From Publishers Weekly
In this subtle though engrossing novel by the author of The Seeds of Time, a seemingly deserted planet morphs into a jungle filled with predators and secrets. During an uneasy peace following a long war against the only other known sentient race, the ahtra, Captain Eli Dammond diverts his ship from its primary missionDto transport a general's familyDin response to an SOS from a barren planet. Upon landing, Dammond finds the captain and crew of a stranded military craft that has been missing for three years, and Dammond must investigate the crash to determine if the captain and her crew were deserters. Having found an empty burrowing craft, Dammond explores below the surface. There he is captured and drawn deeper into the previously unknown subterranean homeworld of the ahtra, while above ground the stage is set for a new attack by the ahtra forces on the small band of unsuspecting humans. The author deftly interweaves the viewpoints of Drammond and two ahtra ill at ease in their repressive society with that of 14-year-old Sascha, coming of age on the planet's surface as the heavily outmatched humans battle for survival. Kenyon's vision of a unique universe ranks with those of such science-fiction greats as Frank Herbert and Orson Scott Card. Kenyon should prepare herself: readers will anxiously anticipate a sequel. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the bloody war that ended between Th Congress Worlds and the alien ahtra, Captain Eli Dammond had distinguished himself as an officer who could no wrong—until his last catastrophic battle. Now, with his shining reputation tarnished, the commander finds himself assigned to a grimy kettle of a ship making basic transport missions. Routine work -until he arrives on Null: a barren, scorned world at the mercy of two suns. Here, a marooned human outpost has survived for three years until their rescue by Eli's ship. But on this austere planet, the human newcomers are about to learn a harsh lesson: that nothing is quite as it seems. For soon a new season will call forth a hidden ecology both exquisite and deadly. And Null will test the survivors in a fight no soldier was ever trained for, and few can predict - while a young the survivors in a fight no soldier was trained for, and few predict - while a young woman of privilege may well prove to be their finest warrior.

Yet for Eli Dammond, the worst struggle will unfold below the surface. There he will discover a threat to all the settle human worlds, even as he matches wits an adversary both familiar and alien. The odds are against human survival on null's surface or indeed, in the galaxy— unless Eli succeeds in bringing home the hard-won secret that neither human nor ahtra can hear.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this subtle though engrossing novel by the author of The Seeds of Time, a seemingly deserted planet morphs into a jungle filled with predators and secrets. During an uneasy peace following a long war against the only other known sentient race, the ahtra, Captain Eli Dammond diverts his ship from its primary mission--to transport a general's family--in response to an SOS from a barren planet. Upon landing, Dammond finds the captain and crew of a stranded military craft that has been missing for three years, and Dammond must investigate the crash to determine if the captain and her crew were deserters. Having found an empty burrowing craft, Dammond explores below the surface. There he is captured and drawn deeper into the previously unknown subterranean homeworld of the ahtra, while above ground the stage is set for a new attack by the ahtra forces on the small band of unsuspecting humans. The author deftly interweaves the viewpoints of Drammond and two ahtra ill at ease in their repressive society with that of 14-year-old Sascha, coming of age on the planet's surface as the heavily outmatched humans battle for survival. Kenyon's vision of a unique universe ranks with those of such science-fiction greats as Frank Herbert and Orson Scott Card. Kenyon should prepare herself: readers will anxiously anticipate a sequel. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

Do humans and aliens such as ahtra share the same DNA? Could a planet as desolate as a desert turn into a lush forest in the blink of an eye? On the planet Null, so named by the humans for its stark landscape, Captain Eli Dammond lives in the midst of these questions. While investigating a fallen ship from the previous human-ahtra war and while watching over the general's granddaughter, Sascha, who travels along with her family, Dammond discovers an entrance into an underground civilization of alien beings known as ahtras. When he arrives DownWorld, Dammond is immediately captured and held hostage. His official conduit to the alien culture is Maret, a female ahtra, who explains their rituals, ceremonies, and lifestyles. Maret and others are planning a revolt. While conflict occurs below, UpWorld the season changes swiftly and creatures never seen before emerge. These creatures savagely kill many of Dammond's soldiers as well as Sascha's father and mother. Then life changes drastically for Sascha as she is tended to by a vone after becoming injured. The vones are generally deadly creatures, although in a bizarre way, they help the ahtra to perpetuate their species. In the end, Sascha's union with a vone makes her a perfect ambassador to inspire peace between human and alien. Kenyon skillfully creates a foreign world for the ahtras yet still this world contains a bevy of human emotions and desires. The conversations between Dammond and his captors inspire many philosophical arguments about religion, duty, governmental corruption, and desperation. The characters are multifaceted and well developed and the excitement never flags. The fear among the characters UpWorld is palpable as well. YAswho enjoy military SF as well as epic SF should try this original novel. Highly recommended. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Bantam/Spectra, 387p, 18cm, $5.99. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Ginger Armstrong; Principal Lib. Assoc., Chesterfield Cty P.L., Chesterfield, VA, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)

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