The spaces between space are full of dragons. The colonists on Guera went mad--one of the plague of mutations that affected all human colonies and drove Earth back from the stars--but their controlled madness meant that they and they alone could cope with hyperspace, could ask the Earth humans they and other new human species hate for past betrayal back into space. But a virus is infecting the human-machine interfaces by which they live and stay sane, and Earth's racists are the prime suspects. Meanwhile, Jamisia, the subject of endless experiments and host to a myriad of alternate personalities, flees Earth's bloody corporate politics in pursuit of safe haven--and everyone wants a piece of her. The hacker known as Phoenix just wants revenge on the makers of the virus for the death of friends.

C.S. Friedman's galaxy full of altered humanities and vicious politics has room in it for tenderness and honor; this is a satisfying space opera because it is full of characters, some of whom will do the right thing. She is good on what stays the same when things change--the austere, mad, security expert Masada and the sweet slob Phoenix are recognizable types, but attractively individualized. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
In a far-future interstellar society, star travel is monopolized by the Outspace Guild, which controls the only method of faster-than-light travel that doesn't result in horrible mutations among the star travelers. Now a deadly software virus is attacking Guild members, so the Guild's investigators, led by Dr. Masada, must learn where it came from and how to defeat it before interstellar society breaks down. Meanwhile, a young woman, Jamisia Shido, has to flee for her life from a space habitat near Earth, where all mutations are forbidden and launched, if discovered, into Guild-controlled interstellar space. Secret illegal therapy for a disaster that killed her parents has left Jamisia with an acute form of multiple-personality disorder?and may have made her the key in the fight against the virus. The plot of this stout novel is simple, with few really original details, and the Guild and Jamisia subplots fail to connect until far into the story. Still, Friedman (the Coldfire trilogy) keeps her tale moving at a vigorous pace that's boosted through an abundance of well-chosen details, such as those accruing to the characterization of Jamisia's unruly guest personality. The novel may read like a cross between cyberpunk and Star Wars, but it is likely to hold readers' interest tenaciously. The ending neither requires nor precludes a sequel, so readers are left with some hope of again encountering Jamisia and the duel between the Guild and Earth that backdrops her adventures. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas
In interweaving the many threads of her narrative, Friedman has created a potent metaphor for the toleration of diversity...

Book Description
In the first age of Earth's colonization of space, the FTL drive that powered the starships caused severe genetic damage in the colonists. Generations later, a new mutant race arises, one which can safely conduct people between the stars. But since they use their ability to tightly control all interstellar commerce, rival interests soon seek to break the monopoly. An when a lab-raised young woman narrowly escapes kidnapping, even as a rogue computer virus wreaks havoc on the interstellar "Net," she must flee into "alien shores", evading her persuers while attempting to uncover the secrets of her own existence.

Praise for C.S. Friedman's Cold Fire trilogy:

"The creative genius of C.S. Friedman burns brightly with the publication of her stunning new novel, blending elements of science fiction and fantasy into an extraordinary reading experience."-- Rave Reviews

"Friedman writes cogently on the nature of human desire for knowledge and the dangerous covenants necessary to attain it...."-- Publishers Weekly

"Some of the best writing I have seen in quite a while, and the ending is excellent. Very highly recommended."-- Science Fiction Review

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It is the second age of space colonization. The first age, humanity's initial attempt to people the stars, ended in disaster when it was discovered that Earth's original super-luminal drive did lasting genetic damage to all who used it - permanently mutating Earth's far-flung colonists in mind and body. Abandoned by their home planet, exiles in alien star systems, these variant humans had no choice but to survive any way they could. Jamisia has always lived in Shido Habitat, a corporate satellite in Earth's outer orbit. She has no memories of her parents, but has been nurtured by the fatherly care of her tutor. Protected by her biological brain-ware systems, and accompanied by the many voices in her head, she has grown into a resourceful, if unusual, young woman. When Shido is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, Jamisia's tutor risks his life to smuggle her onto a ship bound for the nearest ainniq - the Gueran jump station to the Up-and-Out. But before he dies, he tells her something which rocks the foundation of her world - the raiders were searching for her....

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In a far-future interstellar society, star travel is monopolized by the Outspace Guild, which controls the only method of faster-than-light travel that doesn't result in horrible mutations among the star travelers. Now a deadly software virus is attacking Guild members, so the Guild's investigators, led by Dr. Masada, must learn where it came from and how to defeat it before interstellar society breaks down. Meanwhile, a young woman, Jamisia Shido, has to flee for her life from a space habitat near Earth, where all mutations are forbidden and launched, if discovered, into Guild-controlled interstellar space. Secret illegal therapy for a disaster that killed her parents has left Jamisia with an acute form of multiple-personality disorder--and may have made her the key in the fight against the virus. The plot of this stout novel is simple, with few really original details, and the Guild and Jamisia subplots fail to connect until far into the story. Still, Friedman (the Coldfire trilogy) keeps her tale moving at a vigorous pace that's boosted through an abundance of well-chosen details, such as those accruing to the characterization of Jamisia's unruly guest personality. The novel may read like a cross between cyberpunk and Star Wars, but it is likely to hold readers' interest tenaciously. The ending neither requires nor precludes a sequel, so readers are left with some hope of again encountering Jamisia and the duel between the Guild and Earth that backdrops her adventures. (Nov.)

VOYA - Marsha Valance

Shocked by mutations caused by FTL (faster-than-light) travel, generations ago Earth's population withdrew from interstellar space, abandoning struggling colonies. When the colonist's descendants, the mutated Variants, rediscovered FTL travel only Gueran pilots (members of the Outspace Guild) could bring them safely through the anniq. This transportation monopoly offers the Guild almost total control over interstellar trade-a situation frustrating for Earth's corporations. Now a computer virus is attacking the minds of the Gueran pilots, threatening to disrupt the communication and trade upon which human civilization depends. Suddenly, Jamisia, an orphaned teenage girl reared in the Shido Corporation's Earth-orbit habitat, is rousted from bed into an escape pod during a corporate raid and shot off toward a rendezvous with an interstellar liner, pursued by the raiders who were after her all along. Jamisia must discover both who she is and why she is being pursued before she can figure out how to escape. During her flight, the reader gains an overview of the disparate cultures of the habitats, the interstellar liners, the Variant colonies, and the interstellar space stations where the Earthies and Variants meet to trade. Aided by a Gueran theoretician, a station "moddie" (computer hacker), and the Outspace Guild themselves, Jamisia and the multiple personalities that occupy her body must work together for the survival not only of a teenage girl, but of civilization itself. A must buy for all high school libraries, Friedman's novel is a fast-paced flight through a well-constructed future civilization. Her viewpoint characters are vividly realized and sympathetic, as are the supporting cast, the credible settings, and the varied motivations-all of which are rendered believable through minimal exposition. This combination of a disaster thriller with a coming-of-age novel has a skillful pacing, which carries the reader along so that the length and depth of the book are not overwhelming. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12 and adults).

Gerald Jonas