Ashoka

Prince Ashoka is one of several heirs to the Mauryan empire, which is ruled by his father, Emperor Bindusara. Disillusioned by the trappings of power, he has given up his place as crown prince, yet unlike the rest of the royal family his loyalty to the Mauryan dynasty never wavers. When he overhears a plot to kill the Emperor, he sets out to find the assassins in the capital, Patliputra, with the help of the fierce army of Chandikas.

But the real enemy is closer than he realises. Having foiled the plot, Ashoka is sent to administer distant Takshashila and assist his brother, Prince Sushim. When he takes harsh but necessary measures to put down a Pashtun rebellion there, his actions are branded treason, and he is punished brutally and left for dead. Behind it all are the ruthless Queen Noor Khorasan and her mother, the War Marshall Jezza Khorasan.

The contest for the empire is wide open. The Khorasans want it, and so do Seleucus Nicator and his daughter, Queen Mother Apama, who dream of conquering the subcontinent. Whether Ashoka can come back from the dead to save the empire founded by his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, is the question that drives the story.

Full of ambition, intrigue, lust and battle, Ashok Banker's trilogy follows the rise of one of India's most legendary rulers, and for the first time appears complete in a single volume.