From archive (archive)
Subject: FUGITIVE IN TRANSIT by Edward Llewellyn (mild spoiler)



The jacket reads:

  "When Peter Ward saw the lone woman standing in the ruins of an obscure
  temple on a remote Greek island and singing Sappho in the original
  Aeolic Greek, he may have thought her a goddess, but he would never
  even have imagined her true identity.

  For Ruth Thalia Adams was a singular entity. Although she appeared as
  a beautiful athletic young woman, no one was even sure of her species.
  And "Alia" as she was called by the Galactic Transit Authorities had
  more mysteries than just her species. No one on Earth knew what it was
  she had done, but to the Auld Galactic Marshall, she was the most
  dangerous individual in the spiral arm and had to be caught. He had
  chased her through several hundred worlds to no avail, but now he
  had her cornered -- for Earth was the end of the line!"

An accurate description, but there's more of interest. For example, the
location for the story is Earth in the near future. Aulds are beings
from another planet who, to some extent, are in charge of supplying
electrical power to the population of Earth. This doesn't win them
much goodwill because they are reluctant to share their advanced
technology, and they refuse to allow Terrans to travel in the galaxy.

The story follows a number of beings: Thalia and Peter, of course,
the Auld Marshall, and Dr. Bose, who first encountered the Auld. Another
important player appears later in the book.

The relationship between Dr. Bose and the Marshall is interesting. Some
of the doctor's human characteristics rub off on the Marshall, for instance.

Things move along fairly quickly; I never found myself bored, though
the author has a funny habit of interrupting the story to give a
2-page thumbnail sketch of a character when he first appears.
I enjoyed learning about the galactic culture,
and all of the characters were appealing in their own ways.
I couldn't predict what would happen from one moment to the next, and I
didn't guess Thalia's identity. And the ending was a real surprise.

I enjoyed the book quite a lot and give it 3.0 stars (very good) out of 4.
-- 

Duane Morse	...!noao!terak!anasazi!duane
(602) 870-3330