|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Cyn Lystris was born in space to Free Traders. He disliked always being one step ahead of the law and coming upon undiscovered planets with monstrous beings living on them, so he became an interstellar postman for the Empire. where, at least, the planets on which he landed had life-forms that were known. And he could spend most of his time in space. He still does some trading for Lystris, his home Free Trade ship, but never breaks the laws of the Postal Service while doing so. Thus he is able to earn a little money on the side. Before picking up some passengers and cargo on Healtha, he takes all his money and spends it on three days with a Nymph, a kind of sexual courtesan, in a sort of sexual Garden of Eden. When he leaves to pick up his cargo, he finds he has six passengers and a beast in a large cage, in addition to the regular mail, Most of the passengers will be leaving at the Imperial Headquarters planet, but the beastie is to go to a different planet. While trying to board his passengers, his ship is hit by a tractor beam and jarred. He gets the passengers aboard, and goes to check on the living creature in the cage. Imagine his surprise when he finds the 'beast' appears to be a young Nymph. He lets her out of the cage because he refuses to allow a sentient being to be caged, and now he has seven passengers, one of whom is trying to sabotage the ship and another who is trying to murder the others. Roberta Gellis uses the skills she has honed in 25 years of writing romantic fiction, romantic suspense, historical mysteries and suspense, historical fiction and fantasy (sometimes with Mercedes Lackey). She has written a fine modern version of a space opera, complete with evil villain and heroic protagonist. It also can be considered a locked room mystery, since the action takes place on a spaceship traveling between planets. This book has some (gasp) sex in it, which brings it into the modern SF world. Gellis is a superb storyteller and she proves it with IMPERIAL CHALLENGE.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, July 2004
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
