The Court of a Thousand Suns

Set three thousand years in the future, the story of Sten is the life and times of a most unusual hero, told in eight volumes. The series has sold more than two million copies, making the books consistent best sellers both in the United States and abroad, and has been hailed by critics as a "landmark science fiction series."

Sten had fought his way up from slave laborer on a factory world to commander of the Eternal Emperor's bodyguard, the Imperial Gurkhas. But during the first three months on Prime World, the most dangerous weapons Sten encountered were the well-phrased lies of Court politicians. It seemed no place for an honest fighting man.

Then a bomb turned a spaceport bar and three strangers into scraps and well-mixed hamburger. The clues said "plot" and pointed right to the imperial staff. Only quick – and bloody – work by Sten, Alex Kilgour, and a tough female detective would keep the Empire together and the Eternal Emperor alive.