Last time, I ended with, “But that’s another story, for next time.”

And here we are, so…

I was always fascinated by the way empires fall. Gibbons’ tale of the Roman Empire and Asimov’s Foundation series (inspired by Rome’s collapse) sparked my interest. In older days, the empires of Rome, China, Persia, Egypt, Huns, Mongols, Incas, and many others, collapsed. They fell to invasion, economic failure, or internal rifts. In more recent times the empires of Austria-Hungary, Nazi Germany, Japan, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union also vanished.

But new empires rise from the ashes before themselves falling.

Consider Egypt

Alexander the Great defeated “Ancient Egypt”; his empire fell to internal rifts; the new Egyptian empire rising from those ashes fell to Rome, whose Eastern Empire including Egypt itself fell to Moslem invasion.

Many sci-fi authors have dealt with the theme: Asimov’s Foundation, Herberts’ Dune, Lucas’ Star Wars, and others. I wanted to consider the ongoing cycle of rise and fall. That meant addressing a series of empires covering centuries, perhaps millennia, of human space colonization and expansion into the unknown.

A series of empires requires a series of adventures set in each cycle. Rather than run out of steam halfway through, I’ve held back publishing the early stories until their sequels were mapped out and at least in their first draft. I’m close to launching the first in series – watch this space! (Pun intended.)

Meanwhile, for the reviewers among you…

Here’s a batch of books offered free for reviewers during September 2020: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/TEiSWBJ

Enjoy!