The Game Beyond

The Game Beyond was originally published by Baen Books in 1984.

The Silvertree Empress is dead, the last of her line. The heir named in her will is an impossibility, her favorite, Keira Renault, member of a family deposed and disgraced generations before — the man she claimed as the power behind her throne. As the Empire’s notables jockey for position behind the various claimants, Keira must defeat his rivals in simulation and reality — and somehow hold the factions together long enough for the Empire to survive.