"Simon R. Green - Deathstalker - 2 - Deathstalker Rebellion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

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Deathstalker Rebellion by
Simon R. Green
PROLOGUE
In the beginning was the Empire, and all was well. It was the great adventure of
humanity, springing out from its homeworld, pressing on into the endless dark in
search of new worlds and wonders. It was a time of heroes and marvelous deeds,
as humanity spread from world to world, and the frontier pressed remorselessly
outward. A thousand worlds, with a thousand civilizations, blazing so brightly
against the dark. The Empire.

It took four hundred years for the rot to set in.

Parliament became corrupt, the Company of Lords grew increasingly powerful on
the profits from plundered worlds, and the Emperor ruled over all with an iron fist
from his Iron Throne. Technology produced human clones and espers, declared
them nothing but property, and institutionalized slavery. It was still a great
Empire, but only if you were rich, or of noble birth, or had connections in the right
places. Everyone else worked hard, kept their heads down, and tried not to be
noticed.

And so it went for nine hundred years.


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By the time of Owen Deathstalker, the Empire was ripe for rebellion. Owen never
wanted to be a hero. Despite his Family's martial history, he always saw himself
as a scholar rather than a warrior. But when the Empress Lionstone XIV had him
outlawed and put a price on his head that had his own people scrabbling to kill
him, he had no choice but to run for his life and reluctantly grasp his destiny. He
fell in with fellow outlaw Hazel d'Ark, pirate, bon vivant and ex-clonelegger, and
together they fled to the rebel planet Mistworld, where they encountered Jack
Random, the legendary professional rebel, Ruby Journey, the female bounty
hunter, and Tobias Moon, an augmented man from lost Haden. Together they