Chris Bunch & Allan Cole - The Sten Chronicles

The Sten Chronicles are a series of eight military science fiction novels by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole published from 1982 to 1993.

The books follow Karl Sten, a young man born and raised on a dangerous factory world and saved from life as an outlaw by the head of Imperial Intelligence, Ian Mahoney. Mahoney takes Sten from the terrible world of his birth and enlists him in the military. Sten is thrust into a world of espionage, covert military actions, and galactic politics. His original training is in the super-secret covert ops group known as Mantis. The missions and actions taken are usually known only to a select few. However, a series of crucial missions ensures that Sten rises swiftly in rank until he becomes a troubleshooter and friend to the Emperor himself.

The series of eight books are set three thousand years in the future. A vast empire, limited only by the universe itself, is ruled by the Eternal Emperor, a man who appears to be in his thirties but is in fact thousands of years old. He has mastered death in a way no one has guessed since the beginning of his rule. The source of his power is a powerful fuel called Anti-Matter Two (AM2). It is what fuels everything from the star ships that link the Empire, to industrial factories, to camping heaters. Only he controls its supply and price. And only he knows where to find it. It is only for this reason that he is able to rule.

• 1. Sten—Sten joins a special ops team and causes the downfall of Vulcan
• 2. The Wolf Worlds—Sten's team overthrows a corrupt government
• 3. The Court of a Thousand Suns—Bodyguard Captain Sten foils a murder plot against the Emperor
• 4. Fleet of the Damned—Commander Sten fights the Tahn from space
• 5. Revenge of the Damned—POW Sten brings about the Tahn's downfall
• 6. The Return of the Emperor—Sten overthrows the Privy Council
• 7. Vortex—Ambassador Sten tries to bring peace to a planet
• 8. Empire's End —rebel Sten defeats the insane Eternal Emperor