Dave Trowbridge

Returned to supposed safety, Brandon finds himself fighting a battle of symbols, his only weapon his wits as he strives to win the allegiance of the navy in time to rescue his father, the Panarch . . . Rewritten with new material. In the third volume of Exordium, this swashbuckling space opera continues with Brandon and the Rifter crew of the Telvarna arriving at the Panarchic Navy's headquarters. The Rifters are imprisoned, and Brandon finds himself, as sole heir to the Phoenix Throne, fighting with courtly manners and wit as he strives against the powerful and sophisticated aristocrats who hide lethal intent behind urbanity and style. His goal is to win back control of the Navy and rescue his father from the vicious end planned for him by the usurping Doljharians, resulting in a race to the harsh planet of Gehenna, protected by a weird anomaly . . .

He wants only to rescue his father. But everyone wants a piece of him. The chase is on. Smith and Trowbridge describe the flavor of their five-book retro-futura space opera Exordium as a cross between early Star Wars and Dangerous Liaisons by way of the Three Stooges. With its fast-moving blend of humor and horror, of high-tech skiffy and the deep places of the human heart, Exordium launches the reader into a complex, multi-layered universe as Brandon nyr-Arkad, youngest son of the ruler of the Thousand Suns, abandons the life of Service planned for him and flees into the lawless Rift. In this revised sequel to The Phoenix in Flight, Brandon vlith-Arkad, is now heir to the Panarchy. He wants only to rescue his father, the Panarch. But everyone wants a piece of him. The Dol'jharians, who smashed the Panarchy and took his father prisoner. A Rifter pirate and her crew, who helped him escape a doomed planet-twice-and now wonder what to do about a royal prisoner with the price of ten planets on his head. And the remnants of the government of the Thousand Suns, for whom he'd at best be an inconvenience. And that's before things go seriously pear-shaped. The chase is on, and unexpected detours await. Book 2 in the Exordium series Book 2 in the Exordium series