Eldenstar The Trade Wind

Special Tactics officer Elden meets military pilot Marc Franklin. Both are recently retired from active duty-and in a spot! She has stowed away on a malfunctioning spaceship. Her technical skills could save them or at least delay the inevitable.

Risk comes in the form of a futuristic empire, lawless raiders, and the broken devices of a broken world. Elden and Marc are running from the first, at risk from the second, and trying not to die from the third.

Marc is an "outside thinker," but then, Elden isn't exactly predictable either. While she is modern and high-tech, she also craves the world of the soil and a plain, basic family. Elden and her friends depend on battle tactics which are both new and old. Marc and Elden share the journey through beautiful worlds... and by dangerous passageways. Ultimately, Elden's own planet must make a stand.

Some history is woven into the plot. "A Twentieth-Century Glossary" (Patrick's potpourri essay on history) is included in the back of the book. The themes are upbeat. The time is recent. The author's conversations with veterans are visible in the storyline and characters of the book. Emphasis is on quiet sacrifice and costly investment. Eldenstar is not a "his" or "her" book. Read it together.