Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Ambition

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol. 2: Ambition continues the grand space opera saga of two interstellar superpowers—the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance—as they clash in politics, war, and ideology.



After the devastating Battle of Amlitzer, the Free Planets Alliance reels from massive losses. Amid this chaos, Admiral Yang Wen-li, a reluctant hero and strategic genius, is appointed commander of the crucial Iserlohn Fortress. Though he has no love for war and dreams of retiring as a historian, Yang becomes a key figure in preventing the Alliance’s collapse.



On the other side, Reinhard von Lohengramm, the ambitious young admiral of the Galactic Empire, begins consolidating power. Seeking to destroy the entrenched aristocracy and unify the Empire under his control, he engineers a plot to destabilize the Alliance from within. Reinhard manipulates a disgraced Alliance general, Arthur Lynch, to spark a coup d’état, distracting the Alliance while Reinhard prepares for civil war against the Empire’s old nobility.



As tensions rise, Yang suspects Reinhard’s involvement but struggles against the Alliance’s incompetent political leadership and the influence of growing fanatical movements like the Earth Cult. Meanwhile, both sides are forced to confront internal divisions that threaten to be as dangerous as their external enemies.



This volume explores themes of ambition, corruption, and the fragility of democratic ideals, contrasting Reinhard’s authoritarian reformism with Yang’s defense of flawed democracy. As new conspiracies unfold, both men edge closer to an inevitable confrontation—one shaped more by their philosophies than by firepower alone.