It was just possible, Laurent Zai allowed himself to think, that they would get home.

The captain nodded to the first pilot, and weight gradually returned, pressing him into the shipmaster’s chair as the frigate accelerated.

The Lynx moved toward battle.

Tor Books by Scott Westerfeld

The Killing of Worlds

The Risen Empire

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE RISEN EMPIRE

Copyright © 2003 by Scott Westerfeld

A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Westerfeld, Scott.

The risen empire / Scott Westerfeld.

p. cm.—(Succession; bk. 1)

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

ISBN: 978-1-4299-8978-7

Hostages—Fiction. 2. Immortalism—Fiction. 3. Imperialism—Fiction.4. Life on other planets—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3573.E854 R5 2003

813'.54—dc21

2002042952