From Publishers Weekly

Overcoming a slow start, de Pierres (Nylon Angel) presents an engaging space opera with plenty of action. Sheltered baronessa Mira Fedor, a minor noble of the mining planet Araldis, expects to become the first female pilot of the royal fleet's AI command ship. She instead finds herself on the run from the Principe, who wants to tear away her piloting skills and give them to his son, Trinder Pellegrini. When playboy Trin enrages his father and is banished to a meaningless desk job, he uncovers machinations related to the family's mines that may be connected with a burgeoning alien invasion. Playing with the time line, de Pierres creates an absorbing story as the consequences and actions resolve to show her grand design. Twists and hints will keep readers eagerly awaiting the next volumes. (Jan.)
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Review

'DARK SPACE lacks focus, but the colourful characters and sense of scale suggest that the series could develop into something special' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'Dark Space is a rich and vigorous adventure and a promising first instalment' THE AUSTRALIAN 'A complex and exciting novel, almost devoid of cheap sentiment and comfortable vindication. It's not a cheerful read, but it is a very rewarding one ... de Pierres' willingness to display the imperfections of her characters is a large part of the appeal of Dark Space; she deftly handles the aspects of bringing characters to life that elude so many space opera writers, simply by making them genuinely human - with all the contradictory drives and motives that implies ... While a deeply political book, Dark Space is also a very engaging one - the fine characterisation and subtle writing make for a novel which is both exciting and thought-provoking at once ... It's always a joy to find intelligent and exciting space opera; to find it being written by a woman unafraid to bring her own perspective to a traditionally masculine genre, doubly so.' SCALPEL MAGAZINE 'Dark Space is an exciting adventure with plenty going on to keep you turning the pages. The story is primed to enter uncharted territory at the end of Book One. Marianne has a knack for creating compelling characters in complex realities-the Parish Plessis novels showed us that-so this is one to watch as it develops through the next volumes.' AUREALIS 'Reading a Marianne de Pierres novel is almost like immersing yourself in a brilliantly detailed film - you find yourself engrossed in not only the plot and characterization, but in the highly visual nature of the story ... In Dark Space, Marianne de Pierres has drawn a vast cast of characters, but the skill with which she has done so, providing them with depth and breadth without verbosity, and the fascinating relationships she has created between them, mean the reader can be drawn deeply into the world, surfacing only now and then to take a deep breath, then dive right back in. I can't wait for the next instalment!' ANDROMEDA SPACEWAYS INFLIGHT MAGAZINE 'This is serious modern space opera, grappling with big themes and painting on a broad canvas with a great eye for detail ... readers who hunger for perceptive, intelligent and unflinching literary science fiction should seek this book out as soon as possible. If the sequels to Dark Space live up to the promise of this opening salvo, de Pierres will become a serious challenge to the big boys of the genre.' HUB 'Space opera supreme' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

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