Stealing Light
Nova War
Empire of Light
Marauder
The Complete Shoal Series

by Gary Gibson
Covers by Steve Stone

Tor UK Reprint Editions

Description: Three trade paperback books and a hardback, all published by Tor UK in 2013. The copyright pages indicate that all four books are reprints, the hardback is a second printing of the first edition. These books are the complete Shoal series.

From the back cover (Stealing Light): The secrets of the past will fan the flames of war - For a hundred and fifty thousand years the alien Shoal have been hiding a terrible secret behind a facade of power. In the twenty-fifth century, the Shoal dominate the galaxy and control all trade and exploration, they alone possessing the secret of faster-than-light travel. So mankind has established just a handful of interstellar colonies, their freedom and knowledge of the galaxy limited by the Shoal's punitive restrictions.

Dakota Merrick is a machine-head pilot, on the run from one of the human Consortium's most powerful criminals. Desperate for escape, she contracts to ferry an expert team to a remote star system. Her passengers hope to scavenge a functioning FTL-drive from a derelict starship - rumoured to pre-date the Shoal. But they'll expose an ancient genocide the Shoal will do anything to hide. An Dakota will be forced to face demons from her own past.

From the back cover (Nova War): One woman and a terrifying secret stand between us and destruction - Found adrift far from Consortium space, pilot Dakota Merrick and Lucas Corso are taken prisoner by the alien Bandati. There, Dakota discovers that humanity's knowledge of the galaxy is frighteningly inaccurate. The Shoal have apparently been fighting a frontier war with a rival species, the Emissaries, for thousands of years. As yet, the latter seem unaware of their FTL technology's full destructive capabilities. But the Bandati now have this information, and they will use it for profit.

Dakota realizes, to her shock, that the Shoal may therefore hold the galaxy's best chance for peace. Forging an alliance with Trader, a Shoal-member, she's determined to prevent the Bandati's deadly knowledge from reaching the Emissaries. Yet despite her efforts, a nova war now seems inevitable - a war that will destroy millions of inhabited worlds.

From the back cover (Nova War): One man has the skills to rally their cause: if he can stay alive! The nova war spreads across the galaxy, as the Emissaries wage a fierce and reckless campaign. They've already reached human-occupied space and forced the alien Shoal into a desperate retreat. And when Dakota leaves to pursue a lead, Corso's luck turns bad. Now commanding a fleet of human-piloted Magi ships, his authority crumbles before assassination attempts and politically motivated sabotage. Their best hope lies with Ty Whitecloud, currently light-years beyond Consortium borders. Only Whitecloud can decipher messages left behind by ancient star travellers - which could be crucial to their cause.

But Whitecloud is imprisoned aboard a dying coreship, awaiting execution for war crimes against Corso's own people. For humanity's very survival, Corso must get to Whitecloud and keep him alive... if Dakota doesn't kill him first.

From the front flap (Marauder): Megan has one mission. But must she sacrifice herself to save our worlds? Pilot Megan Jacinth has three goals, all seemingly unattainable. She has to find her friend Bash, who she left for dead to save her own life. Then she must use Bash's unique skills to locate an ancient space-faring entity - the Wanderer. Lastly she needs to save human-occupied worlds from an alien incursion, using the entity's secrets. The odds seem impossible, but the threat is terrifyingly real.

Megan finds Bash, but the person she'd known and loved is a husk of his former self. Bash is also being held captive by Gregor Tarrant, her greatest enemy. Tarrant needs the Wanderer too - even more than he needs Megan dead. However, his motives are far more sinister. And he's near to finding Megan's most closely guarded secret.

A race across space to reach the Wanderer seems Megan's only option. But this entity, also known as the Marauder, is from from benign. The price for its knowledge may be just too high. Megan should know, as she still bears the scars from their last encounter...

Condition: Bindings - fine, new and unread, very slight edgewear, no reading creases but Nova War did get bumped a bit in transit from the UK - it has a light crease across the lower corners on the front and back, Marauder has page edges tanning slightly but no bumping of spine or corners. Dust jackets - 3 none, as issued, Marauder dust jacket is in new condition, not price clipped, in dust jacket protector.