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Polar City #1
Pet Noir
Can a lowly gumpaw hope for love with a girl who rides in a jewel-encrusted carrier?
Feline investigator Leon, with opposable thumbs and the ability to talk, is possibly the most dangerous cat in the galaxy. Indentured to the Security department of Gamma Station until the cost of his creation is paid off, Leon alternates between harassing his human partner/roommate Devin and fighting sleazoid criminals, yet still finds time to flirt with the lovely Leila, an exotic Burmese who lives in the swankiest level of the station. Will he win her heart, and more important—will he win his freedom?
Feline investigator Leon, with opposable thumbs and the ability to talk, is possibly the most dangerous cat in the galaxy. Indentured to the Security department of Gamma Station until the cost of his creation is paid off, Leon alternates between harassing his human partner/roommate Devin and fighting sleazoid criminals, yet still finds time to flirt with the lovely Leila, an exotic Burmese who lives in the swankiest level of the station. Will he win her heart, and more important—will he win his freedom?
Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
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About the author
Pati Nagle
50 books61 followersPati Nagle is the author of two linked romantic fantasy series: the Blood of the Kindred historical series (THE BETRAYAL, HEART OF THE EXILED, SWORDS OVER FIRESHORE), and The Immortal Saga contemporary series (IMMORTAL, ETERNAL, FOREVER). She was born and raised in the mountains of northern New Mexico. An avid student of music, history, and humans in general, she loves the outdoors but hides from the sun.
Nagle's stories have appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Cicada, Cricket, and in various anthologies, including collections honoring New Mexico writers Jack Williamson and Roger Zelazny. She has also written a series of historical novels as P.G. Nagle. She is a Writers of the Future finalist and finalist for the New Mexico Press Women's Zia Award. Her short story "Coyote Ugly" received an honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and was honored as a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
She lives in the mountains in New Mexico with her husband and two furry muses, surrounded by trees, starry skies, and wildlife.
Nagle's stories have appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Cicada, Cricket, and in various anthologies, including collections honoring New Mexico writers Jack Williamson and Roger Zelazny. She has also written a series of historical novels as P.G. Nagle. She is a Writers of the Future finalist and finalist for the New Mexico Press Women's Zia Award. Her short story "Coyote Ugly" received an honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and was honored as a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
She lives in the mountains in New Mexico with her husband and two furry muses, surrounded by trees, starry skies, and wildlife.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 17, 2020
Well, that was very entertaining. I loved the murder mystery galactic intrigue style of the story, with a hint of romance and a wonderful cast of misfit characters. While we mostly followed 3 characters, an ex-military spacer turned smuggler, a messed-up psychic baseball player and an off-world police chief, we see things also from the “bad guy’s” POV. Somehow, the author makes us empathize with everyone, even the bad guys. There are so many side-stories or rather bits that tie into the murder-mystery that it is never simple. After my initial struggle with the book having 60 more pages after the bad guy was taken care of, I’ve decided that I like that the story was not just reduced to a murder mystery. Can’t say more because; spoilers.
Kerr simply reversed racial discrimination, which I think was an over-simplified sort of social commentary for our own society. Caucasian’s are in the minority and considered and treated as inferior by the black/Hispanic human majority. Otherwise, there is virtually no commentary whatsoever. There are non-human beings integrated into the society and therefore people are called “sentients” or “beings”, as in policebeings.
Baseball has somehow become the major sport in this far-flung far-future setting. 🤷🏻♀️
The use of a dialect in the dialect tripped me up for most of the book. A sort of stereo typical grammatical error made by Spanish speakers infused with many Spanish words and phrases. This was called “Merrkan”. The main white character (the psychic baseball player) also spoke like a Valley girl, with lots of “likes” peppered into his speech. It was sort of obliquely explained by telling the history of psychic development in humans stemming from communes in California that ended up going to space before most others. I was not a fan of these linguistic extrapolations.As I said earlier, it seemed a bit over-simplified, maybe even lazy, although I’m sure a lot of thought went into it and care during the writing and editorial process.
So, that’s kind of a lot of niggly bits that I was not fond of, but nevertheless, I REALLY was VERY entertained, hence, 3.5 stars rounded up.
Kerr simply reversed racial discrimination, which I think was an over-simplified sort of social commentary for our own society. Caucasian’s are in the minority and considered and treated as inferior by the black/Hispanic human majority. Otherwise, there is virtually no commentary whatsoever. There are non-human beings integrated into the society and therefore people are called “sentients” or “beings”, as in policebeings.
Baseball has somehow become the major sport in this far-flung far-future setting. 🤷🏻♀️
The use of a dialect in the dialect tripped me up for most of the book. A sort of stereo typical grammatical error made by Spanish speakers infused with many Spanish words and phrases. This was called “Merrkan”. The main white character (the psychic baseball player) also spoke like a Valley girl, with lots of “likes” peppered into his speech. It was sort of obliquely explained by telling the history of psychic development in humans stemming from communes in California that ended up going to space before most others. I was not a fan of these linguistic extrapolations.As I said earlier, it seemed a bit over-simplified, maybe even lazy, although I’m sure a lot of thought went into it and care during the writing and editorial process.
So, that’s kind of a lot of niggly bits that I was not fond of, but nevertheless, I REALLY was VERY entertained, hence, 3.5 stars rounded up.
July 9, 2020
Yet another Switzerland rating. Not really bad, just not very interesting. I didn't care for the characaters, the plot seemed chaotic and uneven, with an almost completely static first half, then a hugely actionpacked last part with lots of fast paced battles both on and off world. Not something that can hold my interest for very long. There were some interesting ideas, but they were only shallowly touched on, not really fully developed, in fact everything seemed to just be vague plot devides instead of actual interesting thought experiment. I know we can't all be UKL, but if you're bringing in psionic people who can mind read, could we utilize it a bit more than just angsting about a romance which in the end wasn't an issue at all? I felt at times mildly entertained by this, but other times I couldn't keep focus. Had it been a movie I'd have probably turned it off near the end and not given it further thought.
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August 25, 2016Polar City Blues holds up very well for SF first published in 1990. Of course, I'm inclined to like tales mixing psychics, aliens, and murder mysteries. Kerr has built a universe which deliberately 'others' Caucasians, which succeeds reasonably well.
If I had a negative, it would be the use of 'crazies' as one of the obstacles. Oh, and the multiple links to old Earth culture in this far future. There's no reason sports like baseball wouldn't survive interplanetary dispersal, but that in particular makes this feel like a very American future.
It's always fascinating to see what people envisage future tech to be like in books written before smartphones. There's a few places where difficulties could be overcome if people could just text and email each other, but otherwise the belt-comm was pretty good.
If I had a negative, it would be the use of 'crazies' as one of the obstacles. Oh, and the multiple links to old Earth culture in this far future. There's no reason sports like baseball wouldn't survive interplanetary dispersal, but that in particular makes this feel like a very American future.
It's always fascinating to see what people envisage future tech to be like in books written before smartphones. There's a few places where difficulties could be overcome if people could just text and email each other, but otherwise the belt-comm was pretty good.
December 14, 2017
As usual with Katharine Kerrs books, I liked her characters the most. She has a way of creating unique characters that I get attached to very easily. I loved their dynamics. The friendship between Nunks and Mulligan was heartwarming, and I loved Buddy's attitude towards Mulligan, and his devotion towards Lacey. I liked how the relationship between Lacey and Mulligan evolved during the story. They were super cute together.
The story was engaging. It had a great flow, and really kept me wanting to continue reading.
The world Katharine Kerr created was very interesting. Obviously she put a lot of thought into it. I liked how the aliens and the humans all fit into the same civilization, and I really liked their dialect, and they way the telepathic dialogues were described.
I'm looking forward to reading the second book!
The story was engaging. It had a great flow, and really kept me wanting to continue reading.
The world Katharine Kerr created was very interesting. Obviously she put a lot of thought into it. I liked how the aliens and the humans all fit into the same civilization, and I really liked their dialect, and they way the telepathic dialogues were described.
I'm looking forward to reading the second book!
July 12, 2011
Pet Noir by Pati Nagle is about a genetically modified cat named Leon, who has thumbs and can talk. He was bought by Chief Wright to help solve crimes, and is taken from the lab he was born in, and from his mother and siblings as a kitten.
The story goes from Leon being a kitten to an adult, he gets a roommate named Devin to take care of him, and also be his partner, he along with the chief are the only ones who know that he can talk. It’s in novel form, but it’s like a bunch of little short story crimes.
A good, quick read, makes me kind of wish that Leon was my cat.
[Read for LibraryThing Early Review Program.]
The story goes from Leon being a kitten to an adult, he gets a roommate named Devin to take care of him, and also be his partner, he along with the chief are the only ones who know that he can talk. It’s in novel form, but it’s like a bunch of little short story crimes.
A good, quick read, makes me kind of wish that Leon was my cat.
[Read for LibraryThing Early Review Program.]
June 20, 2011
This is a cat mystery book with a science fiction twist. Leon is a genetically modified cat who can speak and has thumbs like a human. He is sent to Gamma Station far away from his mother and siblings when he is only a few weeks old in order to serve out his time to pay for his modification by helping out the security force on Gamma Station. He assists his human partner, Devin in solving crimes on the station. The book is actually a set of different short mysteries that work together in this e book. The readers see Leon’s point of view of life on the station and he even makes a few friends that help him in solving the crimes. This book would appeal to fans of the Cat Who and the Mrs. Murphy books.
August 5, 2011
I truly enjoyed this story about a cat named Leon who is sent into outer space to solve a mystery. Leon is a genetic breed of cats who is designed to be stationed in a security base in outerspace. Leon loves to tease his human friends and is fond of a certain Burmese cat. Pet Noir is Leon's story and his travels through the galaxies solving crime. This is a cute little book to read when you want to read something lite. I was drawn to this story because I am a cat lover and love stories about cats.
January 23, 2021
This was definitely written by someone who owns cats - I could see my cats in the story and I imagined them in the same situations that the author had put Leon in. I liked the flow of the book, even though the world was described in a few words, and so was most of the characters, I still could see all the places, faces, creatures and I just felt like I'm wandering through the Gamma station with Leon by my side. Great book!
April 7, 2010
I liked this book a lot. The alien enclave, the artificial intelligence, the registered Psychic Mulligan who cannot play baseball, where he was a star and Bobby Lacey, the ex fleet officer who knows everything that is happening in Polar city.
Its just a fun fun read, which is probably why every 5-7 years I crack it open and read it again.
Its just a fun fun read, which is probably why every 5-7 years I crack it open and read it again.
October 9, 2015
A murder mystery, set in the future. I read this in high school, and really liked it. In fact, I had the feeling that it was part of a series, or maybe I just hoped it was, but never could find any more. I loved the pairing of the psychic and the cop (a novel idea at the time), I really just enjoyed all the characters, normal, telepathic, and alien.
June 27, 2011
LibraryThing Early Review eBook
Leon is a genetically adapted cat working in security on a space station. This collection of interlinked adventures with his human and feline companions is a fun, light and charming read.
I would recommend this book highly. Leon is an entertaining, engaging protagonist and I look forward to his future exploits
Leon is a genetically adapted cat working in security on a space station. This collection of interlinked adventures with his human and feline companions is a fun, light and charming read.
I would recommend this book highly. Leon is an entertaining, engaging protagonist and I look forward to his future exploits
April 12, 2014
A cat detective working security at a space station is a fun premise for a book. This is collection of stories about Leon, a genetically engineered cat, and pals both feline and human who solve a series of crime mysteries. Leon has a great personality. Hopefully Pati Nagle will write more about his adventures.
March 4, 2011
Great title, average read.
July 7, 2020
The start of this wasn’t very encouraging. Police chief Al Bates is called into a murder scene where the victim - an off-world diplomat - has had his throat cut from ear to ear. I know this novel is from 1992 but the thought of another crime/SF mash-up was oddly dispiriting. Yet it turned out to be readable enough despite Chief Bates, while popping up from time to time throughout, not being the book’s main focus, and that because it doesn’t really have one.
Jack Mulligan, a semi-pro baseball player with psionic abilities, comes across the murder site and offers his services to the police but he encounters a very powerful and debilitating psychic block, presumably emanating from the murderer. In the aftermath various other people, potential witnesses, though the killer has left no obvious traces of himself, are found slaughtered in the same way.
Mulligan’s not even nascent relationship with a woman called Lacey, whose occupation is somewhat obscure but seems to be on the border of illegality, is the subject of an attempt by Kerr to round out her characters but the representation verges on the adolescent. Also in the mix is a flesh-eating disease caused by a bacterium picked up in an unsalubrious area known as the Rat Yard, a disease whose main side effect is it causes its victims to smell strongly of vinegar and which the murderer has contracted.
The characters here - barring an AI and the brief conversations held via psychic means - all speak in a stripped down English known as Merrkan which in an Author’s Note Kerr says is a future projection of (perhaps even thinner than) how people in the US Sunbelt converse already. In addition, the inhabitants of Polar City all have a seemingly inveterate interest in baseball, which, to a Brit, comes across as just weird. I know it’s the national game of the US but, come on, imagine a British SF novel which featured cricket, for example. It’s not going to happen.
The story here is really all over the place, the murders are resolved about three-quarters of the way through and then the tale morphs into an interplanetary (or interspaceship) chase sequence dealing with a First Contact scenario. Okay, the aliens were the source of the bacterium but it’s still a jarring shift of emphasis.
The blurb - from Locus - on the book’s front cover claims Polar City Blues is, “A Hell of a lot of fun.” Fun? Multiple gruesome murders, and it is fun? There are humorous moments but these mainly involve miscommunications.
Overall Polar City Blues is inconsequential. I doubt I’ll bother with any more from Kerr.
Jack Mulligan, a semi-pro baseball player with psionic abilities, comes across the murder site and offers his services to the police but he encounters a very powerful and debilitating psychic block, presumably emanating from the murderer. In the aftermath various other people, potential witnesses, though the killer has left no obvious traces of himself, are found slaughtered in the same way.
Mulligan’s not even nascent relationship with a woman called Lacey, whose occupation is somewhat obscure but seems to be on the border of illegality, is the subject of an attempt by Kerr to round out her characters but the representation verges on the adolescent. Also in the mix is a flesh-eating disease caused by a bacterium picked up in an unsalubrious area known as the Rat Yard, a disease whose main side effect is it causes its victims to smell strongly of vinegar and which the murderer has contracted.
The characters here - barring an AI and the brief conversations held via psychic means - all speak in a stripped down English known as Merrkan which in an Author’s Note Kerr says is a future projection of (perhaps even thinner than) how people in the US Sunbelt converse already. In addition, the inhabitants of Polar City all have a seemingly inveterate interest in baseball, which, to a Brit, comes across as just weird. I know it’s the national game of the US but, come on, imagine a British SF novel which featured cricket, for example. It’s not going to happen.
The story here is really all over the place, the murders are resolved about three-quarters of the way through and then the tale morphs into an interplanetary (or interspaceship) chase sequence dealing with a First Contact scenario. Okay, the aliens were the source of the bacterium but it’s still a jarring shift of emphasis.
The blurb - from Locus - on the book’s front cover claims Polar City Blues is, “A Hell of a lot of fun.” Fun? Multiple gruesome murders, and it is fun? There are humorous moments but these mainly involve miscommunications.
Overall Polar City Blues is inconsequential. I doubt I’ll bother with any more from Kerr.
July 31, 2023
Honestly not quite sure why I'm giving this book a 5 star rating.
On reflection it is essentially a noir crime novel but with a series of heavy sci-fi twist involving alien diseases, inter-planetary politics, rogue Ai's and psychic powers. Nothing about it struck me as majorly unique, though it is an original sci-fi setting, and while it has a lot of social themes they generally take a back seat to the main plot.
The key thing is that this book is so much fun. Brilliantly paced, mixing setting exposition and plot events with extreme deftness. The tone and style of the writing is also sublime for the subject matter at hand, balancing both tension and slower more relaxed periods. It also manages to be really funny at times with great dialogue all without disrupting the tone.
I'm not sure how it would hold up to a second reading but I don't care I only remember having a great time reading it through, thoroughly enjoying all the characters and the setting. If you want a grounded sci-fi novel with crime and skullduggery by all means pick up a copy from somewhere.
On reflection it is essentially a noir crime novel but with a series of heavy sci-fi twist involving alien diseases, inter-planetary politics, rogue Ai's and psychic powers. Nothing about it struck me as majorly unique, though it is an original sci-fi setting, and while it has a lot of social themes they generally take a back seat to the main plot.
The key thing is that this book is so much fun. Brilliantly paced, mixing setting exposition and plot events with extreme deftness. The tone and style of the writing is also sublime for the subject matter at hand, balancing both tension and slower more relaxed periods. It also manages to be really funny at times with great dialogue all without disrupting the tone.
I'm not sure how it would hold up to a second reading but I don't care I only remember having a great time reading it through, thoroughly enjoying all the characters and the setting. If you want a grounded sci-fi novel with crime and skullduggery by all means pick up a copy from somewhere.
May 22, 2020
3,5
I liked the plot in this one a lot! I also enjoyed the characters, though they took a bit to grow three dimensional and feel real to me.
The prose was fluent, but the deliberate stylistic form for dialogue felt annoying to me. It is well and consistently done and I understand why it's there, but I just didn't like it. It seems in the future we forget the word not and instead use the word "no" instead. So sentences would read like "I no doing this." People also are or are not savvy. Pardon, they no savvy.
The book seemed to end really well, but then there was a chapter after what felt like the end. And that felt too much like a "what happened after" and I didn't like that.
All in all it was a good book I don't regret reading, but not my favourite sci-fi book.
I liked the plot in this one a lot! I also enjoyed the characters, though they took a bit to grow three dimensional and feel real to me.
The prose was fluent, but the deliberate stylistic form for dialogue felt annoying to me. It is well and consistently done and I understand why it's there, but I just didn't like it. It seems in the future we forget the word not and instead use the word "no" instead. So sentences would read like "I no doing this." People also are or are not savvy. Pardon, they no savvy.
The book seemed to end really well, but then there was a chapter after what felt like the end. And that felt too much like a "what happened after" and I didn't like that.
All in all it was a good book I don't regret reading, but not my favourite sci-fi book.
February 2, 2019
Polar City Blues was written in 1990 but it holds up very well 20 years later. A small settlement of humans lives on a desert planet far, far away. Earth is no longer habitable due to climate change. On this distant planet, humans are not the controlling species; and among the humans, whites are not the dominant race. Now add humans with psychic abilities and a new First Contact into the mix. Now add a gruesome and mysterious murder. What you have is a murder mystery filled with alien worlds very different from our own. The author’s world-building is clever and interesting. The book is a great example of sci-fi.
October 26, 2020
Read this book as part of a reading challenge as I can use it as published in 1970s space or set in future.
It's an ok book although not my cup of tea.
Funnily enough the author has imagined how people will speak in the future and wrote this in the 70s. It is interesting that people do say "like" all the time! But not sure why they speak in Spanish phrases!
Difficult to get to know the different spieces
It's an ok book although not my cup of tea.
Funnily enough the author has imagined how people will speak in the future and wrote this in the 70s. It is interesting that people do say "like" all the time! But not sure why they speak in Spanish phrases!
Difficult to get to know the different spieces
August 4, 2023
A conventional plotboiler that sails merrily along with enough motivation set out for characters to act in a comprehensible manner. The author did season with humour and romance but these add little to the overall effort. One could call such novels pedestrian with a simplistic geopolitical background; alien races that accentuate certain social features; and mainstream sci-fi tropes. But it was an enjoyable romp with enough to keep one turning the page.
July 5, 2022
8 1990 With a title like that-who could resist trying to hum it rather than speak it. Big brother >need me?
>Need talk Lacey> BUT| >cop goes away.
Okay\ BUT| >cop goes, Lacey goes>>
[aggravation] She can wait\not wait?
Not wait. Big brother, woman Sally name/Lacey friend\ real danger [fear] >>throat slashed open. >Lacey find/must find\ before then.
>Need talk Lacey> BUT| >cop goes away.
Okay\ BUT| >cop goes, Lacey goes>>
[aggravation] She can wait\not wait?
Not wait. Big brother, woman Sally name/Lacey friend\ real danger [fear] >>throat slashed open. >Lacey find/must find\ before then.
March 12, 2023
Picked this up on a whim from the local library branch with no idea of Kerr's work, and instead only on the concept of the title. Found a really interesting but highly Americanized blend of detective story, science fiction political thriller, and first contact tale. Not sure I'm going to go out of my way to track down more of the Polar City series but this was diverting enough.
February 25, 2018
One of my absolutely favorite books. I reread it a lot
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October 26, 2023Love this story, original, funny & easy to get into
November 17, 2023
One of my favourite sci fi books of all time. Amazing. My copy is almost falling apart... so I have two!
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December 25, 2024SFFBC Buddy Read discussion
May 30, 2025
More like 2.5 stars
June 18, 2025
Linguistically fascinating. Excellent examination of the generation of language.
December 9, 2014
Whilst Pet Noir originally sounded right up my street, especially as I am rather fond of cats, the reality was disappointing.
The book follows Leon, a genetically engineered cat, who solves a range of cases along with his human companion Devin. That is perhaps the book's biggest downfall, as it is actually five short stories rather than one novel, which interrupted the flow when reading it. Some of the cases were predictable and felt rushed towards the end.
My one other major criticism is that the characterisation, at times, is unbelievable. Leon and Devin, are beautifully written, and it is a shame that the other characters are not written with such care.
I did however like the idea of a cat detective, and Pet Noir did make me laugh in places.
As a final word, I would warn hard-core Sci-Fi fans that this is only really Sci-Fi in context, and the plot is rather more humour-based than heavy science-fiction.
Overall, I finished the book but didn't really like it, although that could be just that it wasn't what I expected. I wouldn't read this again, and I would only recommend it to fans of this particular sub-genre or perhaps the teenage reader, who wants something different.
The book follows Leon, a genetically engineered cat, who solves a range of cases along with his human companion Devin. That is perhaps the book's biggest downfall, as it is actually five short stories rather than one novel, which interrupted the flow when reading it. Some of the cases were predictable and felt rushed towards the end.
My one other major criticism is that the characterisation, at times, is unbelievable. Leon and Devin, are beautifully written, and it is a shame that the other characters are not written with such care.
I did however like the idea of a cat detective, and Pet Noir did make me laugh in places.
As a final word, I would warn hard-core Sci-Fi fans that this is only really Sci-Fi in context, and the plot is rather more humour-based than heavy science-fiction.
Overall, I finished the book but didn't really like it, although that could be just that it wasn't what I expected. I wouldn't read this again, and I would only recommend it to fans of this particular sub-genre or perhaps the teenage reader, who wants something different.
May 3, 2018
A collection of mystery-ish stories told from the POV of Leon, a cat geneteched to have opposable thumbs, human-level intelligence, and the ability to speak. In a somewhat logic-stretching move, a "small town" space station's security department bought one of these very very expensive cats to help them solve a case. Each of the other five stories in the book involve Leon and his human cop/partner solving other cases.
The first story (Leon as a kitten, just arriving on the space station, everything new to him) was the best by far. I would have rated the book higher, if it were only that story.
One of the reasons this book sat in my To Read pile so long was the title. To be honest, I had picked up this book expecting it to be so bad that it might be amusing. It wasn't bad at all -- it was exactly what it billed itself to be. I'm not a mystery book reader though, and the whole 'noir' genre doesn't work for me, so through my own fault, the book wasn't a good match for me. As the stories went along, Leon's voice changed, and it was more and more sounding like noir, so eventually I bailed. I stopped reading at the 63% point, in the middle of the third story.
The first story (Leon as a kitten, just arriving on the space station, everything new to him) was the best by far. I would have rated the book higher, if it were only that story.
One of the reasons this book sat in my To Read pile so long was the title. To be honest, I had picked up this book expecting it to be so bad that it might be amusing. It wasn't bad at all -- it was exactly what it billed itself to be. I'm not a mystery book reader though, and the whole 'noir' genre doesn't work for me, so through my own fault, the book wasn't a good match for me. As the stories went along, Leon's voice changed, and it was more and more sounding like noir, so eventually I bailed. I stopped reading at the 63% point, in the middle of the third story.
September 6, 2016
Jeff found this at the Library sale of books, it was a good find! I have really enjoyed it! It is an old fashioned science fiction story with several different alien species (but the action is focused on the humans) with an alien landscape (off earth colony) political intrigue (several species living together on the planet) cops and underground power brokers or operatives" who know the city better than anyone, Artificial Intelligence that becomes more and more aware, a space chase to save yet another new species, telepathy across species which is interesting, esp the effects on an alien who cannot speak and some schizophrenic humans who think God is talking to them,and a little love story. But it all works. A fast paced story in which people who I thought ere just going t block each other start to work together. In fact the amount of cooperation is a big reason why I liked it. This author is more known for writing the "Devenerry" series of like 18 books of fantasy in a pre-Celtic land. I may have to check ne of those out too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews