Tsar Wars

by Stephen Goldin
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Publish Date: March 01, 2010
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Overview

With humanity scattered throughout the galaxy, the Empire is the only force for order across the stars. But the tsar's been in a coma for five years, and his grand-niece, the only apparent heir, is only 14 years old. The task of preserving the Empire now falls to two untrained--but far from unskilled--agents of the Imperial Special Investigation Service. Can they save the Empire from destruction?

Author Information

Stephen Goldin

STEPHEN GOLDIN was born in 1947 in the city of Philadelphia. When he was 13, his parents moved to California and, upon reflection, he decided to accompany them. It was a lucky thing he did, too; otherwise, when he went to college, the commute to UCLA would have been quite difficult. He eventually graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor's degree in Astronomy.

His first job out of college was as a civilian space scientist for the U.S. Navy. The urge to write was strong, though, and after several years he left to try writing full time. He only regretted the move every other Thursday, when he would have gotten paid.

After several years of genteel poverty, he took a job as writer/editor for a pornographic humor paper, the San Francisco Ball. In retrospect, this was a great crucible; because of deadline pressure, he had to learn to make his writing dirty, funny, and one draft.

At about this time, too, he began selling novels on a regular basis. While he has, from time to time, held down other full-time employment (he helped design the Star Trek: The Next Generation computer game "A Final Unity" for Spectrum HoloByte and has also written manuals and game design documents for Maxis), his real love is fiction writing and he continues to pursue it.

His first wife was fellow author Kathleen Sky. Their medieval-style wedding was a Saturday morning program item at the 1972 World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles. In the 10+ years of their marriage, in addition to their individual works, they collaborated on a pair of stories ("Painting the Roses Red" and "The Devil Behind the Leaves") about the diMedicis, a family of interstellar swindlers.They also co-authored the highly successful nonfiction book, The Business of Being a Writer, based on a class they had taught at California State University at Northridge.

Mr. Goldin's current wife is fellow author Mary Mason. Their wedding took place the night before EclectiCon 1 in Sacramento, at which Mr. Goldin was the Guest of Honor. They currently live in the San Francisco East Bay area. So far they have co-authored two books in the Rehumanization of Jade Darcy series: Jade Darcy and the Affair of Honor and Jade Darcy and the Zen Pirates. More books in this series are planned.

Mr. Goldin served SFWA for close to three years as editor of the SFWA Bulletin and another three years as SFWA's Western Regional Director.

Customer Reviews

9781452402109

Showing 1-3 of the 3 most recent reviews

1.Review from
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Posted May 26, 2011 by , Parkersburg, WV
2.Great read with a twist

Posted May 22, 2011 by Mark, Isle of Wight

About 30 years ago I read a set of books written by E. E. Doc Smith and Stephen Goldin - The Family D'Alembert series. Despite being a mere teenager, I thoroughly enjoyed them, and regularly re-read them when the mood strikes. Well, the author of those books (Stephen Goldin) has re-vamped, re-plotted, and re-issued them under the new series "Agents of ISIS", with Tsar Wars being the first in a series of ten.

So... to the book itself. It is a story set several centuries in the future, with mankind living in an Empire of around one thousand planets, rules by a Tsar. The government and politics of the Empire is based on a feudal system, which becomes quite involved. The system seems based loosely on a Russian system from many years ago, and there is a strong Russian influence throughout the novel. To the story itself... The current Tsar is ailing and ill, and his successor is a 14 year old girl. The evil scheming bad guys want to eliminate them both and step in to take over - something which could realistically happen due to the twists and turns of the plot and the rich tapestry it weaves. Bring on the two main hero characters - Judah and Eva, both from a high-gravity planet where generations of evolution (and genetic enhancements) have gifted them with almost super human strength and reflexes. Their goal is to keep the young Tsarina alive and on the throne during the turbulent times throughout the book.

Overall, the book is fast paced and exciting. It pretty much grips you from page one, and doesn't let go. You can tell there is a lot of background, but it does not overwhelm the reader. Again, there is a hint of the big and complex Universe which I expect will be revealed as the series continues. In all ways I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to to reading the next one.

So, to my final thoughts. This set of books, as mentioned, is based on an earlier series. However, here is the twist: The story and characters are significantly different. Overall the Universe seems a much darker place, with good and evil more thoroughly mixed up within all the characters. As a huge fan of the old series, I was initially unsure how I would feel reading the new one when the old characters are so ingrained in my being. However, the new characters are so engrossing and refreshing that you soon forget the differences and enjoy this book for what it is - a new story, with new characters, written with at least the same skill and excitement as the old ones. A fine example of this are the two main characters. In the old series they were somewhat smug and overconfident, as well as being squeaky clean and well behaved. In the new series, Judah comes over as slightly immature, foolish, and very naive. Eva on the other hand is cocksure and confident, and is a real party-girl who is out to the small-hours indulging her vices.

All in all, a great start to what I am sure will be a great series.
3.Review from
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Posted January 15, 2011 by , The United Kingdom