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I'm looking for the name of a series of space opera novels I read some time ago, probably between 2003 and 2010.

  • It may have been published quite a few years before I read it, I don't think it was new at the time.
  • I borrowed the novels from the local library, but I can't find them in its catalogue.
  • I think the covers were fairly dark and plain, though there may have been some artwork on them.
  • There was a totalitarian empire that controlled most planets, possibly ruled by a queen.
  • There was no mention of Earth, the solar system or other real planets, the setting was completely fictional.
  • There were people with psychic/psionic powers, referred to as something like "psi". These people were second-class citizens or slaves.
  • Spaceships were used to travel between worlds. I'm not sure what kind of FTL technology they had, if any.
  • Beyond the edge of the empire was some kind of "dark space", where there was no light.
  • There were some horror themes: When travelling in dark space in one of the novels, a ships crew experienced strange thoughts and hallucinations. I remember finding this quite scary at the time.

Does anyone know which series this could be?

This isn't a duplicate of this question, since the two questions are about different parts of the same series (the first and second episodes).

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  • Take a look at this guide to help jog your memory and edit any more details. Specifically things like when you read it, or where? Also, take a look at our tour to get a better understanding of our site and earn your first badge! – Edlothiad Mar 18 '17 at 15:27
  • I've already read the guide and provided all the details I can (including when I read it). – Choonster Mar 18 '17 at 18:04
  • Please don't take offence, it's just a stock comment I use for new Story ID questions :) – Edlothiad Mar 18 '17 at 18:08
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    Possible duplicate of Book centered around a labyrinth/maze – Otis Mar 19 '17 at 0:33
  • @Otis I would personally go the other way on this particular dupe. – Möoz Mar 23 '17 at 4:00
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You've summarised fairly accurately the background of the Deathstalker novels, by Simon R Green.

They're set in the far future; the empire of man is huge and old, ruled over by the Empress Lionstone. There's no mention of Earth that I can recall.

There are citizens with psi powers known as espers, who are treated as second class citizens at best; slaves at worst. There's also a zone of stars, extinguished in a long-ago war, called the Darkvoid; from where some nasty aliens appear to attack the Empire.

The first book in the series is Deathstalker. There are a total of five in the main series, another three in a trilogy that is set a couple of decades later, and three shorter, prequel novels , too.

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  • That looks like it, thanks. Your answer was slightly more detailed than Alith's, so I accepted it. – Choonster Mar 19 '17 at 0:34
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I'm not sure but this sounds like the Deathstslker series or the prequel novels Mistworld, Ghostworld and Hellworld.

These were written by Simon R Green with a wiki link here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathstalker_(series) Will try and add more details later today when I'm back at my computer but the elements you mention are all present from memory.

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  • That looks like it, thanks. – Choonster Mar 19 '17 at 0:34

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