Two years prior to the start of this book Dr Cherijo Torin was shipwrecked on the surface of a most inhospitable planet when her ship cashed on the iceworld Akkabarr. And not only is she stranded far away from friends and family, but she has absolutely no idea of exactly who she is.

The inhabitants of Akkabarr's surface are slaves in he thrall of the Windlords, who administer their domain from the luxury of their floating cities.

Despite all he has heard to the contrary, Cherijo's husband, Duncan Reever is convinced his wife yet lives, and he is determined to rescue her no matter what the obstacles are. But as two years have elapsed since her crashing on Akkabarr a lot has changed and his chances of finding do not seem high.

I've not read any of the StarDoc series prior to this book. This worried me a little when I picked this up. I was concerned that all the background that has been laid in the earlier books would be required to truly get the most out of this book, to understand the structure of its society and the reactions of the characters.

I can happily say, this was not a hurdle to enjoying this story, indeed if it was for the fact that the cover describes this as the new StarDoc novel you might be forgiven for believing it is a standalone novel.

There's one aspect to this series that has always discouraged me from reading. I am not a fan of militaristic sf so when I saw these would fit into this sub-genre I skipped over them. Well for the second time recently I have seen surprised to find myself enjoying militaristic sf, to such an extent that I will have no difficulty trying this style of book in the future. Well I guess I cannot be totally surprised as I have always enjoyed this style in movies and TV (with film Starship Troopers and TV shows Babylon 5 and Space: Above and Beyond being particular favourites).

Now if I can only find time to read the previous titles in the series.

Synopsis
Dr. Cherijo Torin crash-lands on an ice planet whose population is on the verge of civil war. With no knowledge of her past-or even her identity-she becomes entangled in the encroaching conflict, unaware that her husband is moving heaven and earth to find her.