Here is the second entry in a new young-adult series by New York Times
best seller David Weber and the prequel to the hugely popular Honor
Harrington adult science-fiction saga.
Fire in the forest - and a cry for help from a trapped and desperate
alien mother! Unfortunately, this is one cry no human can hear.
Stephanie Harrington, precocious 14-year-old Provisional Forest Ranger
on the planet Sphinx, knows something is wrong from the uneasy emotion
that is flooding into her from her treecat friend, Climbs Quickly. But
though Stephanie's alien comrade shares a tight bond with his two-legs,
whom he knows as Death Fang's Bane, he cannot communicate directly to
her the anguished call from one of his people. Still, their strong and
direct bond of feeling may be enough. Stephanie and fellow ranger Karl
Zivonik respond to Climbs Quickly's rising waves of distress.
Fire season on the pioneer world of Sphinx has begun. But there are
those who want to use the natural cycle of the planet for personal
gain - and to get rid of the one obstacle that stands in the way of
acquiring even greater land and power on Spinx: the native treecats.
Now it's up to Stephanie and Climbs Quickly, along with their friends,
family, and allies, to prevent disaster and injustice from befalling a
treecat clan. But in the process, Stephanie must be certain to preserve
the greatest secret all. It is the knowledge that the treecats of Sphinx
are not merely pets or servants, but are highly intelligent in their own
right - that they are a species fully deserving of rights, respect, and
freedom. And keeping the secret that will allow the treecats time to
develop a mutually beneficial relationship with humankind all begins
with the friendship of a girl and her treecat.
