Sten

Set three thousand years in the future, the story of Sten is the life and times of a most unusual hero, told in eight volumes. The series has sold more than two million copies, making the books consistent best sellers both in the United States and abroad, and has been hailed by critics as a "landmark science fiction series."

Sten is the ultimate survivor. He's lightning quick, mean-streets cunning and blessed with the twin gifts of hungry intelligence and hard-won common sense. Born on the factory planet of Vulcan, where life had less value than the lowliest machine – the sort of place that bred just two types of natives: complacent or tough... and Sten was tough. He rebelled against The Company that enslaved, then killed his parents, harassing the Company from the metal world's endless mazelike warrens.

Sten's world is a place where humans live side-by-side with countless alien forms. In fact the word alien itself is offensive and all species are merely called "beings." The planetary systems range from the sophistication of Prime World where the elite gather – to the rough and ready mining and frontier worlds at the Empire's edges. Sten would have ended up just another burnt-out Delinquent if he hadn't rescued a mysterious stranger who turned out to be his ticket off Vulcan – and an express ride back.