Simon R. Green 
Ghostworld 

Before Owen Deathstalker, there was the Twilight of the Empire…Ghostworld. Unseeli. A dead world, at least since the Ashrai Rebellion ten years before. A world of metal trees crucial to the Empire, as crucial as Captain John Silence will one day be to the Empress. But not now. Silence botched the Empire’s response to the Rebellion, and bears the burden for a world wiped clean of all life, save its precious metal trees. Now, Base Thirteen has gone silent, cut itself off from the Empire, and stopped its crucial shipments. Silence has to find out why, and clean up his mess, aided by the ESPer Diane Vertue and Investigator Frost. Behind each locked door on Base Thirteen, mystery and menace await.Ghostworld has previously been published singly, as well as in the omnibus editions Twilight of the Empire (US) and Deathstalker Prelude (UK). Be sure to enjoy the other Prelude/Twilight of the Empire novels Mistworld and Hellworld, and the entire Deathstalker series, all from New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green.