the phoenix empire series vol. 1-4

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 This military SF/Galactic Empire series chronicles the rise of the Phoenix Empire out of the ashes of the defeated System States Alliance and spans hundreds of years. You’ll see the full range of human endeavors from strategic decisions made at the highest levels that affect millions of people right down to the individual men and women who do the fighting and sometimes dying for and against the Phoenix Empire. And in between are the military battles where admirals maneuver their fleets across a chessboard that spans thousands of light years. This is how empires sometimes rise…and fall. 

 This 108,000-word novel will appeal to fans of military SF, Galactic Empire and Space Opera genres. The collapse of the breakaway System States Alliance leaves the corrupt and rickety 800-year-old Federation victorious but nearly bankrupt. Among the military equipment it is forced to abandon on the planet Poictesme is the ultra-secret super-computer code named Merlin, that managed the strategic, tactical, logistical and administrative aspects of the interstellar war so well. The terrible secret it contains, that the Federation is now doomed to slowly slid into anarchy and chaos that will last for centuries, has to be kept secret to prevent an even faster and more violent collapse. But it also contains another secret. To avoid a new Dark Age, a new SSA must rise from the ashes of the old one. Can a few surviving SSA veterans find a way to make the Phoenix rise again?  

Here is what readers have said about other novels by Dietmar Arthur Wehr
1) 'The definition of a page turner.'
2) 'Great Military SF.'
3) 'Classic Space Opera done right.'
4) 'He paints on a broad canvas, with rich political themes, mind blowing futuristic warfare and brilliantly crafted characters."
5) 'The Master of High Technical Detail and Space Combat Tactics is at it Again!'
6) 'What a ride!' 

 Phoenix Rebirth continues the thrilling military SF series that started in Phoenix Dawn. With the results of the Battle For Earth still reverberating throughout human space, power players scramble to fill the new power vacuum. Earth has a new leader and a new vision, the autocratic Terran Imperium. The rebel vision of a new coalition of planets modeled after the democratic System States Alliance seems further away from realization than ever as Aren Bentrik’s former rebel comrades pursue their own dreams of glory. Bentrik still has his Merlin super-computer to guide him, but only a small power base with limited resources is available to exploit Merlin’s strategic moves. The Terran Imperium, on the other hand, has massive resources, and it has a Merlin-type super-computer too. All sides are building up their strength for the inevitable military showdown that will determine whether human civilization soars to new heights or comes crashing down into chaos and anarchy. 

 Twenty years have passed since the 2nd battle for Marduk. The System States Coalition, which now includes all Old Federation colonized planets, has become unwieldy and rigid. Powerful member states like the Terran Imperium are resorting to corporate warfare and commerce raiding (disguised as piracy) to sidestep the mutual defense clause that open warfare would activate. Regent Gail Foley-Bentrik, will have to face difficult decisions if there’s to be any hope of reversing the current slide down the slippery slope toward the new Dark Age. With tensions rising and the Coalition powder keg ready to explode at any moment, can she keep the multi-planet Kingdom of Marduk from being overwhelmed by the forces of chaos? 

 233 years have passed since the events in Phoenix Imperiled. The Empire has grown to include all the colonized planets that existed at the time of its birth. Over a hundred new colonies have been formed and make up the Rim. They  are still independent and resent attempts by Imperial Chartered Companies(ICCs) to exploit them economically. The ICCs have become powerful enough to be a potential threat to Emperor Sigismund Bentrik. His Merlin-type supercomputer is already predicting a slow decline for the Empire. But if Sigismund can't keep the ICCs in line, that decline will turn into a nosedive. What he doesn't know is that one of the ICCs has its own supercomputer and is asking itself the following question. If the Empire is sliding down a slippery slope leading to an abyss, why not give it a push? Can the Bentrik dynasty keep the dream of a peaceful empire alive? 

Interregnum: A period of time between the fall of one empire and the rise of another. This books contains 133,000 words.
 

Six centuries have passed since the action-packed events in Phoenix On Fire. The Phoenix Empire is now dead. The final coup de grace came in the form of fratricidal nuclear bombing of cities on scores of planets where many populations were almost literally bombed back to the Stone Age. But civilization continued to survive and advance after a fashion in the far-off cluster of worlds that were named after legendary swords. Their self-imposed isolation has ended and now the Sword Worlds are exploiting the chaos and anarchy of the dead Phoenix Empire by sending ‘Space Viking’ raiders to pick over the Empire’s corpse for whatever precious metals, jewels, art and any other thing of value they can find and steal. But not every empire planet is at the mercy of the raiders. Can the forces of Order prevail against the attack of the Sword World Raiders?

Everyone on Marduk, the former Capital of the Phoenix Empire, agrees that the Interregnum, the period between empires, has passed. Ambrose Bentrik has declared the Second Imperium, and it is slowly expanding throughout human-explored space. But this new ‘Phoenix’ Empire is fragile, and when Emperor Ambrose decides to ignore the recommendations of his Oracle supercomputer, the Second Imperium veers drastically off course.

Tyrel Krieger, a man with very special gifts, is a mid-level officer in the Imperial Navy. When the winds of revolution sweep through the Imperium, he must use those gifts, his wits and street smarts to navigate the political minefield he finds himself in. The purges that are gutting the Officer Corps are bad enough, but now the Imperium faces a new, external threat from a technologically more advanced and decidedly nasty enemy. If the overzealous guardians of the revolution don’t kill him, this new enemy just might. Even if he  survives the chaos, could one man push the shattered Imperium back on track? The harder question is, should he even try? This action-packed series follows his journey through hazardous times.