Littlestar

Praise for Smallworld by Dominic Green:

"A showcase for Green's bone-dry satire and deadpan humour ... Green's agile imagination constantly wrong-foots the reader. A delight."

-Peter Ingham, The Telegraph

"The work of a talented writer having lots of very smart fun"

-- S F Winser, Booksquawk.com

Littlestar hugely expands on the universe established in Smallworld, with a stellar story arc that follows troopers Beguiled-of-the-Serpent and Only-Begotten as they become embroiled in the second star-spanning war against the Made.

Man, a bigoted species brooking no other intelligent life but him- and herself, is spread across a thousand worlds, ruled with a designer-gloved fist by Leader Ottilia Vos. The Made, intelligences both biological and technological, were engineered by human beings, then betrayed and hunted down by them. Now they are back, and this time, it's the Made who have the numbers.

Some have no choice in being caught up in events - troopers Beguiled-of-the-Serpent and Only-Begotten, who took Leader Vos's shilling in order to avoid murder charges. Some don't think twice about choices - the tramp trader *Prodigal Son*, unhesitatingly ferrying war refugees back to Earth, mankind's only remaining stronghold. Some people's choices have to be thought through very well indeed - the outlawed dictator Button Humpage, wondering whether to assist the species that betrayed him.

Humanity has some surprising allies, many of whom it formerly counted as its fiercest enemies. The biggest question, however, is - what is Littlestar? How did Button Humpage come to control it? And is it the secret weapon that can win the war?