"He saw what appeared to be a large star-like object appear, and then he felt the echo of a greater ascended being's passage... Sheppard saw the ships and planets reform and renew and his own ship resurrected like a phoenix from the fiery plasma of its death."
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Talcon Star City by Gary Caplan eBookIt.com
book review by Staff
Commodore Robert Sheppard, admiral of the battlecruiser starship Phoenix and acting commander of the sixth fleet, returns in this sequel to Caplan's first Alliance of Worlds novel, Phoenix Rising. The Alliance of Worlds is still battling its enemy the Varlon, and now the Varlon have allied themselves with the Accads in order to further expand their power and control over the civilizations of the universe. Sheppard and his crew are tasked with making first contact with a Talcon Star City, a colonial starship, that is heading toward the Milky Way and for protecting it from potential Varlon attack. Hoping to make the Talcon allies in the fight against the Varlon and Accad, Sheppard and his team successfully repel an enemy attack on the Star City and begin talks with the Talcon leaders about a possible alliance. Back in space, the Phoenix is sent to join an Alliance of Worlds task force in the Rhendal Sector where the Varlon are building long-range torpedo-launching facilities. A fierce battle wages between the Alliance and its allies and the Varlon and Accad until the Alliance's new allies, the Talcon, arrive and secure the victory. Incredibly detailed and fully imagined, Caplan gives readers a very realistic picture of what life and war is like on an intergalactic starship. Fans of Star Trek and Battlestar Gallatica will feel right at home on Sheppard's command bridge.