friends Dominic Gaiman and Marin Todor. They have moved from trick to trick, from planet to star system to intergalactic House since the Red Empire of Mars fell, each scam being bigger than the last. The rise of the Vindicate Empire offers them their biggest and most dangerous opportunity yet, as this Fifth Empire looks to build landgates and starterminals across the colonised galaxy in every direction. It will revolutionise space travel, allowing trade to pass from one side of the colonised galaxy to another within a day, rather than in years. Constructing a pathway across the stars, they will face the jealousies of leaders, the murderous intent of criminals, the hidden and dangerous motives of pirates, the wrath of the security forces of the nations they are working both for and against. This is the biggest job of all, and if any of them are to escape with their lives, they will have to succeed in a way they could not imagine when they started. Most would see pay dirt as succeeding in one of the biggest construction jobs in mankind’s history. They will see pay dirt as escaping with their lives, from an ever-deepening web of dishonest intentions. About The Series Age of Secession wants to entertain, challenge and introduce people to science fiction based on politics, society and real-life concerns, and imaginatively address topics relevant to today whilst telling a gripping story. Whilst some books come close, very few quite manage to bring the right mix of entertainment with some of the more world-shaking events we experience today. Age of Secession leads the way in showing that you can have a star-spanning operatic drama with some very common human failings and successes with stories not out of place in novels of romance, horror, crime, thriller and suspense, mixing all these genres in the best traditions of imaginative science fiction. But it also shows that as well as telling a ripping yarn, a gripping story can also deal with serious modern-day issues - such as the strong themes of social inequality and political upheaval amongst others - that ride underneath the plots. Whether you want to just kick back, imagine you were your favourite character and enjoy the tale, or you want to see in these books the reflections of the very real things that happen today, occurred in the past, and might feature in the future, Age of Secession is the series that you want to read.

“She said that many a final move is made before the game has even begun.” The Lost Kindred were abandoned. It all began centuries before the Age of Secession started, but it will come to a head now. As the colonised galaxy turns upon itself, the Thirteen Kindred will return in greater force than ever before. This is the story of how that came to be. Following its bloody birth, the young, new Red Empire is secretly trying to reach other galaxies. The Roanoake Expedition is launched in the southern part of the galaxy under the watchful eyes of the Red Emperor Himself, but the ships are apparently lost. In a new galaxy, the survivors crash-land. They have no way of communicating back home. As they struggle to forge a new way of life, they look hopefully outward into the stars from the creation of their new refuge. But the real danger lurks much closer, both within and without. What were the strange xeno-form ships sighted on their first arrival? Why do the forests seem to change overnight? As the secrets of time are unlocked, so the Kinsmen struggle against themselves, the aliens who were there before them, and finally ... the abandonment by the Red Emperor. Will this be the Genesis of the Kindred? Or the beginning of something much, much different ...

“They are different than us”. Those words have echoed throughout time as an excuse for senseless hatred. In the Age of Secession, none of those hatreds are bigger than the antagonism between the unaugmented and the augmented, a senseless disgust borne from the most basic cause for man to turn on himself; fear of the different. The Zhou-Zheng Compact is one of the new states, an alliance of two noble Houses, extremist humanists with their unmitigated loathing of anyone who has had their body altered using borgite technology. Many Houses come to fall before their onslaught, including the borgite House Erdogan. As billions of Erdogan refugees escape to the protection of the Mercenary Lord, back at home the Zhou-Zheng Compact have opened their deathcamps and are slowly exterminating their conquered people simply because they are different. They continued their lethal genocide unchecked against more and more borgite-dominated worlds and Houses, and for a while it seemed nothing could stop them. Not all Erdogans intend to bear this suffering in silence. Not all Erdogans will simply let their people die. This is the story of those who fought - against the Genocide of the Augmented.