The third collection of Coyote stories continues to maintain a high standard, and this group of eight related tales is of similar quality to the first collection.

A European Alliance ship arrives at Coyote, which opens the way for negotiations between Earth and the Coyote Federation. The big news is they have Starbridge technology, which, when built, will make travel time between the two worlds near-immediate, as opposed to a work of decades or at least a lengthy period, given improving ship technology.

This brings political manoeuvring, diplomacy and skullduggery, as Earth is desperate, given their extreme depletion of resources, even with a few fledging off-planet colonies. Coyote is still the only immediately inhabitable world found.

Not everyone on Coyote agrees with what happens, and pro and anti-development feelings exist, and the planet has a definite history of rebellion. Then there's the Spindrift story and the disappearance of the Galileo to be considered.

The main series continues to impress.

Coyote Frontier : Bridge Of Stars - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : The Wayfaring Stranger - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : The Black Mountains - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : A Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : Emissary To Earth - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : Quartet For Four Seasons - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : Parson's Rebellion - Allen M. Steele
Coyote Frontier : Will The Circle Be Broken - Allen M. Steele

A European Alliance starship arrives at Coyote, complete with Starbridge technology and an old ally.

4 out of 5

A shipjumping second officer ends up in a Savant study.

4 out of 5

Communicating with the natives.

3.5 out of 5

Taking the new captain to see the locals.

3 out of 5

Carlos and Wendy make an official visit to get Coyote recognised, and get deeply involved in politics and diplomacy.

4 out of 5

A billionaire's arrival, a lot of horses, a son's revenge, and development plans.

3.5 out of 5

Unhappy with developments, some of Coyote get revolutionary again.

4 out of 5

A wedding and a Spindrift visitor.

3.5 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/05... ( )

Maybe not as good a read as the previous two books, but by this point, you want to find out what happens to Coyote. ( )

The story of Coyote continues as the colonists struggle with the inevitable wearing out of high-tech devices imported from Earth, which is 46 light years distant. But scientists have cracked the problem of extremely long journeys with the starbridge that can open up a wormhole between Coyote and Earth, making travel between the two almost instantaneous. This creates both opportunities and challenges for people on both worlds.

Steele remains at the top of list of fave SF authors: his books pack quite the punch. Characters you can relate to, a good story, and questions that make you think. Steele's work in the Coyote series will be the standard in which I judge other colonization novels, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. The Coyote trilogy is one I happily recommend to anyone who enjoys SF, but please, do yourself a favor and read the books in order. The individual books lose their complete impact otherwise.

For a full review, which may or may not include spoilers, please click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.co... ( )

http://home.earthlink.net/~karen20000... ( )