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The penultimate installment in the Rise of the Empire series!

The war for the fate of the galaxy is underway.

The Empire and its allies struggle to find a way to strike back at the Enlightened, who are employing raiding tactics to set the galaxy on fire. And with their new ability to travel through access points, the job of the galactic alliance is that much harder. Meanwhile Adrian, unable to force a confrontation with the three Enlightened turns his eyes to the Custodian, the ancient AI that had until recently kept the Enlightened contained. Now the AI had joined the Enlightened side, allowing them the use of access points. And Adrian worried that the threat of the AI might eclipse even that of the Enlightened.

Tomas moves to keep the galaxy from collapsing, as different star nations reach out seeking help as the Enlightened invade and decimate their systems. Meanwhile the Josanti League, the star nation that had been the primary target of the Enlightened, refuses the galactic alliance's offer for aid.

Adrian and Tomas have different ideas as to how this war needs to be fought, but there is no more time. The Enlightened have put their plan into motion, and the doomsday clock is ticking.



Black Swarm is book 11 in the Rise of the Empire series, an epic story that follows humanity as it grows from a single world to ultimately becoming a galaxy wide empire.

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 9, 2019

138 people are currently reading
27 people want to read

About the author

Ivan Kal

42 books384 followers
Ivan Kal writes science fiction and fantasy, and is the author of the space opera series Rise of the Empire.
For most of his life he had been studying in the fields of electronics, IT, and web design.
But because of his great love for books and his need to tell stories, he decided to start writing.
His other interests include martial arts, movies and tv, and gaming.

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5 stars
138 (52%)
4 stars
85 (32%)
3 stars
38 (14%)
2 stars
1 (<1%)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Justin .
143 reviews2 followers
February 19, 2019
First act of the end.

Book eleven is a wonderful opening to the end of this series with some great foreboding hints of how it ends. Some wounds don't heal, they scar.
Profile Image for Ben Mailey.
193 reviews
June 14, 2020
Iris for the WIN

It is always nice to have a writer know how to draw a reader in. This book did it several times with the choices to take the history of a character and use it for the purpose of moving the reader to a place they didn’t know they needed to go to. This one was sad and exciting all at the same time. One more and then we will know who is the most powerful and who’s WILL will win out!
Profile Image for Michael Lynn.
334 reviews
January 3, 2020
I found it very hard to put this one down and regularly got up early to get a few extra pages in. I thought this was very well executed can't wait to read the final book in this series. Even though I am a huge litrpg fan and his Tower of Power series is what brought the author to my attention I really consider this be his best work. A super solid 5 stars.
Profile Image for David Laughlin.
279 reviews1 follower
August 2, 2022
Good Lord I'm glad book 12 is out this was great and I cant wait for the next one

The 11th book doesn't seem like that long ago I started the series. Each book has been engrossing and well done. I have enjoyed the character development. Even if I get frustrated by the direction some of the characters go. Looks like the last book is coming up next. I look forward to reading it
Profile Image for Ryan McCoin.
182 reviews10 followers
December 9, 2020
Pretty good penultimate

This was a pretty good setup for the final book. The story had a good structure that some other have lacked at times. Characters experienced conflict and change so it felt more like a while book than just a continuation of events.
3 reviews
January 15, 2019
One of my favorite series ever

Ivan Kal weaves a tale that grows in scope and complexity with great characters and twists. One of my favorite authors
64 reviews
January 28, 2019
Another great read.

Grabs a reader and doesn’t let go. Great imagination as to story lines. Keep up the great writing, and good luck.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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