Secrets of the Empire Series

Vespasian Shiraan, son of the Empress Katarina, infiltrates a space station on the furthest edges of the Aura Empire. When he and his small squad place explosives, an ancient robot awakens and the mad scientist Caspian Acratani ambushes them. Forced to flee in the face of Duke Acratani's overwhelming strength in weapons and numbers, Vespasian and the Shadow Daggers journey through several wormholes to their besieged home. Obstacles block their path, including Father Sasha, the leader of the Follower cult, and the god he summons to rebuild the world. Sasha picks Vespasian's squadmate Rochelle Sarakshi and Caspian's psychic Mistrala Ethrus to bear witness to his first strike in a long war. The only hope for survival may lay in the revival of a man long forgotten, and a traitor to everyone. Enemy Territory tells the story of a prince's struggle with the secrets behind an empire. Cinematic and apocalyptic, it is the first book of a seven book series. It should stand alone as a complete novel in itself.

Prince Vespasian Shiraan, leader of the Shadow Daggers Squadron, stands at the center of a conspiracy in the Aura Empire. An explosion impacts a museum in the Core worlds. Edmund Volta, a known revolutionary, blames the mass killing of a hundred people on the Empress's rise. Caspian Acratani plans to conquer the Core, though no one knows how. Could he be involved with the attack and with Volta? What does he plan to do? Vespasian's lieutenant Rochelle Sarakshi receives messages from a man called the Purple Prophet, who reminds her of a cultist she met six months ago. He summoned a beetlelike god that did immense damage to an entire sector of space. Why does he express so much interest in her? When she learns why he is persistent, his revelations make her question her life, her family and her future. Vespasian and Rochelle protect the Aura Empire with diplomacy, subterfuge and giant robots. If they fail, Caspian will conquer the Core and Father Sasha will summon more demon gods from wormholes. The stakes are raised higher in Necessary Lies, Book 2 of Secrets of the Empire.

The invasion has started. Who will stop it? The doomsday prophet Sasha Sarakshi infects a wormhole and opens a path for the Chosen, alien insects with godlike power. Prince Vespasian Shiraan responds to a call by Lord Giovanni of Istevor to stop the threat to his sectors. The Aura Empire's strongest forces, including Vespasian's rival Duke Caspian Acratani, gather to negotiate their level of commitment. While there, Vespasian learns of a project by Giovanni's daughter, Deirdre. Built of ancient tech, it could hinder the Chosen's approach. The project fails and summons thousands of Chosen to Istevor territory. Vespasian attempts to lift the siege of four sectors with his special op squad and has to manage a million problems that arise. His mother, the Empress, takes the opportunity to retake the Core worlds, stolen by Caspian. His lieutenant, Rochelle Sarakshi, demands to know why her parents banished Sasha when he was six. Vespasian himself wants to wrest Caspian's supersoldiers from his grip and remove their connections to the Chosen. Will Vespasian choose his homeworld or the galaxy? Can't Fall Back is the third book in the "Secrets of the Empire" series, with giant robots, bug monsters and the first stage of a galactic war.

Three rivals in an empire make desperate choices to repel an alien invasion. In the wake of the Siege of Alveolar, the Istevor Diamond has failed. Freed from their prisons, the giant insectile Chosen overrun multiple sectors of the Aura Empire. In order to hold them back, or inflict a decisive blow that will show the strength of humanity, Vespasian Shiraan must protect the woman who might hold all the answers and finally make his play for the throne that he has held off until the right moment. Duke Caspian Acratani claims to have communion with the Chosen and a beneficial, though temporary, alliance. While he goes steadily mad from the voice in his head, Deirdre Istevor, part of the most powerful House in the Empire, keeps a steady eye on him. If he still has some sanity she will find it. She believes she's playing him, but she may be wrong. Amid this minefield of schemes, Rochelle Sarakshi, lieutenant in Vespasian's special op squad, explores an old mystery from her brother's past which provides answers to the Chosen's rulers, and a weapon hidden away years ago by a traitor. When a maze of flesh reveals the weapon's hiding place, the Imperials must make a decision that will ripple throughout their lives: do they wield the weapon, or do they destroy it?