The author's first SF novel and the first part of a proposed trilogy, this involves Butterfly St. Cyr, an interplanetary smuggler (her contraband ranges from philosophy texts to an undefined item called "never-you-mind"p . 15 ). Butterfly's life goes askew when she finds herself entangled with Valijon Starbringer (or, as Butterfly calls him, "Tiggy Stardust"), a young member of the alMayne (colloquially called "hellflowers") royalty. Butterfly is in possession of a sentient and illegal computer called a Library, named Paladin, whose existence she must go to great lengths to keep secret. Further, she has been coerced into doing a job involving a second Library, one not nearly so genteel as Paladin. There are some interesting uses of language (foreign word derivations like "purdu" and "che-bai"),p.176, 13 and some funny bits (a chapter titled "How to File for Moral Bankruptcy"p.180 ). But the alMayne are yet another race of large, temperamental, animalistic humanoids with a bizarre code of honor. And does the SF genrepk really need another sentient computer? Still, this is a breezy read with a good mix of humor, adventure and politics.
