It's a normal night in August. Literature professor Arne and artist Tove are with their children at the resort in southern Norway. Their friend, Egil, a driver by day, is staying in a cabin nearby. Kathrine, a priest, is on her way home from a seminar, the journalist Jostein is out on the town, and his wife Turid, who is an assistant nurse, has a night shift. Above them all, a huge star suddenly appears in the sky. No one, not even the astronomers, knows for sure what kind of phenomenon it is. Is there a star burning itself out? Why then has no one seen it before? Or is it a brand new star? Slowly the interest in the news subsides, and life goes on, but not quite as before, for unusual phenomena begin to occur on the fringes of human existence. Over these days in August, the characters the novel follows will each understand what is happening differently, and all face new struggles in their own lives.

The mother, ruler of an entire world Sent to the heart of an old enemy to build a new peace The daughter, officer of a deadly warship Sent to the darkness to find the new enemy hunting them all A dozen inhabited worlds of the Kanzi Theocracy and the A!Tol Imperium are ash. Millions of sentients of a dozen species are dead, including humans from the brand-new colonies built under the Imperium’s watch. Despite the losses, the strange Taljzi fanatics have been defeated—but everything suggests that more will be coming. The Empress of the A!Tol has resolved that the cold war between A!Tol and Kanzi must end. She sends Duchess Annette Bond to the heart of the Kanzi Theocracy to negotiate a new alliance. Elsewhere, Bond’s stepdaughter Morgan Casimir and the battleship Bellerophon are sent into the darkness beyond known space to see what they can learn about the Taljzi. As they uncover old secrets of new enemies and new secrets of old enemies the fate of humanity and five dozen other races hangs on the actions of mother and daughter alike!

The mother, ruler of an entire world Sent to the heart of an old enemy to build a new peace The daughter, officer of a deadly warship Sent to the darkness to find the new enemy hunting them all A dozen inhabited worlds of the Kanzi Theocracy and the A!Tol Imperium are ash. Millions of sentients of a dozen species are dead, including humans from the brand-new colonies built under the Imperium’s watch. Despite the losses, the strange Taljzi fanatics have been defeated—but everything suggests that more will be coming. The Empress of the A!Tol has resolved that the cold war between A!Tol and Kanzi must end. She sends Duchess Annette Bond to the heart of the Kanzi Theocracy to negotiate a new alliance. Elsewhere, Bond’s stepdaughter Morgan Casimir and the battleship Bellerophon are sent into the darkness beyond known space to see what they can learn about the Taljzi. As they uncover old secrets of new enemies and new secrets of old enemies the fate of humanity and five dozen other races hangs on the actions of mother and daughter alike!

On a world under alien occupation, Roslyn Chambers must use all the power, magical and otherwise, to keep innocents safe until Mars can return.

Alles beginnt, sogar das Ende, als Lajos von Lázár, das blonde Kind mit den wasserblauen Augen, zur Welt kommt. Seinem Vater, dem Baron, wird der Sohn nie geheuer sein, als ob er dessen Geheimnis ahnte. Mit Lajos' Geburt im Waldschloss bricht auch das 20. Jahrhundert an, das das alte Leben der Barone Lázár im südlichen Ungarn für immer verändern wird. Der Untergang des Habsburgerreichs berührt erst nur ihre Traditionen, aber alle spüren das Beben der Zeit, die schöne Mária ebenso wie der geisterhafte Onkel Imre. Als Lajos in den zwanziger Jahren sein Erbe antritt, scheint der alte Glanz noch einmal aufzublühen. Doch die Kinder Eva und Pista – der das Dunkle so liebt – müssen erleben, wie totalitäre Zeiten ihre wuchtigen Schatten werfen – und lernen, gegen sie zu bestehen.Ein Roman wie eine Welt, die überwältigende Saga einer Familie, getrieben von der Liebe und der Sehnsucht nach ihr, in den Strudeln des 20. Jahrhunderts. Fesselnd und berührend, zugleich voller Leichtigkeit, voller Träume und Geheimnisse, in denen sich die ganze Tragik und Schönheit der Existenz spiegelt. Und – ob angesichts historischer Katastrophen oder schöner Sommertage – die ewige Frage, wie man leben soll.

The mother, ruler of an entire world Sent to the heart of an old enemy to build a new peace The daughter, officer of a deadly warship Sent to the darkness to find the new enemy hunting them all A dozen inhabited worlds of the Kanzi Theocracy and the A!Tol Imperium are ash. Millions of sentients of a dozen species are dead, including humans from the brand-new colonies built under the Imperium’s watch. Despite the losses, the strange Taljzi fanatics have been defeated—but everything suggests that more will be coming. The Empress of the A!Tol has resolved that the cold war between A!Tol and Kanzi must end. She sends Duchess Annette Bond to the heart of the Kanzi Theocracy to negotiate a new alliance. Elsewhere, Bond’s stepdaughter Morgan Casimir and the battleship Bellerophon are sent into the darkness beyond known space to see what they can learn about the Taljzi. As they uncover old secrets of new enemies and new secrets of old enemies the fate of humanity and five dozen other races hangs on the actions of mother and daughter alike!

Alternate cover of ISBN 9781627792127 Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager A runaway with a privileged past A spy known as the Wraith A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

On a world under alien occupation, Roslyn Chambers must use all the power, magical and otherwise, to keep innocents safe until Mars can return.

After a year of hardship and conflict, Lorraine Adamant has finally come home to face her uncle, the Black Regent of Adamant!

A retired Mage with no plan An old friend with no hope A ship built on a daring dream Mage-Captain Ivan Halloway has retired from the Royal Martian Navy and the service of the Mage-King of Mars. He has returned to his homeworld to rest, but his only real plan is to avoid the war he sees coming to the Protectorate. Captain Karl Charpentier is his oldest friend—Captain and pilot of an interstellar jump-courier. Crewless and drowning in debt due to a series of mistakes, Karl turns to his newly unemployed friend with a desperate plan to solve all his problems. To save his friend’s ship and career, Ivan must help him take his courier into an illegal race through a deadly region of space—a race run by the very people Karl Charpentier owes money to. How could it possibly go wrong?

She’s supposed to find a husband. He’s supposed to steal a shuttle. They’re each other’s only hope. Kiera Alexander is the Mage-Queen of Mars, ruler of a hundred worlds and the protector of humanity. She is also unmarried and in desperate need of an heir—a duty that has left her traveling the Core Worlds of the Martian Protectorate aboard the luxury liner Extravagant Voyage. Her mission? Meeting every eligible bachelor Mage that can be found. Barry Carpentier’s only interest in the Queen’s traveling show is the strange shuttle hidden aboard Extravagant Voyage. The unique spacecraft, the smallest jump-capable ship he’s ever heard of, is worth a small fortune to the right buyer. Like the one sending him aboard Extravagant Voyage. A thief doesn’t want to meet the Mage-Queen of Mars—but when a thief accidentally inserts himself into galactic politics, neither of their lives will continue unchanged…

Secrets both ancient and new.Powers great and greater—With Terra caught in the middleHumanity’s first colony is a project neither the Duchy of Terra nor the A!Tol Imperium can allow to fail. The planet Hope in the Alpha Centauri system has been lavished with resources and attention—but when an unknown alien force attacks the system, all of that is in danger.An ancient alien artifact is the apparent target of the attack, an artifact older than known galactic civilization. Suddenly, the backwater colony of a second-rate power is the gathering point for a confrontation of the galaxy’s greatest powers.Duchess Annette Bond might be pregnant. She might be five light years away. She might have another galactic power on her doorstep demanding she surrender their rebels who’ve settled on Earth.But she speaks for both Terra and the Imperium—and the galaxy will listen.

Secrets both ancient and new.Powers great and greater—With Terra caught in the middleHumanity’s first colony is a project neither the Duchy of Terra nor the A!Tol Imperium can allow to fail. The planet Hope in the Alpha Centauri system has been lavished with resources and attention—but when an unknown alien force attacks the system, all of that is in danger.An ancient alien artifact is the apparent target of the attack, an artifact older than known galactic civilization. Suddenly, the backwater colony of a second-rate power is the gathering point for a confrontation of the galaxy’s greatest powers.Duchess Annette Bond might be pregnant. She might be five light years away. She might have another galactic power on her doorstep demanding she surrender their rebels who’ve settled on Earth.But she speaks for both Terra and the Imperium—and the galaxy will listen.

When Terra knelt to an alien ImperiumThey guaranteed our safety and our futureBut now their enemies are coming for usTo preserve humanity's survival and freedom in a hostile galaxy, Annette Bond tied her world to the A!Tol Imperium, taking on the mantle of Duchess of Terra to rule humanity in the Imperium's name.The A!Tol have provided technology, ships, and money to uplift the new Duchy of Terra, but those gifts come with strings attached. The Imperium has their own plan for Terra—but Bond has tricks of her own.With enough time, she can build Earth a place in the galaxy. But as Bond's many enemies gather their forces, the clouds of war threaten not only the recovering Terra but the entire Imperium.

When Terra knelt to an alien ImperiumThey guaranteed our safety and our futureBut now their enemies are coming for usTo preserve humanity's survival and freedom in a hostile galaxy, Annette Bond tied her world to the A!Tol Imperium, taking on the mantle of Duchess of Terra to rule humanity in the Imperium's name.The A!Tol have provided technology, ships, and money to uplift the new Duchy of Terra, but those gifts come with strings attached. The Imperium has their own plan for Terra—but Bond has tricks of her own.With enough time, she can build Earth a place in the galaxy. But as Bond's many enemies gather their forces, the clouds of war threaten not only the recovering Terra but the entire Imperium.

In an astonishing feat of narrative invention, our most ambitious novelist imagines an alternate version of American history. In 1940 Charles A. Lindbergh, heroic aviator and rabid isolationist, is elected President. Shortly thereafter, he negotiates a cordial "understanding" with Adolf Hitler, while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism. For one boy growing up in Newark, Lindbergh's election is the first in a series of ruptures that threatens to destroy his small, safe corner of America - and with it, his mother, his father, and his older brother. (back cover)