Originally published twenty years ago, The Sardonyx Net helped to mark Elizabeth Lynn as a noteworthy author, a distinction she soon lived up to by winning the World Fantasy Award twice in one year, for her novel Watchtower, and her short story, “The Woman Who Loved the Moon”. Now we’re treated once again to her talents as a science fiction author, with this tale of romance, revolution, slavery, and intrigue.
The planet Chabad is unique among the Federation of Living Worlds, for being the only world where slavery is legal. The human-settled worlds of the Sardonyx Sector chose to banish their criminals to one place, the desolate Chabad, much like the English used Australia to harbor their own unwanted criminals. Over time, Chabad become something more than a prison planet. It became a resort, a paradise built on the backs of the undesirables expelled from the rest of the sector. A resort maintained by keeping the slaves addicted to the euphoric drug, dorazine. A drug that is illegal to actually ship or sell, but upon which the entire social system of Chabad now depends
It’s into this treacherous world that Starcaptain Dana Ikoro is unwillingly drawn, after his initial forays into drug smuggling leave him broke, and his cargo stolen by another smuggler. In his attempts to recoup his losses, he lands on Chabad, and is immediately arrested for even having the intention to smuggle. It seems that the new head of the Narcotics Division of the Federation police has a particular hatred for dorazine smuggling, and will do anything to crack down on it. Even set up poor Dana for a ten year sentence as a slave.
It’s Dana’s subsequent luck to be picked out by the sadistic commanded of the Yago Net, the starship which transports prisoners to Chabad. Zed Yago, a cunning and cruel man, sees Dana as the perfect gift for his sister, Rhani Yago, Domna of the family and one of the most powerful women on the planet. Soon acting as Rhani’s bodyguard, companion, servant and confidant, Dana is drawn into a deadly and explosive plot to destroy the Yagos and the entire way of life on Chabad. And all he wants is to be free, to roam
between the stars once more.
As the stakes are raised, and Dana discovers that there’s more between him and Rhani than master and slave, secrets are revealed, secrets which threaten to tear the Yagos apart and destroy everything they hold dear. Their way of life, their system, even their beliefs will be called into question. And in the end, Dana may be forced to choose between loyalty, love, and his own desires, and to save the man he hates most or to escape while he has the chance. Honor will only take you so far on the world of Chabad.
Compelling and richly-detailed, The Sardonyx Net is a powerful story, one that plays its cards close and never reveals too much as once. It launches surprises with a ruthless sharpness, just when the reader thinks they know what’ll happen next. The characters are fascinating and three-dimensional, sensual and intoxicating and frightening in turn. Zed’s cruelty masks a deeper desire, Rhani’s sultry exterior is the front for unexpected loneliness, and Dana’s own self-sufficiency is pushed to the limits as a slave.
This is a book that well-deserved to be brought back in print, and shouldn’t be missed now that it’s on the shelves once more.