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Rites of Succession

Zoë Arete, Peter Minyas and their new son are travelling home when their space yacht goes terrifyingly out of control and their escort cannot save them. The apparent loss of lynch pins of the new and fragile detente with Sikulos threatens galactic stability, and the Archon’s refusal to declare his daughter dead and announce a new heir creates increasing problems at home.

While tensions spiral in the wider galaxy, a group of survivors on an abandoned planet begin to suspect that their crash was no accident. They set out on a journey of survival that will lead to some explosive secrets. On the co-dominion planet of Eirene, the Sikulan reformist Grigori Alexeivitch is left exposed and endangered by the loss of his allies and has to face some of his most difficult choices. In the meantime there is also suspicion about the role and motives of rich Thebes, which is openly unhappy about the changing galactic power balances.

The road to the truth will require unlikely alliances and reveal dark crimes and betrayals.

Rites of Succession is the third book in the Delos series, and there's more to come.