Coyote Rising

November 8, 2004
Hugo-winner Steele's stirring second entry in the interstellar frontier saga that began with Coyote
(2002) dramatizes the growing tensions between groups of pioneers on Coyote, a recently discovered world in the 47 Ursae Majoris system. Coyote's first settlers fled tyranny on Earth, so they're disconcerted by the arrival of starships full of colonists sent by a different dictatorship. Unavoidable conflict between the people who want to be left alone and those who need to dominate leads to intrigue, raids and eventually full-scale revolt. Perhaps inevitably (since it was first published as a series of stories in Asimov's
), the novel deals with scattered episodes from that struggle, so that characters appear, perform some necessary action, and vanish just as readers have gotten interested in them. However, Steele presents his characters convincingly enough to account for their selfless or calculating behavior, and it makes sense for the story to focus on larger social evolution rather than individuals. In any event, the book's real center is its setting. Coyote offers forests, mountains, prairies, rivers in a panorama strange enough to rouse awe, vast enough to give all manner of humans room to find themselves. Happily, by the end the little war is finished, but this big, wonderful world is still waiting to be explored. Agent, Martha Millard.

December 1, 2004
Sent to colonize the distant world of Coyote, the passengers of the starship Alabama took matters into their own hands and established their own base in rebellion against the repressive governor of the colony of New Florida. As slave laborers struggle to build a massive bridge for the good of the government, the rebels, under the leadership of a mysterious figure known as Rigil Kent, wait for the right moment to strike a blow for the freedom of their new world. Steele's sequel to his acclaimed Coyote gives voice to numerous characters, from the notorious Madwoman of Shuttlefield and the prophet Zoltan Shirow, to a young composer and an idealistic architect, all of whom have a destiny in a world meant to give new life to the human race. A good selection for most libraries.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2004
The settlers on Coyote from the starship " Alabama" have a problem. Their fellow humans have followed them and now threaten their refuge with overpopulation and authoritarian governments. Under the name Rigil Kent, Carlos Montero is trying to assemble the human and other resources for a revolution, for which Captain R. E. Lee survives as an inspiring symbol. Meanwhile, the Reverend Zoltan Shirow contributes intelligently depicted messianic fervor to public life, with consequences yet to be determined. Those three characters, a good many lesser ones, and the situation as a whole smack distinctly of Heinlein, especially in " The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress " (1966), and the book is not entirely free of libertarian preaching. On the other hand, it is full of good and even vivid writing, so readers who don't reject on philosophical grounds the strand of the sf heritage that its proclivities represent may thoroughly enjoy it. Such nonrejecting readers are numerous; after all, Steele has two reader-bestowed Hugos to his credit. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)