Señores de las estrellas

# Catalog Description

Señores de las estrellas (Lords of the Stars) by A. Thorkent, published by Editorial Bruguera in December 1976, is a science fiction novel serialized as "La Conquista del Espacio" (The Conquest of Space).

The narrative follows Ed Maple, a chronicler-writer from Earth, who undertakes a difficult two-month journey to the remote Magnusson Fortress on the free planet Arankar to interview Eric Sushman, a powerful Space Lord. Maple seeks to document the lives of mercenary soldiers from the independent "free worlds" who fought alongside the Terran Superiority against the Mit race but were subsequently abandoned and forced into perpetual military service for feudal rulers across isolated planets.

Through dialogue between Maple and Sushman, the novel explores themes of betrayal and exploitation: after the free worlds' armies bore the greatest costs in the generational war against Mit, Earth's government rewarded their sacrifice with marginalization, fear, and relegation to mercenary work. Sushman reveals the bitter irony of soldiers fighting each other across realms while maintaining fraternal bonds on their home worlds. Maple commits to accompanying Sushman's troops on an upcoming military contract to experience their dangerous reality firsthand. The narrative depicts the Magnusson Fortress's military infrastructure during subsequent chapters.