Derelict for Trade: A Great New Solar Queen Adventure - Hardcover

Norton, Andre; Smith, Sherwood

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312859198 ISBN 13: 9780312859190

Publisher: Tor Books, 1997

Synopsis

In this brand-new space thriller, the Solar Queen is in real trouble. After saving thousands of lives in a near disaster, the crew are heroes, and they're ready to cash in their newfound celebrity for some profitable trade. But when they come out of hyper and almost crash into a deserted ship, they nearly find themselves dead on arrival.
Luckily, the derelict has fuel enough to get both ships to the nearest port - an eerily beautiful space habitat. Three races, human, Kanddoyd, and Shver, share the facilities; but a fourth species - bureaucrats - nearly scuttles the Queen's crew and their claim to the derelict.
What started out as a lucky stop at the habitat turns into a series of treacherous misadventures as an alien stowaway, a gang of intergalactic spacejackers, and an ultraviolent clan of aliens threaten to make this the Solar Queen's final run.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Another adventure, and a new collaboration, for the trading ship Solar Queen (Redline the Stars, with P.M. Griffin, 1993), whose crew survives intact from the previous volume--though ship's medic Rael Cofort has shed her ``wonder woman'' image and settled down among equals. As the Solar Queen, desperately short of fuel, hurtles out of hyperspace, it nearly crashes into an abandoned vessel; Captain Jellico decides to tow the derelict to the space habitat Harmonious Exchange and claim salvage rights. But the authorities at Exchange--it's run mostly by the alien Kanddoyds- -seem disinclined to cooperate: They won't divulge information about the previous owners, for one thing, and Solar Queen's crew soon discover elements of a conspiracy whose function is to hijack lone vessels. Finding allies among the outcasts of Exchange, many of whom are indirect victims of hijackers, and menaced by huge alien Shver cops who tend to shoot first and ask questions later, Captain Jellico and others must discover who's behind the conspiracy before the bad guys can cover their tracks and strike back. A brisk, well-turned, agreeable adventure; fans of Norton's Witch World and other fantasies might find it a worthwhile change of scenery. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

This continuation of Norton's long-lived Solar Queen saga is noticeably superior to the last, Redline the Stars (1993). Free trader ship Solar Queen comes out of hyperspace dangerously short of fuel and saves herself by encountering a derelict starship that it then tows to a three-species space habitat, where the derelict promptly makes the Solar Queen crew the target of legal, financial, and outright homicidal chicanery. It will surprise no one to learn that the good guys and gals win, but it may surprise even old, faithful fans how thoroughly the series in particular and Norton's universe in general have been updated. It is almost unbelievable that this series was in its heyday 30 years ago. On the other hand, in many aspects of sf and fantasy that modern readers have come to take for granted, Norton was 30 years ahead of her time. Read and enjoy. Roland Green

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0312859198
• ISBN 13: 9780312859190
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 283