Ensign John Grimes of the Federation Survey Service is fresh out of the Academy and as green as they come. After boarding the Interstellar Transport Commission's merchant spaceship Delta Orionis as a passenger bound for deep space, Grimes finds himself involved, reluctantly, in salvaging another ship which has been attacked by space pirates. It doesn't help that his decision-making process has been influenced by the more than attractive Jane Pentecost (and Grimes is as green with women as his he is as a spaceman), or as a consequence of having been put under guard as a mutineer. As much as the odds will be stacked against him, Grimes soon begins to earn his infamous reputation as a 'lucky bastard.'

'Drongo Kane never broke the law.... He was a cunning, ruthless opportunist who paid when he had to and stole when he could -- but never when there was the slightest chance of getting caught. That's what had John Grimes worried: here was Kane directly under the watchful eyes -- and guns -- of a Federation Survey vessel, openly engaging in kidnapping and trafficking in human flesh! Despite the fact that the beautiful inhabitants of this Lost Colony faced a fate worse than death, a more cautious -- or less gallant -- officer would do nothing -- secure in the knowledge that regardless of appearances there would be some loophole that placed the Law squarely on Kane's side. But Grimes, being Grimes, would have to act -- knowing full well that to "interfere with a merchantman on her lawful occasions" meant a blasted career... and knowing too that Drongo Kane never broke the law..'

[Source: www.fictionwise.com]

'Gods! Dragons! Fairies! Frog Princess! Knights! and much more. John Grimes faces them all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Orion ed.)

'His was a dream few spaceman ever saw come true. In a second-hand, obsolete space ship, Kemp and his three comrades took off determined to set up a shuttle service between the planets at the rim of the galaxy. But trouble - in the form of two lost colonies, one inhabited by giant mechanical insects and the other by the descendants of a murderous pirate - threatened. Kemps crew began to wonder: just how much will one man sacrifice to realize a dream.'

[Source: www.bertramchandler.com]