Siduri's Net

Rating:
Summary: Good ethnic space-opera
Review: Subtitled "Cloudships Of Orion" - these ships harvest tritium & other
fusion-fuels from comets, nebulae & protostars - a fine and somewhat
Benfordian backstory.

"Siduri's Net" is a newish cloudship, still paying back her
constructon loan. "Net" has a Gypsy sailmaster and Greek captain & pilot,
in a Slav-majority ship and culture. "Net"s parent-ship dumped most of
her non-Slavs into the new hull. A Russian-dominated planet is the sole
customer for both cloudships, and is maneuvering to take over the 'ships to
cut their fuel costs. Eastern-Europe political & ethnic tensions, translated to
a mid-future setting, is the most distinctive feature of the book, her best to
date. The sequel is "Maia's Veil" (Roc pb, 1995); I'm happy to report that
"Net" is a self-contained story.

PS: "Maia's" is also good, if not quite up to the first. There is a 3rd book
out in the series, which I haven't yet read.

Also note that "PK McAllister" = Paula King = Paula Downing. I don't know why she has so many identities.

Rating:
Summary: Good ethnic space-opera
Review: Subtitled "Cloudships Of Orion" - these ships harvest tritium & other
fusion-fuels from comets, nebulae & protostars - a fine and somewhat
Benfordian backstory.

"Siduri's Net" is a newish cloudship, still paying back her
constructon loan. "Net" has a Gypsy sailmaster and Greek captain & pilot,
in a Slav-majority ship and culture. "Net"s parent-ship dumped most of
her non-Slavs into the new hull. A Russian-dominated planet is the sole
customer for both cloudships, and is maneuvering to take over the 'ships to
cut their fuel costs. Eastern-Europe political & ethnic tensions, translated to
a mid-future setting, is the most distinctive feature of the book, her best to
date. The sequel is "Maia's Veil" (Roc pb, 1995); I'm happy to report that
"Net" is a self-contained story.

PS: "Maia's" is also good, if not quite up to the first. There is a 3rd book
out in the series, which I haven't yet read.

Also note that "PK McAllister" = Paula King = Paula Downing. I don't know why she has so many identities.