Known for “combining galaxy-spanning adventure with the genuine novel of ideas “ (The washington post Book world), multiple Nebula Award-nominee Jack Mcoevitt returns to the world of Chindi and Omega-and humanity's struggle with its own existence…

Deep space has never paid off. Interstellar travel and industrialize-tion never materialized on the grand scale once thought possible. Meanwhile. The greenhouse effect is taking its toll on Earth.

Famed journalist Gregory MacAllister has put all his efforts behind a cam-paign to cut funding for the Academy and its deep-space programs. In order to focus on more practical concerns Earthside. In an effort to stir waning public interest, the Academy mounts a mission to learn the truth about “moon-riders,” the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems.

Academy pilot Valentina Kouros will be at the helm of the starship Salvator. Along for the ride is MacAllister, who hopes to turn the hunt into a book; the Academy's public-relations direc-tor; and the fifteen-year-old dauht-ter of a Senator. As they chase moonrider continued on back flap…

Continued from front flap…

Sightings along the Blue Route -the star paths frequently traveled by tour-ists-the team will soon discover that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined…

 

Jack McDevitt is a former naval officer, taxi driver, English teacher, customs officer, and moti-vational trainer. He is a multiple nebula Award finalist who lives in Georgia with his wife, Maureen.