As well as the now established members of Babel Squad, there are a host of new faces to meet. Se-se has her own personal squad of elite Imperial Guards to get to know and, far more important and more frightening, her parents are desperate to spend time with their eldest child.
There is also Se-se's younger sister, herself battling for survival, and not sure where her place is in a suddenly changed universe.
At the end of Heir Non-Apparent, Se-se was still in the hospital and had not ventured into the Imperial Palace. When she does, the extravagance and sheer decedent insistence on the most expensive and best of everything stuns her. Rulers of planets are envious of the luxury afforded to the Imperial family, everything and anything is hers at whim, but for the one thing she wants the most. Revenge.
Thousands of innocents were murdered as an unknown adversary sent mercenaries after the Emperor's heirs, and even after Se-se returns to her true home the death toll only rises.
Just because she is now home, does not mean Se-se is safe, or that Babel Squad are ready to stand down.
Se-se used to know who she could trust and she could rely on people keeping to their word, but who can she trust when any one of the strangers falling over themselves to get her attention could be plotting her murder?
Se-se once thought that her guardians and Colonel Castleman were teaching her the skills to become an officer and fight for the Emperor, now she must use those skills for their intended purpose, to defend herself and her Empire, and no matter what she does there will have to be sacrifices.
Afterword:
Okay, that's the blurb done with. Now you have a tiny taste of what to expect, I can admit that I'm nervous about this one.
The setting for book 2 is different, there are a lot more characters to get to know and more intrigue between the action. I hope the pace isn't too much slower after the non-stop style of Heir Non-Apparent, but there were just too many loose ends left hanging for me to race blindly through it.
I want you, the reader, to have some answers and to get a taste of how drastically different Se-se's new existence is from her upbringing.
Just stick with it. I promise it gets a bit crazy in the latter half of the book, more like the action in book 1, and I hope you appreciate where I'm going during the action light sections.
Oh, and this book is quite a lot longer than the first, by about 15 thousand words, it may take a few sittings to complete.
And look out for a familiar sounding name. There's an Imperium in book 2 that you might have met if you know me from motorsport circles. 😉🏁
After Afterword:
And look out for a familiar sounding name. There's an Imperium in book 2 that you might have met if you know me from motorsport circles. 😉🏁
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