Empire's Passing (Imperium Succession Saga) (Volume 1)

Empire's Passing is the first book in the Imperium Succession Saga, a series chronicling the struggles of the Landsman noble family of the planet New Meyer to come to terms with a new reality where, in order to survive, the very freedoms they're fighting for have become a hindrance. How much freedom and privacy do you give up for security?

In Empire's Passing,the Imperium, the interstellar empire that has kept peace for more than six hundred years, is under siege by the Goth Alliance. The Imperium's capital, Earth, is bombarded with asteroids from space. The Goths are led by the High Priestess of Nearyahn, a being whose mind merged with an alien Neary, giving her the power to control Humans' emotions and thoughts. Her tentacles of influence have spread across the dying Imperium. While New Meyer has developed new weapons technologies to withstand the military might of the Goth Alliance, it stands helpless to resist the nefarious Neary mind altering abilities. Duke Michael Landsman takes a desperate gamble to save New Meyer. He's faced with the choice of trying to defend his world or a long shot attempt to save the Imperium that makes New Meyer an even bigger target.

New Meyer is befriended by a billion-year-old race not willing to lose its investment in the expectation that someday Humans may join them in their discorporate existence. These Passimians give the Landsmans and a small number of allies Neary-like abilities to read and influence other people's thoughts, enabling them to detect and defeat Neary infiltrators who seek to undermine the Landsman family. However, as the New Meyerians will learn in subsequent books, sometimes the benefits of a new technology to solve a crisis may open a whole new set of issues, particularly when no instruction manual is provided. With the power to influence other people's thoughts comes the temptation to use it for one's own gain. As they struggle with the implications of their new abilities, the New Meyerians face the ultimate question: "What does it mean to be Human?" Empire's Passing sets the stage for the struggle to come in the Imperium Succession Saga, one of survival, not only of a race, but its identity.