Rockets are inherently limited; at some point, fuel and oxidizer becomes too heavy and the rocket itself too complicated.But what if there was a better way? A true electronic space drive, reliable, safe, and cheap to operate?But the drive system is only part of the problem; it takes money, management, and engineering to build a working spaceship. Lots of it. And even if you DO manage to build a working spaceship, what will you do with it?How can you recoup the initial investment and finance more ships?Threatened industries will try to shut the company down. Governments will try to take it over.How is a small, threatened company, barely a step from bankruptcy, to succeed despite such terrible odds? From a new industrial revolution to the brink of global war, restless humanity presses onward, eventually to the first contact with an alien species.There will be changes...if we survive.Fans of Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, and Jerry Pournelle will love this hard-SF series. ...like some of the first ones I read in the 50s-AnReaders who like their socket wrenches properly used will love this-T. Jackson KingInteresting approach combining near future with imaginative science-Amazon CustomerA real "hard" science fiction novel. Jack Knapp continues to write a good story. I love that his editing is also superb. No more errors than I'd find in a professionally published book.--Ronald Q. Smith