"An excellent coming of age science fiction tale"
On Allemage, three weeks have passed since her mother
died. Now her brother Jentry plans to sell Rue Cassels
into slavery as he claims their brown dwarf "Halo World"
cannot sustain her with its dying Cyler Contract economy.
Believing her dictatorial sibling would gladly rid himself
of her while making money off her, Rue flees fortunate
enough to escape from the mining colony. On Erythrion, she finds what she originally thought is a
ship owned by the relatively new Rights Economy but is
actually an alien vessel. However, Rue is forced to share
the ship with the Rights Economy's Admiral Crisler and
inter-galaxy renowned alien experts Herat and Bequith.
Herat's thesis of civilization through the eons is that the
strongest die from within with only two known exceptions:
the Chicxulub and the Lasa. Everyone wants a piece of the
action that is expected to gleam from revealing the secrets
of the alien vessel so that once again Rue, beneath the
bottom of the food chain, is being pushed aside for the so-
called better good. PERMANENCE is a tremendous futuristic outer space thriller
that provides incredible insight into the
interrelationships between politics, social structure, and
economics yet never slows down. The key characters are
fully developed and all the varying species seem real
including those that have bare remnants remaining of a once
glorious civilization. Karl Shroeder combines a deep cast
with a cerebral action packed plot that will permanently
remain on the keeper shelf of genre fans to reread over the
eons. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted April 21, 2002
|
