Ada Palmer The Will to Battle

The year is 2454 . Three centuries of peace and a hard-won golden age have come to an abrupt end . The once steadfast leadership of the seven Hives is crumbling, soured by corruption and deception . Savagery and bloodlust, three-centuries suppressed, have been unleashed. The terrible truth is that centuries of peace were bought with a trickle of secret murders. The killings were mathematically planned, meticulously organised to preserve the balance – to ensure no faction could dominate. But now the secret is out , the balance has tipped, the Hives' utopian façade has slipped. Just days ago, humanity stood at the pinnacle of civilization. Now everyone – Hives and Hiveless, Utopians and sensayers, emperors and convicts, warriors and saints – is preparing for war .