Sword of Orion
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Phobos, Oct 2005, $14.95, 287 pp.
ISBN 0972002655

At one time in the part of the galaxy known as the Sword of Orion, the inhabited planets were ruled by the fascist organization known as the Oligarchy until brave men and women rose up and joined the rebellion. In the last battle when the Oligarchy threw all their ships and weapons at the rebel armada, the device rebel leaders Parvair and Banin invented took both fleets out of normal space. This caused the Oligarchy to collapse and democracy sprang up among the former repressed planets.

Parvair and Banin's infant daughter Jerel, who was a part of the device that caused the armadas to vanish, now lives with her uncle Orned. The sixteen year old girl is forced to flee her home with her uncle, her friend kay and the turlan alien Erazias because the former rebel Chuton now joins forces with those who want the Oligarchy to rise again and to do this he needs Jerel to make the reconstructed device operational and retrieve the armadas. Jerel and her allies jump from planet to planet to escape the agents who want to use her because she and her allies have a plan to retrieve the armada and neutralize the ships of the Oligarchy.

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller can be counted on to tell a compelling and exciting story set in a future world where traveling through space to visit the populated worlds is an everyday occurrence. The alien species are believable and play a key part in the storyline working besides the human for a common goal. Brilliant characterizations, exotic cultures and thrilling chase scenes make SWORD OF ORION a book that is destined to become a classic.

Harriet Klausner