Wild Card Run — Sara Stamey

KurtisP385XL47Ruth: Game Changer. Prodigal daughter. Spy. The Cyber entities control a peaceful but static human galaxy according to strict WorldPlans. Then they detect unsanctioned developments on the low-tech planet Poindros. They force rebellious Ruth Kurtis to leave the bright lights of Casino to return to her fundamentalist Poindran homeworld as their secret agent to investigate possible Changers. For reluctant Agent Kurtis, the Cybers' threat of the memory-erasing Steps of Healing would be less dangerous than facing the repression and simmering angers she escaped as a teenager. But Ruth won't run from this fight. The Cybers have calculated all the odds. Except they've just unleashed a wild card. *** "Stamey puts feeling into this story of the prodigal daughter." - Publishers Weekly Best New Novelists of the Year list. - Locus Magazine