A Tyrant in the East: Book One of The Gods of Men

Nyandera and Ghy, two young nobles from the vassal kingdom of Nydhia, arrive in Za’ar, capital of the Saspian Empire, to pursue studies in engineering and medicine. Lord Vasto, Ghy’s father, isn’t pleased. He has long served as ambassador in Za’ar, and doesn’t want his son exposed to the Saspians’ corruption and cruelty, nor to the political unrest brewing among them.

Ghy falls in with fellow medical student Irrian Taz, heir to one of the empire’s great fortunes. Irrian only wants to be a surgeon for access to the narcotic beetles that are the centerpiece of his world of high-class debauchery, which Ghy quickly embraces. Dabbling in powerful strains, he begins to develop unusual and even inexplicable symptoms.

Meanwhile, as the political situation deteriorates, Vasto plans to get his son out of the country. Using his contacts in the capital’s underworld, he begins to piece together how Irrian’s father, the sinister Senator Taz, has plotted to divide the empire and elevate a tyrant in the East.

But a grisly murder and the outbreak of civil war leave it up to Nyandera, and her alone, to get the two young Nydhians home alive.