Glass (Shanji
) provides only a tenuous science fiction background for this otherwise excellent novel of intergenerational and interplanetary conflict. Eduardo Cabral, the artistically talented son of Armando Cabral, Nova Brazilia oligarch, has forsaken his gifts in order to pursue the military career that he hopes will win him Armando's approval. He does not suspect that his supposed father despises him as a bastard and has betrayed him into an ambush that costs the lives of all but two members of his elite special operations team. Torn between avenging his companions through assassination and pursuing art on distant planets, reluctant to confront Armando but begged by a friend to help the disenfranchised poor of Nova Brazilia, Eduardo is a compelling protagonist whose conflicts and determined sense of honor will keep readers engaged in his story from start to finish. (Aug.)
