The Ninth Circle, A Novel of the U.S.S. Merrimack by R.M. Meluch

Science Fiction/Space Opera

The Ninth Circle is science fiction written the way I love.  There is action, adventure, great characters and a wonderful plot.  Once I started reading I did not want to put it down.  

There is peace between the Terran and Palatine Empires but that peace is very fragile.  There are problems on the planet Zoe.  Glenn Hamilton is traveling with her husband Patrick, a xenolinguist, where they discover DNA based life and another alien race on the planet.   The expedition leader refuses to take any action so Glenn reports the aliens to Admiral John Farragut.   He sends the Merrimack under Captain Calli Carmel to see what is going on.   Zoe attracts more than the Merrimack.   There is a pirate group made up of exiled Romans, an alien Mother ship, and a Roman ship carrying the Emperor all arriving in Zoe space.

There is a lot going on in The Ninth Circle.  The U.S.S. Merrimack was featured in four previous books.  While The Ninth Circle has some of the same characters it is an entirely new story. It appears to be the start to a new series featuring the Merrimack.  When I went to Meluch’s web site I found that her husband had recently died.  Having been there and done that I know that it changes what was normal in your life.  It takes awhile to find a new normal.  I hope that when she finds that new normal she continues to write.

DAW published The Ninth Circle by R.M. Meluch in 2011.