The Price of the Stars

By Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald

Freebooter at heart, spacer by trade, Beka Rosselin-Metadi doesn't want to hear about her father whose rugged generalship held back the Mageworlds--or her highborn mother whose leadership has held the galaxy together ever since. Beka pilots spacecraft--as far from her famous family as possible, thanks very much. Then Beka's mother is assassinated on the Senate floor, and her father offers her Warhammer , prize ship from his own freebooting youth--if she'll use it to deliver the assassins to him " off the books. " Looking for assassins has a tendency to make assassins look for you. In short order Beka's arranged her own very public death and adopted a new identity; now all she has to do is leave a trail of kidnappings and corpses across five star systems, and blow the roof off the strongest private fortress in the Galaxy. If her own family can just get off her case long enough...!

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812517040
• ISBN13: 9780812517040
• Release Date: October 1992
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Ships and guns and badguys, oh my!

There is a scene in this book where the protagonist steps into the middle of a corridor under fire, raises her blaster, and calmly picks off the enemy one shot at a time. It may well be my favorite scene in any space opera, written or filmed. I pick up this book on occasion just to reread that scene.The thing is, the whole book is like that. "Price of the Stars" is a throat-grabber from word one, a book I could not put down. If you're looking for Grand Canvas adventure in the classic swashbuckling style, you can't do better than this book.My one complaint, and it's minor, is that the romance gets short-shrift and seems abrupt when it's brought full circle. I felt that way about the romance in all of the Mageworlds books, but since that's not what I'm reading them for, I'm not too bothered. Certainly it hasn't stopped me buying all the Mageworlds books and devouring them!

Space Opera and fine adventure

This book was scheduled as one of my SF book club's discussion books. I wasn't completely enthused about it since I had read Weber's Honor Harrington series (which I enjoyed immensely!) and felt sure that it would be a knock-off. Boy was I wrong! This book has fine characterization, interesting plotlines, and a universe that kept me turning the pages all night.While I couldn't stop at this first book (Starpilot's Grave and By Honor Betray'd are books 2+3), this book could be read as a stand-alone for those who aren't prepared to dive into a multi-book series.As mentioned in several of the other reviews, this book is reminiscent of the Star Wars universe with some science fiction elements and a bit of the supernatural. What appealed most, however, was that the authors built a sense of history into their universe so that there is a feeling that the crises recounted here are the result of real historical events. In addition, the reader does not have an omniscient view of the action, because many of the characters do not have a complete understanding. This made the plot more realistic.This is definitely a book to put on the "re-read" shelf.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS ALL-TIME

I greatly enjoyed reading "Price of the Stars" i found it to be a great combination of magic and technology. i think i can best compare it to the STAR WARS trilogy, one of my all-time favorite stories. the fast-paced adventure and realistic, original characters made for a great reading experience. i couldnt put the book down, the first or second time. and, i think the best part was the fact that the protaganist was a female. :) great job all around. i look forward to reading the rest of the Mageworlds books.

Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I loved this book. Actually, I like all of them in the series. But, I agree with one reviewer, I want this book to be filmed! It was fun (I said that already) exciting, humorous. Great characters and gadgets, without being hard SF. This is Galactic Fantasy/Space Opera at its best. If there are to be no more Mageworld books, could be at least have more space opera from the married duo? Please?

I thought that this was exciting and humourous book.

I very much liked this book. Once I started reading it I didn't want to put it down. I thought that the action was well done and some parts were very funny. At times I was cracking up. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Science Fiction.