Her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV rules the human Empire with fear. From peasants to masters …
Definitely check out the three shorter "Twilight of the Empire" books (Mistworld/Ghostworld/Hellworld) before starting Deathstalker proper. I didn't know about or buy them until sometime after my first (partial) binge of this main series years ago, and I didn't circle back to reading them until this year. I don't remember feeling lost the first time I read this book, but having those three novels fresh in my mind gives it a little something extra. They give you morsels of world-building for the universe of this series—and introduce you to some characters that now show up in this novel—while being their own lean, self-contained stories.
Definitely check out the three shorter "Twilight of the Empire" books (Mistworld/Ghostworld/Hellworld) before starting Deathstalker proper. I didn't know about or buy them until sometime after my first (partial) binge of this main series years ago, and I didn't circle back to reading them until this year. I don't remember feeling lost the first time I read this book, but having those three novels fresh in my mind gives it a little something extra. They give you morsels of world-building for the universe of this series—and introduce you to some characters that now show up in this novel—while being their own lean, self-contained stories.