Harmony Book

Within a space opera landscape, H armony explores the spirituality of a different human culture bound by a rigid caste system.

Laudae Sissy, the new H igh Priestess of the world called H armony, reaches across all seven castes of her society, seeking a new unity that will protect their isolation from the rest of the galaxy. But other cultures and races are testing their borders, searching for the most valuable commodity in civilized space. Sissy's quest leads her through a quagmire of human motivations in search of a new understanding of life upon H armony's Path.

Publishers Weekly

Cultures clash and romance blooms in this tepid series opener set on Harmony, a cult-governed planet. The highest ranks of the Harmonic Empire have rewritten history to hide its origins and maintain the harsh caste-based social order that supports the rich and powerful while keeping the underclasses trapped in slavery. Harmony is also the only source of "Badger Metal," used to shield spaceships from the vagaries of radiation and hyperspace. The Confederated Star Systems desperately need the material for warships, and they send CSS Maj. Jake Hannigan undercover to Harmony to obtain the secret of making Badger Metal. His task is complicated by the social and political shakeup when Sissy, a pious young Worker caste woman, reveals a gift for prophecy and an amazing ability to quell earthquakes and storms by emotionally bonding with the planet itself. Historian Bentley's blend of mysticism, space opera and social commentary is too scattered and self-conscious to rise above its familiar themes. (Aug.)

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