The Exiled Earthborn

The space war between the human Sorans and their former slaves, the alien Xalan, continues in this fast-paced second Earthborn tale of raids and rescues (after The Last Exodus). Lucas and Asha, the last adults from Earth, unite with the Soran Defense Initiative to bring the war back to the aggressive Xalan. Aided by Alpha, an exiled Xalan, they find stranded humans battling the Xalan on separate fronts. Unfortunately, they also discover that the Sorans have dirty secrets that help fuel a rebellion on the home world and place the heroes under suspicion of treason. Tassi shifts focus to the theme of parenting and the need for peace, allowing the long action sequences to wear realistically on his characters, but wistful meditations on the quiet life are swiftly ended with a bang and a boom. A cliff-hanger ending almost demands that readers return for the concluding volume. (Nov.)