From Amazon
The second novel in Tiedemann's Secantis Sequence series is convincing military science fiction with an emphasis on the human costs of war.
Cira Kalinge and Alexan Cambion are officers of the Armada, the military force that keeps the peace among the settled worlds of the Pan Humana. When Alexan's home world declares secession from the Pan, Cira and Alexan are part of the force dispatched to enforce order among the dissidents. What seems like a straightforward mission escalates into a conflict that will force all parties into difficult and damaging choices, and will change their lives irrevocably.
Although this is a standalone novel, Tiedemann builds successfully on the background established in his first Secantis novel, Compass Reach (a Philip K. Dick Award nominee), to create a highly believable historical background and political system, weaving the experiences of various characters together in a fast-paced story that never loses its emotional focus on the effects of war on the people involved. --Roz Genessee
Book Description
When Cira Kalinge signed on with the Armada, she thought her staid, provincial family disowning her was the worst thing that could happen. Then the Secession happened and she found herself on a carrier heading for the Distal colonies to carry out a suppression of other humans, humans who had apparently chosen to cast their fortunes with nonhumans in defiance of the Pan Humana edicts severing all contact with the seti races. And when she ended up the sole survivor of the entire fighter contingent of her task force, grounded on Finders during the worst days of the chaos of open rebellion, living precariously for the day the Armada returned to reclaim Finders, the last thing she expected was to be betrayed by the very service for which she had given up everything else. For Alexan Cambion, volunteering for combat duty seemed the ideal way to justify his father's faith in him, fighting to preserve the Pan Humana. But when he returns to his homeworld--Finders--shot down and captured in the first open engagement of the Secession, he learns to his dismay that every action he has taken since leaving Finders for Armada service has been exactly the opposite of what his father intended, and the welcome he expects becomes a nightmare. Sean Merrick did not start his career as a double agent, but as the Secession began he found his sympathies siding more and more with the secessionists. As the battle of Finders rages and he travels the boundary between the Distals and the Pan, he learns how impossible it is to stay aloof and uncommitted. In the end, all of them must decide between loyalty and morality, family and integrity, duty and truth.
About the Author
The year Mark Tiedemann was born, the Dow Jones finally broke its previous high from 1929 by closing at 404, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" premiered, and Isaac Asimov published his "Caves of Steel", all of which bode weird for a strange life. After that, events took several turns for the unexpected.
Mark has been publishing science fiction and fantasy stories since 1990, a couple of years after attending Clarion with instructors like Tim Powers and Samuel R. Delany. His short story "Psych," was included in the 12th Annual "Year's Best Fantasy & Horror", and in the last couple of years his has published a few novels--Mirage and Chimera in the Asimov's Robot Mystery series, Compass Reach, volume one of the Secantis Sequence, and stand-alone Realtime. He has several more novels coming out, especially Metal of Night, volume two of the Secantis Sequence, from Meisha Merlin.
All these novels have made him a happy writer, which is a Very Good
Thing.
