"Lest We Forget Thee Earth" by Calvin Knox aka Robert Silverberg

"Years ago--a hundred thousand, the legend says--man had sprung from Earth, an inconsequential world revolving around a small sun in an obscure galaxy. He leaped forward to the stars, and carved out a mighty empire for himself. The glory of Earth was carried to the far galaxies, to the wide-flung nebulae of deepest space.  But no race, no matter how strong, could hold sway over an empire that spanned a billion parsecs. The centuries passed; Earth's grasp grew weaker. And, finally, the stars rebelled."

The Galactic Empire fell thirty thousand years ago, and now the worlds are nearly devoid of the race of Men. The few that remain are considered wise and venerable, and so these sons of old Earth serve as advisors to powerful kings and planetary lords. They are scattered and what little they know of their forgotten home world is passed down as myth.

Hallam Navarre is struggling to maintain his position of influence on the mighty world of Jorus, and one morning he makes up a poor excuse when he oversleeps for the Overlord's court. He claims to have been researching the fabled Chalice of Death, which is said to grant immortality to the strong. His master sends him on a wild goose chase across millions of light years to recover this treasure.

Instead, Navarre discovers the prophecy actually refers to a final group of warrior Earthmen in suspended animation. If he can only outwit and outmaneuver his many enemies, he might be able to wake them and lead the human race to reclaim their ancestral home.

What follows is an adventure tale of intrigue, betrayal, and war… Ok, I can't help myself. These old Ace paperbacks are just so much fun….

This 1958 novel from Robert Silverberg was originally titled Lest We Forget Thee, Earth and it was paired in a back-to-back format with R. Z. Gallun's People Minus X. In recent years the author has restored his preferred title Chalice of Death. This was a fix-up novel that combined three previously published short stories from Science Fiction Adventures magazine: "Chalice of Death", "Earth Shall Live Again!", and "Vengeance of the Space Armada."

Silverberg dedicated the book to Isaac Asimov, presumable because Asimov wrote one of the first--and still the best--series of books about a galactic empire that had forgotten its home world--the Foundation trilogy. (Silverberg's book was not considered serious science fiction even in its day but, in truth not much separates this book from some of Asimov's own offerings from this time period, such as Pebble in the Sky and The Stars, Like Dust.)

Sure, there are things you can nitpick about the plot: Navarre's aptitude for commanding military vessels filled with soldiers from different cultures seems too convenient for a diplomat… Various heads of state in this universe are ridiculously easy to access… The author had to introduce a powerful new race of aliens in the third act to write Earth out of the scrape it was in…

But truthfully, this story still hangs together better than most science fiction movies and television shows made in 2020. Plus, what sci-fi enthusiast can repress their inner twelve year-old self's sense of enthusiasm when a book ends on a stirring, almost ominous note like this:

"In the days to come, a thousand million worlds would have cause to remember the name of the planet they had once forgotten. Earth."  (Craig Childs, GoodReads)