.

There are more than a thousand ways to kill someone, and Hali knows them all. Bound her entire life to a powerful Assassins’ Guild, she has to do one last job before she can get out of her contract. For the first time, she will be free! But suddenly nothing is going to the way she planned, and she might just be the one who ends up dead!

Mike wants nothing more than to quit his job and escape to Concordia University as a history professor. Unfortunately, he was born into his job, for Mike is Emperor Darius Michael Roald Barantas, IV, Kith of Samsula, Prior of the Universal Tree, Lord Head of House Barantas, Ruler of a Hundred Worlds, and Emperor of all Proxima, a weighty title and one not lightly cast aside. But one way he could get out of it would be to die…

Julian, Lord Desmond of the Proxima Empire, lives with secrets that could get him killed, and because of this, there are very few people he can trust. Mike is one of the few who can call this vampire a friend, but how far will friendship go with an empire at stake and a fist-full of heirs fighting over the title?

Electing a new emperor is a serious business, a time of diplomatic maneuvering and treachery. Some will rise, others will fall, but when such decisions are being made, no one dares to stay away, even though getting involved could cost them their life!

So many heirs to the empire. Which one will be elected?
Which one is Hali supposed to kill?
And what about the cat?

Available in both paper and eBook from: Amazon, Smashwords, and other online book dealers:
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Heirs-Empire-JM-Bolton-ebook/dp/B00ECGV0O8
SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1136861

Science Fiction – 291 pages
Published 2021 – International Digital Book Publishing Industries

Notes about HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE

Someone asked me how I came to write this book. It was a process, and it took quite a while. First I had an idea — what would happen if we had a vampire born in space … someplace where there is no native earth? Would all the old rules hold? What about sunlight? I mean, the Sun is a star, right? And space, one would assume, is full of starlight … or is it? Would he burst into flame? Is it our Sun’s ultraviolet radiation vampires can’t stand? Or is it just light. So what is light anyway? We know it’s a reaction via optic nerves to waves from the Sun or some other source. So, why is artificial light not dangerous to a vampire?

Hmmm … so okay, this is what happens when a scientist gets a hold of an old myth and attempts to apply some scientific logic.

So, what would happen to a vampire born in space? Well, the vampire in this book gets involved in intergalactic politics, befriending an Emperor-to-be, and hooking up with a small, seemingly fragile female human who turns out to be a highly skilled member of the Assassin’s Guild.

HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE grew from this one seemingly insignificant hypothesis and took on layer after layer as the characters emerged and claimed their place in the story.

• In a time of peace, a general decides to start a war.
• An assassin is hired to fail to kill a Prince who, instead of being a model of rectitude is so twisted and evil you can only wish him dead. Hired to fail? Yes, that’s right. Read the book!
• And Julian, our vampire, is searching not only for others of his kind but the secret of his death if that makes any sense. But this story isn’t about his search (although a future one might be …). This story is about the events that get Julian tangled up in the affairs of his friends.

HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE is about treachery, double-cross, assassination (more or less), and romance. Julian, a vampire born in space (no native earth) finds his special identity has been betrayed to some people who are trying to take over the Proxima Empire. At the same time, everyone’s tripping over an assassin who is trying to complete her last assignment so she can buy her freedom from the powerful assassins’ guild. Now add a dying (or not) Emperor, a psychotic killer, who may or may not be heir to the empire, a historian intent on recording it all, and you have an interesting mix. Alliances are formed and then betrayed as each of the characters in this drama seeks to fulfill their own agenda.

HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE contains some of my favorite characters … there are adventures and romance.  And it’s a good read.

Oh, and there’s a cat …

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!!!
Write to me at jmbolton.author@gmail.com

August 8, 2021 – I had been using the title HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE for a number of years when suddenly there is a Star Wars novel with the same title (without an S)! After months of deliberation I realized I had to change my title, and so the story became PROXIMA EMPIRE-Book One. A couple of months after that I gave in. My original title (I had it first!) fit the story best and so I changed the name of the  book once again … for the last time!! It is again HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE.