A Passage of Stars (Highroad Trilogy, Vol 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Alis A. Rasmussen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this first volume of her projected Highroad trilogy, Rasmussen ( The Labyrinth Gate ) creates the most delightful robot since R2D2: Bach, who whistles lieder under his cybernetic breath. The rest here is standard space fantasy. The settled section of the galaxy known as the Reft has a bloated galactic bureaucracy that expertly directs the anger of the majority toward a bitterly repressed minority. Some fugitives from another quarter of the universe become entwined with partisans of the Reft's nemesis, the insurrectionist Jehane. Lily, martial-arts student and daughter of a privileged family, is pulled into a maelstrom of intrigue and violence, and is soon a key player in the interlocking fates of the foreigners and the insurgents. The story inches forward without momentum, largely because Rasmussen simply withholds information from her characters in a vain attempt to sustain plot tension.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When her martial arts instructor, the elusive man known as Heredes, is kidnapped by alien bounty hunters, Lilyaka Hae Ransome defies her family and flees the planet of Unruli in pursuit of the kidnappers. Populating the world of the future with multicultural spacefarers, immortal terrorists, and swashbuckling galactic pirates, Rasmussen ( The Labyrinth Gate ) creates a fast-paced space opera with a likable, courageous female protagonist. For large sf collections.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Spectra; First Edition edition (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553283723
• ISBN-13: 978-0553283723
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,425,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera with Depth, September 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Passage of Stars (Highroad Trilogy, Vol 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Heroine brought up to live on mining world escapes to space and finds alien love. The highroad is the road back to the planet of origin. The heroine is immensely practical, the alien love is sufficiently dangerous, and there are wonderful minor characters. A subtheme is racism, and this adds depth to the novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, well written, August 30, 2004

By 

D. Davis (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Passage of Stars (Highroad Trilogy, Vol 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Featuring a strong willed and physically dangerous female lead, this book pulls you in from the first page and is a fun read throughout.

The leading character, faced with a future working in the family mining business (joy), or being forced to bear children for the community, runs away from home in pursuit of her mentor, who was, naturally, kidnapped by aliens.

Once away from home, she befriends the Ridani (a racial sub-class among humanity), joins a rebellion, finds love and, well, grows up. She also learns that politics among humanity is more complicated than she could ever have imagined. Not only is she caught up in a rebellion among the stars of her people, but she is also touched by past rebellions and living empires from billions of light years away.

A thoroughly enjoyable read, although you'll have to order all 3 books in the trilogy used (darn it!)

For those who enjoy this author, she has written several other books under the name "Kate Elliot". I recommend starting with "Jaran", which begins the story of the human fight against the aliens mentioned here. It is set roughly a generation previous to the events in these books.

4.0 out of 5 stars can't wait to go deeper into space with the next book!, November 9, 2004

By 

N. Reichert "LadyFlame" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Passage of Stars (Highroad Trilogy, Vol 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really didn't know what to expect. I really love Kate Elliot's worlds and wanted to get into her Science Fiction novels, so i ordered it on a whim.
You can't help but fall in love with Lily and her fiery warrior heart. It's a typical plot of the journey to adventure.It starts on a boring ole planet of her home where she is the black sheep in the family mining business. When her sensei, who is like a fathered figure in her life is kidnapped, of course she goes to rescue him. Thus begins her journey into her true calling and being.
It's fun. And full of adventure. She gets thrown into a galactic political revolution and gets mixed up in it, making alleys new life long friends and unexpectedly she finds a person that loves her with an undying passion. He is quite mysterious and I am looking forward to learning more about him in the sequal.
I recommend this book if you like adventure and can stand the political quest they get involved in. It's a short book, so it moves pretty quickly.
Alis Rasmussen has such a way of creating worlds that you can vividly imagine and secretly wish you could really go there. One of the Authors firsts, and well worth the read.

BUT, hey, that's just one woman's opinion...