Scott Westerfeld, the acclaimed author of Fine Prey, Polymorph, and Evolution's Darling, follows The Risen Empire with the next thrilling space opera in Succession, the Killing of Worlds.

Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial frigate Lynx is a walking dead man. Unjustly held responsible for the death of the Child Empress, sister of the immortal Emperor, Zai has been sent to fight an unwinnable battle. The Lynx must stop a vastly superior Rix ship from reaching the planet Legis, a suicide mission that will almost certainly end in oblivion for Captain Zai and his crew.

On the planet Legis below, a Rix compound mind--a massive emergent AI formed from every computer on the planet--as been isolated by their Imperial blockade. But the mind has guided a lone Rix commando, Herd, to the planet's frozen north, and will soon order a desperate attempt to seize a polar communications array and break the blockade. Herd is a single warrior against an Imperial army, but moving silently behind her is the intelligence of an entire planet.

Ten light-years away, Captain Zai's true love, the psychic (some say mad) Senator Nara Oxham is engaged in a deadly game of political intrigue. From her position on the Emperor's War Council, Senator Oxham must find a way to forestall the Emperor's final solution if the blockade is broken: a nuclear strike to destroy the compound mind, which will also kill millions of Imperial citizens. She suspects that the Emperor has a hidden weakness discovered, by the mind, a secret so dangerous to his immortal dynasty that to prevent its discovery the Emperor is willing to countenance the ultimate crime. . . .

The killing of worlds.

With this powerful conclusion to the first story arc of Succession, Scott Westerfeld confirms his stature as one of the leading writers of high space opera.

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Praise for this book“The Risen Empire is proof that space opera can be as complex and sophisticated as any other form of literature.” —Mike Resnick


About the AuthorScott Westerfeld is a software designer, a composer of music for modern dance, and the author of novels such as The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds. He lives in New York City and Sydney, Australia.
Title: The Killing of Worlds : Book Two of Succession
Author(s): Scott Westerfeld
Volume: 2
ISBN: 9781429989947
Copyright 2008
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: mobi,ePub | Learn More about our supported formats
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