Messenger

[theradicalchild]

Messenger by Craig Martelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second entry of author Craig Martelle and Brad R. Torgerson’s Zenophobia saga opens with a young Tigroid merchantman killed by a female Tigroid named Arbai, who, with fellow Tigroid Yangis, has the eponymous “heretic” of the preceding novel, the Tigroid Sankar, in her sights. The main chapters begin with Sankar and an elderly Tigroid named Ajerra on a Fasting Hunt, during which they encounter a menace in the dark. Ajerra is injured, with Sankar’s fellow Tigroid ally Junak rescuing them. Another Tigroid named Ocklar helps Sankar in his evasion of authorities.

Meanwhile, Sankar’s other companions, the Wolfoid Bayane, the Goroid Gwarzo, and the Ursoids Akoni and Breon (the latter a newcomer to the representatives of the Veracity Corporation) ponder their next move aboard the spacefaring vessel Bilkinmore. Goroids led by a female named Tico pursue Sankar and Ocklar, with the former affirming his belief that all races across the universe came from nothing, one reason his priestly father had declared him a heretic in the first book. Tico receives injuries in her pursuit, and once she recovers in Sankar’s captivity, the Tigroid abandons her.

Arbai ultimately captures Bayane and Akoni, taking them to an asteroid colony in the Angelos system for general enslavement, during which they meet an aging Wolford called Silverface, with Sankar planning their rescue. Afterward, he wants to retrieve genetic samples from an Angelos lab, with the second entry ending with the revelation of a crucial star map. Overall, I found the second entry of the Zenophobia omnibus to be an improvement over the first and more enjoyable, with plenty of good action and animal characters; however, some of the character name choices are lazy, such as Agosta’s brother Gosta.

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