Empire’s rift
by STEVE RZASA
The Naplian Empire's war of expansion against the Grand Alliance has taken a turn for the worse.
With vital serjaum fuel reserves wiped out by a surprise attack, Admiral Daviont of the III Corps makes a long, desperate journey to the fringes of Terran space for a massive undeveloped source of serjaum - the Baedecker Star System. But his action does not go unnoticed. Their mortal enemies, the Briddarri, send their own task force to intercept.
At Baedecker Four, starfighter pilot and governor's son Taggart “Tag” Wester has his hands full steering clear of his wing commander's wrath. When an emergency call unearths a dangerous foe from the past, he's put to a test unlike any he's ever faced. The time for bucking the rules and chasing the horizon has come to an end.
Elden Selva is on a mission to restore the defeated Northern Alliance by retrieving the remains of Truppen cybernetic soldiers. His father's legacy as a leader in the Consular Wars compels him to rebuild the armies of the Northern Alliance and raise the bloody flag of rebellion once again, but his affection for a woman from his past complicates his task. What he finds on the dusty plains of Baedecker Four is far more than he anticipated, and the ensuing conflict changes both him and the woman he loves.
The last Truppen soldiers of the Northern Alliance await reactivation in the cold silence of space, and their release will trigger a new kind of conflict.
The invaders and defenders collide in a struggle that will have dire consequences for the entire galaxy Empires clash, and kingdoms will fall. Heroes will rise and nightmares will be unleashed.
It all begins at Baedecker.
Unleash your inner cyber!
The audio book
The Emperors’ War
Reviews
Sci-Fi at its best. A really good Sci-Fi book that has a lot of twists and turns that has surprises around every corner. Steve Rzasa weaves a tale set in a vast universe full of many empires and races that all have their own objectives and intentions. They are all drawn to a small Terran outpost by a conflict far away. What the find when they get there is a race that is not keen to give up their world. What they unleash on the universe is something else entirely. Classical Sci-Fi full of intrigue, lost love, space battles, and much more.
The book is based on the long running game Takamo and is the first book in the series.
Discover a new galaxy, where cybernetics have changed the course of history for all who inhabit it. A rousing good story filled with grade-A Scifi elements. Every SF lover's dream.
Just finished EMPIRE’S RIFT, a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure. The space combat is believable and exciting, the characters sympathetic, and the politics engrossing. Lt. Tad grows from a callow and rash pilot to a empathetic character, and several characters are literally transformed. Author Steve Rzasa creates a host of interplanetary forces, each with its own motives and schemes. There is, of course, a love story, too. This book introduced me to the Takamo Universe, and I am already reading more.
The thing about good books is that you never want them to end. If this book was double or triple in length, I would not be mad.
An excellent science fiction novel. A lot of conflict, action and cybernetics included in this book. Can't wait for the next book to come out.
If you like your sci-fi on the space opera side, this is a read for you. The pace is more reminiscent of E.E. Doc Smith and Heinlein than of some more modern writers. From the get-go it starts and brings any backstory into the narrative in a logical progression. While the story is an ensemble of different characters, there are not so many that you have to keep backing up trying to keep up with them. All in all, a good read!
Razsa captures all the feels from the Stackpole/Allston X-wing series from the Star Wars novels and I felt this was a great introduction to the Takamo Universe. I didn't know much about the universe at first (and the opening story confused me at first since the characters were aliens, I wasn't yet familiar with, but it clarified at the mid-point and by the end of the story I felt I had a handle on the political dynamics of this sector.)
I see that this is part of a larger literary universe that has been around for a while. Perhaps I'll need to check out the larger body of work.
