Reviews

A pair of independent claim-seekers in the asteroid belt answer a distress call, discover the remains of a ship and its half-crazed survivor, and tow their salvage to the nearest way station--where their trouble begins. Sf veteran Cherryh returns to the world of her Merchanter novels ( Downbelow Station , DAW, 1981; Merchanter's Luck , LJ 9/15/82) for a tightly plotted drama of human politics, double dealing, and treachery amid the stars. The author's singular ability to create a believable vision of a spacefaring future is exceeded only by her talent for populating that vision with ``real'' people. Highly recommended.

Sure-handed Cherryh returns to the award-winning setting of Rimrunners and Cyteen , taking readers to the frontier where independent asteroid miners Morris Bird and Ben Pollard are struggling against the increasing economic domination of the bureaucratic Company. A mysterious distress signal leads them to a wrecked ship spinning out of control, with its sole remaining crew member, Dekker, crazy and near death. Bird and Ben haul him and his ship back to Base, enduring Dekker's mad ravings and debating the ethics of claiming the craft as salvage. Soon, however, the issue becomes far more complicated--Dekker's story suggests a murder and a Company cover-up, and the political crisis he sparks threatens to do more than deprive Bird and Ben of their salvage. Superbly rendered--with believable social, economic and political backdrops, complex characters, and a tense, well-paced plot--Cherryh's novel proves that high-tech science fiction need not sacrifice literary values. (June)