Hex

Fans of action-driven space opera will enjoy Steele's eighth Coyote novel (after 2010's Coyote Destiny). By the 24th century C.E., humankind has mastered interstellar travel, and colonists have formed the Coyote Federation and joined the Talus, an interstellar association. The danui, powerful intelligent beings who resemble spiders, offer Coyote the use of a habitable planet in their home system, so starship captain Andromeda Carson and her estranged son, Sean, a member of the Corps of Exploration, head over to check the place out. When they discover that the danui have destroyed the promised planet to create an enormous sphere tiled with billions of hexagons and enclosing the danui homeworld, mother and son must set aside their differences to save their mission and themselves. The writing is crisp, and Steele, as always, leaves readers wanting to learn more about the worlds he's created. (June)