Template - a novel of the Archonate

When professional duelist Conn Labro escapes indentured servitude as thestar player of Horder's Emporium, he abandons the gaming world of Thrais andsets out on an interstellar journey filled with murder, deceit, andself-discovery.

His only friend on Thrais, discovered dead and tortured, lefthim enough money to buy himself out of his contract and a curious encrypted"bearer deed" to a mysterious property on the distant edge of the galacticSpray.

With the seductive, secretive showgirl Jenore Mordene at his side and avillainous pleasure cult dogging his every move, Labro sets out to learn thetruth behind his bearer deed and more about his own past than he had ever daredbargain for. For the first time ever in paperback, this thrilling, vividly imagined newscience fiction novel from rising star Matthew Hughes (The Commons,Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth) provides atmospheric adventure inthe classic tradition while layering on complex, fascinating societies andfuture cultures with the deft touch of a master storyteller.