Fall from Grace
Sarna News
| Fall from Grace | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Novel |
| Author | Chris Hartford |
| Pages | 205 |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| First published | 15 October—19 December 2008 |
| Content | |
| Era | Star League era |
| Timeline | 9 July 2571—9 April 2617 |
Fall from Grace is a novel by Chris Hartford that was published online on BattleCorps in 2008 as a ten-part serial.
Previously, in 2007, a German translation of an earlier revision had been published as a print novel with some differences (see In Ungnade).
Contents
Plot summary
The novel describes Rhean Marik's tragic struggle as Captain-General of the Free Worlds League.
Part 1
- published on 15 October 2008
| “ | “It was the dawn of a new era of humanity, the establishment of the first Star League. Through years of preparation and sacrifice, the leaders of the major human powers had come to together under one government. Changes were sweeping throughout known space, bringing unknown challenges to the next generation.” | ” |
Plot Summary
Rhean Marik (age three) is present at the gala ceremony on Terra celebrating the creation of the Star League. While Albert and Marion Marik discuss the problems of keeping the six member states together in the alliance, Rhean tells Archon Viola Steiner that she wants to be a Warhammer when she grows up.
At age six, Rhean is present on Atreus when Ian Cameron's Pollux Proclamation triggers the Reunification War. While Captain-General Marion Marik is worried by this development, young Rhean only fears that she's too young, and will miss all the fighting.
In her teens, under assumed name of Frieda Moran, Rhean attends classes at the Princefield Military Academy on Oriente. The heirs of noble families run roughshod over the children of wealthy merchants as the pecking order sorts out, and (being undercover as a merchant scion) Rhean repeatedly clashes with Lambert Allison, grandson of the Duke of Oriente, as she refuses to comport herself as his inferior.
Part 2
- published on 22 October 2008
| “ | Part Two takes us through Frieda's journey at Princeton, amid the back drop of the growing Reunification War. Come with us and see if Lambert Allison gets his in the end. | ” |
Plot summary
In 2581, while Rhean spends the holidays with friends at a Swiss chalet, she receives news that her uncle David died in a car accident, placing her in the direct line of succession for the Captain-Generalcy of the Free Worlds League. Her father, Brion Marik, decides to allow her to continue to attend Princefield as "Frieda Moran," albeit with a bodyguard, Evangeline.
In 2584, Evangeline rescues Rhean when a drunken Lambert Allison attempts to assault her in the Princefield showers.
In 2586, Rhean gets revenge on Lambert by humiliating him in a pre-graduation infantry combat exercise, beating him out for top honors. At the graduation ceremony, her father reveals her true identity.
Part 3
- published on 29 October 2008
| “ | Rhean Marik soon discovers that the political landscape of Princeton, was pale imitation of the one she would face in life. And then there was Canopus... | ” |
Plot summary
In 2588, Rhean is a newly commissioned Lieutenant in the 1st Free Worlds Guards. At the controls of a Guillotine, she takes part in the joint Capellan-League task force dispatched to Wisconsin to destroy Shepperton's Freebooters - a renegade Capellan unit that had turned to piracy. When a dispute over the custody of the defeated pirates erupts between Colonel Appleton of the First Guards and Colonel Sheng of Cheng's Chasseurs, Rhean intervenes, playing on her relationship with "Auntie Ursula" to prevent her prisoners from being sent to Sian for execution.
In 2591, Rhean visits her Princefield friend, Madeline, on Terra, where she has just given birth to a son. Recently promoted to Captain, Rhean has been beset with requests for support from new "friends." During the visit, she receives word that her aunt Therese Marik-Liao died in a car accident, along with her unborn daughter. Captain-General Marion Marik tells Rhean that the auto-drive computer in Therese's car failed, causing the crash. However, Rhean recalls that Therese distrusted auto-drive systems, and preferred to drive herself. She is disturbed by the implications.
In 2593, Rhean begins an assignment to the staff of Duchess Melissa Humphreys, the Star League governor of the occupied Canopian territories. Other members of Humphreys' staff include chief economist Huw Ragnarsson, and Martin Demianchuk, representing Magestrix-Emeritus Crystalla Centrella. After a brief discussion of the ongoing Reunification War and Star League politics, they are joined by Magestrix-designate Rinalla Centrella, who shocks strait-laced Rhean.
Part 4
- published on 6 November 2008
| “ | Being the heir to the Captain-Generalcy is not without its trials and tribulations. Rhean Marik must learn to navigate the inner workings of the Star League now, before she is thrust deep into the fires of running her nation. Fortunately she is a shark at pool. | ” |
Plot Summary
In 2598, Rhean has returned to her staff officer position on Canopus IV after attending the funeral of Captain-General Marion Marik, which elevated her father, Brion, to the role. Rhean's bodyguard since her Princefield days, Evangeline, has gotten married to a Hegemony Armed Forces officer and is now on maternity leave, so she's been replaced by Annelise Corbin, an SLDF infantry officer of Davion heritage. During an outing with four year-old Carla Centrella (the Magestrix-designate), Canopian security guards reveal their rebel sympathies and attempt to take Rhean hostage. The attempt is foiled, thanks to Annelise, and Magestrix Rinalla Centrella calls for an end to the insurgency, noting that Canopus has never achieved its goals through violence.
In 2600, Rhean attends a session of the Star League Council, and meets several other Great House leaders: First Lord Ian Cameron; First Prince Alexander Davion and his great-grandson, Zane; Coordinator Leonard Kurita; and Archon Kevin Steiner-Dinesen. Zane, Kevin, Rhean and Rinalla form a "kids clique" and go afterwards to Cavanaugh's - a Unity City bar run by House Cameron, where the Star League elites can go to be themselves. While shooting pool with Kevin, Rhean is introduced to Lydia Peterson-Cameron, and her bodyguard, Tanya Kerensky.
Part 5
- published on 12 November 2008
| “ | The Golden Century, a time of the greatest peace and prosperity of the Star League. All was perfect and everyone was at peace... Yeah right, convince Tanya Kerensky of that. | ” |
Part 6
- published on 19 November 2008
| “ | Meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife... A song never summed up Rhean's life more then when she fell astray of the charming and witty leader of the Federated Suns. | ” |
Part 7
- published on 26 November 2008
| “ | Hello Rhean Marik, my name is Murphy and I really love your family. Here let me do this, oh and this, and then this. Had enough yet? Rhean Marik must watch as time marches forward, tearing from her those she holds dear and close. And then she gets a personal dose of good old Murphy. | ” |
Part 8
- published on 4 December 2008
| “ | No one ever expected her to take office, and when she did they all assumed it would be nothing but seat warming for her nephew. We all know what assumptions make of you and me... | ” |
Part 9
- published on 11 December 2008
| “ | Is the cure better than the sickness? A question Rhean had to ask herself once the cure lead to even greater, 'complications'. Be careful what you wish for, the hidden costs might be fatal. | ” |
Part 10
- published on 19 December 2008
| “ | Stripped of power and prepared for exile, Rhean finds she must prepare for execution instead. The conspiracy runs deep, but so do her friends. The question is, which is better? | ” |