Space Magnates

Militaries, corporations, and governments scramble for control of the solar system in the early decades of colonization in the first book of this major space opera series from Saul Rayburn. To prevent her unjust discharge from the United States Space Force, General Vivian Sinclair, a politically inept but tactically brilliant officer, is forced to take command of the poorly equipped and ill-disciplined Luna Fleet. While she weeds out incompetent soldiers and transforms the fleet into a combat effective unit, she witnesses injustices and atrocities committed against Lunarians and finds herself questioning her loyalties, all while facing imminent war against the belligerent European Union. Michael Vanderheiden, an ambitious but honorable businessman, must construct the Luna Space Elevator if he is to reignite mass colonization of space and thwart crony oligarchs and corrupt politicians colluding to seize control of the company he built. As political crises, boardroom battles, and street violence erupt around him, he must come to terms with the possibility that, despite his wealth and influence, he may be powerless to save his terminally ill daughter. As war between the United States and European Union looms on the horizon and the oligarchs' pursuit of power escalates, Sinclair and Vanderheiden are driven to their breaking points as they fight to secure mankind's future across the solar system.