The first installment in the Far Star series, a swashbuckling space saga that introduces the daring pirate Blackhawk and the loyal crew of the Wolf’s Claw, from Jay Allan, the author of the bestselling Crimson Worlds saga.
Smuggler and mercenary Arkarin Blackhawk and the crew of the ship Wolf’s Claw are freelance adventurers who live on the fringe of human society in the Far Stars. A veteran fighter as deadly with a blade as he is with a gun, Blackhawk is a man haunted by a dark past. Even his cynicism cannot banish the guilt and pain that threaten his sanity.
Sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of his longtime friend Marshal Augustin Lucerne, Blackhawk and his crew find themselves drawn into one deadly fight after another. When the Wolf’s Claw is damaged, they are forced to land on a remote planet subsumed by civil war. Pulled unwittingly into the conflict, they uncover disturbing information about secret imperial involvement that could upset the plans of Lucerne.
For the Marshal is determined to forge a Far Stars Confederation powerful enough to eliminate all imperial influence and threats in the sector. He needs a skilled warrior like Blackhawk on his side, but the mercenary, plagued by dark memories from the past, refuses to join the cause. All too soon, though, he and his crew will have to take a stand.

SHADOW EMPIRE (Far Stars, 1)

Literature & Fiction

Allan, Jay

United States

The second book in Jay Allan's Far Star series, Enemy in the Dark, follows Blackhawk and the crew of the Wolf’s Claw as they are gradually--and unwillingly--drawn more deeply into Marshal Lucerne’s campaign to form a united power bloc in the Far Stars to resist imperial encroachment.
Successfully completing their mission to rescue Marshal Augustin Lucerne’s daughter, Astra, the crew of the Wolf’s Claw are enjoying some well-deserved rest—all, that is, except Blackhawk. The space gun for hire cannot escape Lucerne’s relentless pleas for help against growing imperial control in the Far Stars. While Blackhawk deeply respects his friend, he fears that the power Lucerne offers will lead him back to his old dark ways.
His resistance crumbles, however, when Lucerne presents evidence that the imperial governor has been manipulating the conflicts in the Far Stars. Convinced of the deadly danger of imperial domination, Blackhawk and his crew board the Wolf’s Claw once more and set out to gather intelligence on the Empire’s movements—the proof Lucerne needs to unite the fractured and feuding worlds of the Far Stars into single power bloc capable of resisting imperial aggression. But deep in the sparsely populated territory of the Far Stars, he discovers that the imperial governor’s machinations are far reaching—and threaten the independence of every world this side of the Void.
A man seemingly running from himself, Blackhawk is beginning to realize he can no longer remain a prisoner to his own past while the future of the Far Stars is in jeopardy.

Enemy in the Dark: Far Stars Book Two (Far Stars, 2)

Harper/Voyager

The battle for the unification and rule of the Far Stars Confederation will be decided in Jay Allan's exhilarating third and final book in the swashbuckling space saga, The Far Stars, begun with Shadow of Empire and Enemy in the Dark.
The Far Stars stands on the edge of a precipice. The forces of Governor Vos have surged forth, conquering worlds and imposing the emperor’s brutal rule over millions. Only one thing stands in the way of total victory: Marshal Augustin Lucerne and his newly created Confederation. Vos has a simple plan: assassinate the marshal, and manipulate his generals to fight over his legacy, destroying each other in the process.
But another threat lurks: Arkarin Blackhawk. The smuggler and mercenary has been the marshal’s ally, working in the shadows and unraveling Vos’ plans. The governor can only hope the mysterious adventurer continues to resist a formal position in the Confederation.
Or he can have Blackhawk assassinated, too.
Because with Blackhawk succeeding Lucerne, the black and gold imperial flags will be stained red with blood. For his is a dark and dangerous past, and if he is put at the helm of the Confederation armies, the brutal imperial general he once had been may rise once again.
The Far Stars are facing the final battle. The Imperials seem unstoppable. But if Blackhawk somehow survives—and can come to grips with the horror deep within him—he just might be able to save the Far Stars from the iron hand of empire.

Funeral Games: Far Stars Book Three (Far Stars, 3)

In Flames of Rebellion, a group of rebels fighting for independence sows the seeds of revolution across the galaxy in this blockbuster military sci-fi adventure from Jay Allan, the author of the Crimson Worlds and Far Stars series.
The planet Haven slides closer to revolution against its parent nation, Federal America. Everett Wells, the fair-minded planetary governor, has tried to create a peaceful resolution, but his failure has caused the government to send Asha Stanton, a ruthless federal operative, to quell the insurgency.
Wells quickly realizes that Stanton has the true power . . . and two battalions of government security troops—specifically trained to put down unrest—under her control. Unlike Wells, Stanton is prepared to resort to extreme methods to break the back of the gathering rebellion, including unleashing Colonel Robert Semmes, the psychopathic commander of her soldiers, on the Havenites.
But the people of Haven have their own ideas. They are not the beaten-down masses of Earth, but men and women with the courage and fortitude to tame a new world.
Damian Ward is such a resident of Haven, a retired veteran and decorated war hero, who has watched events on his adopted world with growing apprehension. He sympathizes with the revolutionaries, his friends and neighbors, but he is loath to rebel against the flag he fought to defend. That is, until Stanton’s reign of terror intrudes into his life—and threatens those he knows and loves. Then he does what he must, rallying Haven’s other veterans and leading them to the aid of the revolutionaries.
Yet the battle-scarred warrior knows that even if Haven’s freedom fighters defeat the federalists, the rebellion is far from over . . . it’s only just begun.

Flames of Rebellion (Flames of Rebellion, 1)

The battle for freedom begun in Flames of Rebellion continues in this action-packed military science fiction tale from the author of the Crimson Worlds and Far Stars Confederation series.
Damian Ward thought he was done fighting. But the retired veteran and war hero is now leading the revolution against the oppressive Federal America—a bloody battle for the future of his adopted planet that will cost brave rebel lives. But failure means living under the yoke of tyranny—a price Ward and the people of Haven refuse to pay.
Federal America cannot allow Haven to break away. If rebellion is successful on one colony, it will spread, and threaten the flow of wealth and raw materials the government needs. With its superior troops and weaponry, it will crush the traitorous rebellion, and retain the empire’s standing and power.
The colonists have won the first battle, and driven the government forces from the planet. But the Federals are by no means defeated. For just months after the brutal Colonel Semmes and his defeated troops return to Earth, a new force is gathering, larger, better-equipped, and augmented with front line units, veterans of the last war, ready to take back the planet and end the threat of rebellion once and for all.

REBELLIONS FURY (Flames of Rebellion, 2)

In this thrilling new installment in the Far Stars saga, a reluctant hero with a bloody past must reunite with an old love to battle an evil emperor willing to destroy all their worlds if he cannot control them. When the Far Stars came under imperial attack, Astra Lucerne—the daughter and successor of the Far Stars’ greatest conqueror—Marshal Augustin Lucerne—rallied her father’s confederation forces to defend their worlds. They were joined in the fight by former imperial general Arkarin Blackhawk, a warrior whose skills and brutality made him infamous, and who has, for two decades, sought the redemption he knows is unreachable. 
Now, with the imperial foothold in the sector eliminated, the Far Stars is free and almost united. While Astra’s forces continue to depose local tyrants and warlords, Ark and his crew have slipped back into the shadows. Though his heart belongs to Astra, Ark cannot get too close. His imperial conditioning remains under control, but it is still volatile, and the temptation of power threatens to unleash the dark compulsions that made him the most merciless of the emperor’s servants. He cannot risk allowing Astra to see the darkness inside him.
But while the battle has been won, the war may not be over. A petty smuggler makes a discovery that can enable the emperor to strike back and crush the resistance—unless Ark and Astra join forces again to stop him.

EMPERORS FIST (Far Stars, 4)

Erik Cain joined the Marines to get off death row. The deal wassimple; enlist to fight in space and he would be pardoned for all hiscrimes.

Marines: Crimson Worlds 1

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

System 7 Publishing

Book Two of Jay Allan's Bestselling Crimson Worlds Series (over 1,000,000 sold)...The Third Frontier War is raging, and all across human-occupied space worlds are burning. Massive fleets struggle for dominance and kilometer-long war shipsexchange thermonuclear barrages.Battered in the early years of the war, the Western Alliance is resurgent. The brilliant Admiral Augustus Garret leads the Alliance fleet from victory to victory, taking the war to the very heart of the enemy empires. And on the ground, Colonel Erik Cain, hero ofthe Marine Corps, leads his crack troops again into combat, seeking the final battle. But war is the province of more than soldiers in theline, and in the background, the secretive intelligence agencies of thedespotic Superpowers plot and scheme, using their own soldiers as pawns in the great game for control of space. The final battle will be fought in the reddish sands of a backwater world,where the rivalries of the Superpowers are about to become irrelevant, overshadowed by a staggering secret that has lain hidden in a remote cave for untold centuries.All the Powers struggle for the ultimate victory, but at what cost?The Cost of Victory is the second book in the Crimson Worlds series and the direct sequel to Marines.The Crimson Worlds Series (Reading Order)Book 1: MarinesBook 2: The Cost of VictoryBook 3: A Little RebellionBook 4: The First ImperiumBook 5: The Line Must HoldBook 6: To Hell's HeartBook 7: The Shadow LegionsBook 8: Even Legends DieBook 9: The Fall

The Cost of Victory: Crimson Worlds

Crimson Worlds Book III The Third Frontier War is over, and the Western Alliance is triumphant. All across human-occupied space, colony worlds celebrate the coming of peace. But peace is an elusive dream, and more trouble is brewing. The war was expensive, and the economies of the Superpowers, always fragile, are on the verge of total collapse. The Directorate, the shadowy intelligence organization that has become the true power behind the Alliance government, plans to strip the colonies bare to pay the costs of war. Already, they are tightening their control over the freewheeling colonial governments. And the Marine Corps faces total destruction at the hands of the worst traitor in its history. But the colonists are a different breed than the passive mob on Earth, and they have no intention of meekly surrendering their hard won freedoms. On worlds all across the frontier, plans are hatched and weapons hoarded. And in taverns and meeting halls the words of an ancient text are uttered in hushed tones. A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. The Crimson Worlds Series: Marines (Crimson Worlds I) The Cost of Victory (Crimson Worlds II) A Little Rebellion (Crimson Worlds III) Coming March 2013 The First Imperium (Crimson Worlds IV)

A Little Rebellion: Crimson Worlds III

Book 4 of the bestselling Crimson Worlds series... The Alliance and its colonies have called a truce and signed the Confederation Agreement, providing the frontier worlds with guarantees of self-government. No one expects the deal to last, and both sides are preparing for the next showdown. But from the depths of space another challenge is coming, one that will endanger the very survival of mankind and force not just the Alliance and its colonies, but all of the Superpowers, to join forces or face annihilation. The dusty ruins the Alliance discovered on Epsilon Eridani IV were built by an ancient race, eons dead. But their guardians remain, and the disturbance of the long silent cave triggered an automated alert, one which has been heard. Erik Cain and his Marines grimly take to the field once again, for what may be their final battle, against the robotic legions of the First Imperium. But facing a ruthless and technologically superior enemy may be easier than learning to fight alongside old enemies.

The First Imperium: Crimson Worlds IV

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