FREE as of October 8, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia
From the author of the amazon best selling Empire Rising series comes a new epic saga.
For over two millennia, humanity has lived under the unyielding peace of the Human Republic. Born from the ashes of a devastating revolt, the Republic vowed to prevent the nuclear holocaust of another interstellar war at any cost. Its inner core worlds—thirteen powerful colonies—maintain an iron grip over the thousands of outlying planets humanity has settled.
But peace has come at a price.
Two and a half thousand years of centralized rule, greed, and corruption have all but enslaved those who live outside the Republic’s inner core. For the citizens of these rim worlds, freedom is a distant dream—a relic buried in humanity’s past.
Yet what has been buried cannot be hidden forever.
For those who strive for these long lost ideals, they will soon discover what so many before them have learnt the hard way – freedom always comes at a cost.
For Second Lieutenant Caleb Hawthorne, the cost will be higher than he can imagine. When a secessionist movement arises, Caleb must choose between the navy he has dedicated his life to and his loyalty to family and homeworld. As the tyranny of his masters becomes clearer, there is only one choice. But can he learn the ways of war fast enough to make a difference? And can he throw off the ties that bind him to the Republic so easily?
Freedom, family, and love are powerful rallying cries, but can they inspire a people to accomplish what no one has done in nearly three thousand years— to forge a nation of their own?