Synopsis
Searching the galaxy for an elusive utopian planet known as the world of the Three Kings, a desperately indebted salvage team tries to recreate the journey of a starfaring evangelist who disappeared after discovering its location. Reprint.
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From Publishers Weekly
This serviceable action-SF novel of far-future starfaring opens with a useful prologue, bringing the reader up to speed on the planets called the Three Kings Balshazzar, Melchior and Kaspar, satellites of a gas giant and the source of incredibly valuable alien artifacts and the events of the first book in the series, Balshazzar's Serpent (2000). To set up the journey to volcanic, overheated and alien-inhabited Melchior, the author spends nearly half the novel driving his characters, a piratical interstellar salvage crew, to the verge of bankruptcy or worse. They suffer this fate on a deserted colony planet, through the agency of an alien entity who has ingested the previous colonists and is considerably more interesting than anything they later encounter. Thanks to a media mogul, the salvagers embark on a perilous journey through "wild wormholes" to the Three Kings. Once in the system, they discover that Balshazzar holds colonies from several races under a benign but total alien despotism. Reaching Melchior, the spacefarers find it positively swarming with alien races at which point the action slams to a cliffhanger ending as the crew barely survives a telepathic attack. The author has apparently tried to cram two comparatively self-contained tales into a book so short that neither story is really developed adequately. One can only hope Chalker will devote more attention to narrative technique in the inevitable saga of ice-bound Kaspar, last of the Three Kings.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Melchior's Fire
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Melchior's Fire
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Unknown. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0743435834I5N00
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Melchior's Fire
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Unknown. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0743435834I3N00
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Melchior's Fire
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
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Unknown. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0743435834I3N00
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Melchior's Fire
Seller: Better World Books: West, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
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Condition: Good. First Printing. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 4124335-75
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Melchior's Fire
Seller: HPB-Movies, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
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mass_market. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_454797961
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Melchior's Fire
Published by
Baen, 2003
ISBN 10: 0743435834
ISBN 13: 9780743435833
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First Edition
Seller: Browse Awhile Books, Tipp City, OH, U.S.A.
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Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Fine. 1st Printing. The second book in the Three Kings series. Bob Eggleton cover art. Seller Inventory # 01052308
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MECHIOR'S FIRE
Seller: Fantastic Literature Limited, Rayleigh, ESSEX, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Paperback. near fine paperback, cover by Bob Eggleton, 1st printing. They call it the worlds of the Three Kings, a legendary star system laden with riches beyond imagining. Now, one determined band of seekers desperately in debt are determined to find the Three Kings. Seller Inventory # FM20.112
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Melchior's Fire
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Melchior's Fire
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Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # 5F97_18_0743435834