DEATHSTALKER, SIMON GREEN

Yet a third series from Simon Green is this fun space opera. One minute aristocrat Owen Deathstalker of Virimonde is reclining on his silk sheets, and the next he's running for his life, outlawed by Empress Lionstone. His estates and wealth vanish and people he's known for years are trying to kill him. For the first time he calls up his family's internal “boost” powers whose synthetic adrenalin hormones allow him to fight superhumanly for a short while. He's rescued by an outlaw spaceship pirate, Hazel, who escorts him to the icy planet Mistworld, hellhole and rebel planet. This mild historian reluctantly emerges as the warrior his father always wanted. He assembles a rag-taggle crew who will help him face the Empire.

Back on Virimonde the wealthy court Families indulge in intrigues, dynastic marriages, and literal backstabbing. There are Masked Gladiators with secret Family ties, debauched fops, and plotters of murderous vendettas. I especially love Valentine Wolfe, a drug-addled dandy who, faced with a forced marriage, calmly asks his father if he can wear white. With a veil.

This book closely follows the pattern of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey outline. Owen's ORDINARY WORLD is Virimonde, and he's CALLED TO ADVENTURE when he is outlawed. He REFUSES THE CALL when, bewildered, he runs for his life. Hazel is his MENTOR and he CROSSES THE THRESHOLD with her when they blast off the planet. He acquires ALLIES and ENEMIES and faces TESTS, growing in strength. I must find every one of this delicious series.