Emperor of Dawn — Steve White

THE EMPIRE WAS DOOMED--
AND ONLY AN ANCIENT LEGEND COULD
SAVE IT
Basil Castellan, centuries after his doomed struggle against the New Humans to preserve the Empire, had become a mythic figure and his legend insisted that when the Galaxy was again in danger, he would return to restore justice and freedom and once again rule the Empire. Of course, that was only a legend--but it held a kernel of truth whose nature no human had even guessed....

Now another Empire was in danger, with a weak and cowardly sybarite on the throne, and rebellion rising in outlying regions of the Galaxy and on Earth itself. Then the Emperor was assassinated, and General Ivar Brady-Schiovana was forced to declare himself Emperor, and restore order with the help of his sons and daughter, who--with one exception--were courageous born leaders.

But that one exception might bring all to naught, for Ivar's eldest son, Teodor, presumptive heir to the throne, was not only a coward (though one with a lust for power) but was also easily manipulated by devious sycophants into plots that verged on outright treason. If Teodor became Emperor, the galaxy would again be plunged into darkness.

Still, there was hope. And it arrived in the persons of two men and a woman. Long ago, a similar trio, one of them the legendary Basil Castellan, had fought for the Empire against its enemies. These three were not, could not be the same legendary heroes. But the resemblance went far beyond mere coincidence....