Lords of the Seventh Swarm

Blasters flare, evil aliens maraud and salvation comes to the deserving in this third volume (after Beyond the Gate) of Wolverton's popular The Golden Queen space opera series. In an earlier installment, Maggie Flynn became the Golden Queen of the Sixth Swarm of the insect-like Dronon invaders of human worlds when her husband, the Lord Protector Gallen, defeated the old queen's champion in single combat, thereby saving humanity from complete domination. Now Maggie and Gallen have fled the galaxy, seeking a distant planet where they can wait out Maggie's pregnancy and evade the other Dronon Swarms. Unfortunately, Ruin, the planet they choose, is owned by the mad Lord Felph, who enlists the pair in a dangerous plan to conquer Ruin's horrific jungles and to find a mysterious and powerful artifact. The situation is complicated by Felph's inhuman, occasionally murderous children, and by the eventual appearance of the Dronon. As always, Wolverton tells an enjoyably lightweight story in the mode of 1930s pulps or the old Flash Gordon serials. As a modern touch, he adds a modicum of sex and, unusual for SF, a considerable amount of Christian evangelism. While unlikely to please readers of more literary or experimental SF, this novel should appeal to aficionados of Star Wars or Star Trek. (Jan.)