Materials: A Visual Approach (Separate Science a Visual Approach) Book

This is a setup book for the others in the Starship Troupers series. You follow two main characters: The director of a troup of actors, who is setting up a group of actors to tour the stars; and a young man who's found himself fleeing from a bad situation and finds a job he would never had applied for.

This takes place during the 'creation' time of Christopher Stasheff's universe when the LORDS party is starting to gain power. There are hints in the universe of this series will merge with the storyline of the Warlock Series.

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on a personal note: I was learning tech from going to science fiction conventions at the time and found myself liking the behind the scenes items as well as the interplay of the actors. In this book, the actors are just showing themselves and like an audition, there is very little to see of them but promise.