An Ambush of Shadows

"An Ambush of Shadows" is book five (of seven) in "The Pelbar Cycle."Stel Westrun, having aided in the release of the "Dome" people (see "The Dome in the Forest," which is book three), is attempting to recreate the steamboat, based on knowledge they have provided from before the "Time of Fire." As is all too common in the interface between science and politics, however, there are factions in the city of Pelbarigan who see not a process of trial and error, by which he is improving each subsequent model, but a series of embarassing failures; failures which reflect poorly on the city. His wife, Ahroe, is also embarassed, and her role as Pelbarigan's chief delegate to the Heart River Federation, which is attempting to reunite the scattered tribes of Urstadge (known a thousand years ago as "America"), only adds to the tension threatening to tear their marriage apart. Because of this tension in the family, their daughter Raydi decides to stow away on the steamboat for its first long distance trial run -- a decision that will lead to her being kidnapped and brainwashed by the Tantal, and will lead to Stel almost single-handedly destroying their corrupt culture. Once again Stel shows how a man utterly devoted to peace can be a rock upon which the intentions of more violent groups can be shattered; not to mention the wisdom of the advice "Never piss off an engineer."From the back cover:"For years after their disastrous defeat by the Pelbar at Northwall, the slave-holding Tantal had kept their distance. But once the Pelbar moved northward to colonize the shores of the Bitter Sea, Tantal forces were always on the attack. Then one day they kidnapped the young daughter of Stel Westrun, Pelbar master craftsman, re-inventor of the steamboat--and, suddenly, the single-minded foe of all things Tantal..."