Description:

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly 3000 years in the future, much of mankind lives on struggling colony worlds connected by a few Goldenwings, vast ships sailing the tachyon wind. To the planetbound, the technologically superior crews of the Goldenwings appear almost immortal because of their ability to travel through time at near light-speed. Living together uneasily on Planet Voerster, settled thousands of years ago by Afrikaner refugees from South Africa determined to continue their way of life, are the white Voertrekkers, the black Kaffirs and the Planetians, genetically engineered to live at high altitudes. The arrival of the Goldenwing "Glory," bearing livestock ordered generations ago, threatens to disrupt the balance of power established a millennium earlier during the Great Kaffir Rebellion, which led to greater suppression of the blacks. Ian Voerster, Voertrekker-Praesident, plans to marry his only daughter, Broni, to a Planetian despite the opposition of his strong-willed wife Eliana, who fears the frail girl will not survive in the brutal high-altitude Planetian habitat. As the domestic struggle escalates, the hidden cracks of a petrified patriarchal society begin to widen. Coppel's ( The Hastings Conspiracy ) insightful depiction of existence on a physically hostile planet, as well as the almost spiritual life of the Goldenwings' Wired Starmen, bodes well for volumes to come.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-On Voerster, the inhabitants have been waiting 400 years for supplies to be delivered. Settled by White South Africans with the purpose of perpetuating apartheid, the planet has stagnated to the point of almost no redemption. Now, the people are about to be visited by a supply ship, which will rip apart the fabric of their lives. As the story opens, Glory is orbiting around Voerster ready to unload her cargo. In the events that follow, an armed rebellion ensues, people are killed, and Voerster starts the long, slow process of being reborn. Coppel creates believable, interesting characters with real motivations. The story is compelling and a real page turner. YAs interested in science fiction-or even those who just like a good story-will enjoy this book.
Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.