In this thrilling new installment in the Far Stars saga, a reluctant hero having a bloody past must reunite with a vintage love to battle an evil emperor ready to destroy almost all their worlds if he cannot control them.

When the Far Stars came below imperial attack, Astra Lucerne-the child and successor from the Considerably Stars’ greatest conqueror-Marshal Augustin Lucerne-rallied her father’s confederation forces to guard their worlds. They were joined in the fight by previous imperial general Arkarin about The Emperor’s Fist: A Blackhawk Novel Blackhawk, a warrior whose abilities and brutality produced him infamous, and who has, for two years, wanted the redemption he knows is unreachable.

Now, using the imperial foothold in the sector removed, the Far Stars is totally free and nearly united. While Astra’s pushes continue steadily to depose regional tyrants and warlords, Ark and his crew have slipped back into the shadows. Though his heart belongs to Astra, Ark cannot get too close. His imperial fitness remains under control, but it continues to be volatile, and the enticement of power threatens to unleash the dark compulsions that produced him one of the most merciless of the emperor’s servants. He cannot risk allowing Astra to start to see the darkness inside him.

But as the battle continues to be won, the battle may not be over. A petty smuggler makes a breakthrough that may enable the emperor to hit back again and crush the resistance-unless Ark and Astra join forces again to avoid him.