The Seven Fractions

The year is 12,068 A.D., and the long peace of King Steven McLongbrad is about to shatter. For two millennia, the Sickle Blood-a lethal genetic inheritance-has kept the Seven Fractions in a fragile state of order. But the ancient Seal Commandment is weakening, and the throne requires more than just diplomacy to survive. As Steven seeks to unify the warring houses through a final political marriage to the ethereal Birdren queen, Otellerwith, a shadow falls across the moon. The Darklings have returned. Descendants of a sabotaged Dyson Sphere mission, these dual-gendered survivors have spent four thousand years evolving in the cold vacuum of space, driven by a hunger for the energy that abandoned them. They don't just want recognition; they want the Earth. But a far greater judge looms in the deep cosmos. The Returners-the original architects of human DNA-have arrived to purge a 'failed' experiment. To save his people, Steven must pilot a colossal mechanical Titan, merging his very soul with ancient technology to face an enemy that rewrites reality itself. In a saga of cosmic proportions, the King must decide: will he preserve the purity of the royal blood, or sacrifice everything to unite the Seven Fractions against extinction? Raymond Bradley delivers a breathtaking epic of ancient science, royal intrigue, and planetary defense.