The Game Beyond

A star-flung empire the prize—in a deadly war of succession

The Silvertree Empress is dead, the last of her line. The heir named in her will is an impossibility, her favorite, Keira Renault, member of a family deposed and disgraced generations before—the man she claimed as the power behind her throne. As the Empire's notables jockey for position behind the various claimants, Keira must defeat his rivals in simulation and reality—and somehow hold the factions together long enough for the Empire to survive.