Deep within hostile Reeh Empire space, the UFS Phoenix is hunting another AI queen. This one is named Chion, and she has been installed at the heart of Reeh Empire power, enslaved against her will, for the past 8,000 years. Within her vast knowledge lies the most intimate data on Nia, the deepynine queen now threatening humanity's very existence. Freeing Chion could be the key to beating Nia, and saving humanity. But Phoenix's allied drysine queen Styx, and Chion's AI former sidekick Shali, both want Chion for their own purposes. And Chion, of course, will be defended by the full might of the Reeh Empire. To free her, Phoenix and Styx must win control of an AI fleet known as Raka, derived from Nia's deepynine technology long ago, and used by the Reeh Empire for special missions. But this will mean placing the most powerful AI war fleet in known space into the hands of Styx. Shali insists it's suicide, and every bit the existential threat to humanity that Nia is. But do Captain Debogande and Major Thakur have any other choice?

Cassandra Kresnov--a highly advanced hunter-killer android--returns to face down a rogue government's plot to eliminate free will.       Commander Cassandra Kresnov has her hands full. She must lead an assault against the Federation world of Pyeongwha, where a terrible sociological phenomenon has unleashed hell against the civilian population. Then she faces the threat from a portion of League space known as New Torah, in which a ruthless regime of surviving corporations are building new synthetic soldiers but taking the technology in alarming directions.      On the Torahn world of Pantala, Sandy encounters betrayal, crisis, and conspiracy on a scale previously unimaginable. Most challenging of all, she also meets three young street kids who stir emotions in her she didn't think she was capable of. Can the Federation's most lethal killer afford unexpected sentiment? What will be the cost if she is forced to choose between them and her mission, not only to her cause, but to her soul?

From Publishers WeeklyShephard's epic gets off to a slow start as feisty bladeswoman Sasha, her master, her princely brothers and Jaryd, a local heir, lecture one another about religious differences amid a hodgepodge of names and invented terms. Jaryd saves Sasha from treachery after a fight, and the consequences accelerate toward war between the overlord Hadryn and the common Udalyn. Soon Sasha finds herself at the head of an army, facing her honest but deeply conflicted father. Rumors of war outside the kingdom point to larger conflicts down the road. Sasha is young, impetuous and contradictory, but impassioned about doing the right thing if she can figure out what it is. Once Shepherd (the Cassandra Kresnov series) finds his stride, the second half of the book crackles with intriguing characters, witty banter and vivid, realistic battles, leaving readers optimistic about the planned sequels. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"[H]ighly readable. It is an original and fresh heroic fantasy, showcasing a well drawn, well realized world filled with fascinating, three dimensional characters who pulled me in for the ride and carried me away. I got totally sucked into this book, completely against all expectations, which, when you think about it, makes it all the better... Joel Shepherd's first foray into fantasy has paid dividends with this book - it is the first such fantasy I have read in a long time where I finished the last page, put it down and thought, I wonder when the next one will come out. I hope Shepherd revisits Sasha's world soon - there's a lot of story to explore!" -- Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine "The whole book had me hardly able to put it down, and my perpetual human need for sleep continually stood in the way of decent reading time. The vague allusions towards what will come in the sequel...Petrodor has me eager to read more. This is definitely a book you will want to pick up. Not the worlds hardest read, but downright and thoroughly enjoyable." --Fantasy Book Review "Should please fans of, say, George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels." --Booklist

In this third title in Joel Shepherd's gripping quartet, we are reunited with the fearless heroine Sasha, Errollyn and the other familiar characters from SASHA and PETRODOR. The net is really closing in now, with the whole of Rhodia at war and the serrin – the beautiful and dangerous people from beyond the Bacosh – fighting for survival. The revolutionary politics of Tracato, and the clandestine attempts by the feudalists to hold onto power, are gripping and full of intrigue. The characters who were developing in the previous title blossom into their roles here, sharing the arena with Sasha, giving this novel an extra dimension that readers will love.