Empire (Stephanie Osborn) Books in Order

Stephanie Osborn's Empire books follow Dominick, or Nick, Ashton through the police and intelligence side of a large interstellar empire. Her sequence runs alongside the wider Empire setting and focuses on one man trying to do decent work inside systems strained by corruption, treason, and political upheaval.

Imperial Police introduces Nick as a rookie at the headquarters of Her Majesty's Imperial Police. He has always wanted to be a detective, but the institution he joins is deeply compromised. Being an honest officer is not a simple virtue in a place where powerful people expect loyalty, silence, or both.

Nick's career is the through line. He investigates, builds allies, and faces the consequences of trying to reform an organization from within. The changing Empire remains in the background and sometimes in the foreground, giving every police case a political edge.

The job gets harder as he rises.

In Imperial Detective, Nick is working to clean up the police force on Sintar when survivors from the old guard plot to take control. Trust becomes the central problem, especially when the conspiracy may reach people close to him. Imperial Inspector raises the stakes further as Imperial City becomes a center of espionage and competing powers seek state secrets.

Section Six shifts Nick from overt policing to secret intelligence. The Empress needs an espionage network capable of handling work too sensitive for regular bureaucracy, and Nick is assigned to establish it. Its first mission involves interference with the Emperor's plans in Wingard Sector, where the obvious word for that interference is treason.

The tone combines futuristic police work, political intrigue, and military-scale consequences. Nick is not a lone genius above the system. He is a capable professional trying to make choices that preserve his honor while the rules around him keep changing.

Start with Imperial Police and continue in order. The books follow Nick's career and gain force from the institutions, relationships, and threats established in the previous volume.