Heart of the Black Sun — Matthew Thomas

Deep in the heart of space, an experiment, the Big Bang in reverse. The upstart Terrans of Earth use this new weapon of war to threaten to take down a Galactic Empire over ten thousand years old. But they have another weapon: The Church of the Rising Sun. The Empire stands no chance, but for two unlikely people; the leader of the resistance, codenamed JEAN, and Thomas Chance, a rogue Terran.