On the planet Rhui, the Jaran tribes, under the leadership of Ilya Bakhtiian have ranged far in their campaign to subjugate all who will not willingly yield to their rule. Yet even as they prepare to besiege the royal city of Karkand, many another battle is being waged on a far more personal -- and perhaps a more important -- scale. For Ilya is married to Tess Soerensen, a woman born not on Rhui but on Earth, and a woman, too, who is the only heir to Charles Soerensen, leader of the failed rebellion against the alien Chapalii Empire and now a duke of that same Empire.
And Charles has come to Rhui for two reasons: to reclaim his sister, and to decipher long hidden and invaluable data about the Mushai, the legendary Chapalii who once led his own rebellion against the Empire.
But Tess has no desire to become anyone's puppet, and unless the three can make their own private peace and agree upon a common strategy for conquest, what hope do they have of overthrowing an Empire that was thriving before humans learned to walk erect?
And Charles has come to Rhui for two reasons: to reclaim his sister, and to decipher long hidden and invaluable data about the Mushai, the legendary Chapalii who once led his own rebellion against the Empire.
But Tess has no desire to become anyone's puppet, and unless the three can make their own private peace and agree upon a common strategy for conquest, what hope do they have of overthrowing an Empire that was thriving before humans learned to walk erect?
Really good series of books after the first novel. Although you don't have to read them if you read Jaran. Jaran ends good enough to not need follow up. The writing is fantastic. The first two books of The Sword of Heaven should actually be one. My only problem with the series is that it really isn't finished off. The Rebellion against the alien race is barely addressed by the end of the third book. It also doesn't touch enough on the alien race until the halfway point of the third book. It was very intriguing reading about them, but I felt sort of robbed. I just wanted more of that part. It doesn't take away form the books just my preference. Really interesting read and honestly quite profound in a lot of ways.
