The Icarus Changeling - (The Icarus Saga) by Timothy Zahn

About the Book

"Gregory Roarke-former bounty hunter, former Trailblazer, current agent for the ultra-secret Icarus Group-has received a new assignment: locate a suspected but as-yet undiscovered teleportation portal on the backwater colony world of Alainn. The rival Patth are also searching for the device, and have considerably more resources at their disposal. Fortunately, Roarke has Selene and her incredibly sensitive Kadolian sense of smell. On paper, it should be a straightforward enough job. But that was before there was a murder in the small town of Bilswift . . . and another one . . . and the discovery that the Patth are already on the scene and have narrowed the search to a heavily forested area in the hills and mountains east of town. Most disturbing of all is the discovery that one of Selene's people, a Kadolian teenaged boy named Tirano, is working at one of Bilswift's fish markets. A boy who may have lost his parents before his proper socialization was completed. A boy who may be connected to both the murders and the Patth. A boy who may be the potentially dangerous wild card that the Kadolians call changelings"--

Book Synopsis

Gregory Roarke -- agent for the ultra-secret Icarus Group - has received a new assignment: locate a teleportation portal on a backwater colony world. But what should be a an easy assignment leads to a string of murders, and a race against an alien enemy.

Gregory Roarke--former bounty hunter, former Trailblazer, current agent for the ultra-secret Icarus Group--has received a new assignment: locate a suspected but as-yet undiscovered teleportation portal on the backwater colony world of Alainn.

The rival Patth are also searching for the device, and have considerably more resources at their disposal. Fortunately, Roarke has Selene and her incredibly sensitive Kadolian sense of smell. On paper, it should be a straightforward enough job.

But that was before there was a murder in the small town of Bilswift . . . and another one . . . and the discovery that the Patth are already on the scene and have narrowed the search to a heavily forested area in the hills and mountains east of town.

Most disturbing of all is the discovery that one of Selene's people, a Kadolian teenaged boy named Tirano, is working at one of Bilswift's fish markets. A boy who may have lost his parents before his proper socialization was completed. A boy who may be connected to both the murders and the Patth.

A boy who may be the potentially dangerous wild card that the Kadolians call changelings.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Icarus Plot:
"This is Zahn at his best--great characters and settings, great worldbuilding, great suspense, and just a ton of action and space opera fun . . . It's also a passion project for the author, so if you enjoy Zahn, it's not to be missed." --Analog SF&F
"There are plenty of little things to delight the longtime Zahn reader, while also bringing new fans in a way that is perfectly accessible . . . Zahn remains one of the best writers of action I have ever had the pleasure of reading . . . The Icarus Plot is pure fun in the way that only one of the genre's greatest yarn-weavers can do." --Warped Factor "Timothy Zahn is a mainstay in the field of science fiction." --Seattle Book Review "Anyone who has ever been interested in noir science fiction and espionage should read this. Take the espionage of John le Carre, the deduction of Sherlock Holmes, the twisty nature of The Sting, and you have The Icarus Plot." --Upstream Reviews Praise for Timothy Zahn: "Zahn fans will enjoy the variety of small-unit combat scenes in the action-packed third and final Cobra Rebellion military SF adventure . . . [a] gripping series." --Publishers Weekly "Zahn keeps the story moving at a breakneck pace, maintaining excitement." --Publishers Weekly ". . . you can count on Timothy Zahn for three things: clean, sparse prose; good pacing; and great action scenes. The first book in the Cobra War series hits all those marks in admirable style and makes for a quick, entertaining sci-fi novel." --BlogCritics "[Conqueror's Heritage] is another finely wrought space adventure . . . [with] social, political, and emotional complications, all of which Zahn treats with his usual skill." --Booklist "Zahn paints every detail [in Angelmass] with gleamy realism . . . scientific dialogue that streams with starship hardware and military trooper talk . . . immensely appealing." --Kirkus Review

Praise for The Icarus Twin:

"The Icarus Twin offers a fast-paced adventure that is every bit as exciting and entertaining as The Icarus Plot. If you are looking for a mix of action and mystery, read it." --Ricochet

About the Author

Timothy Zahn is a Hugo Award winner and the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, Heir to the Empire, as well as the best-selling Star Wars: Thrawn series of novels. Born in Chicago, he earned a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. He sold his first story to Analog in 1978 and immediately attracted attention as a new writer of science fiction based on real, cutting-edge science. Baen published his popular Cobra trilogy in one volume. His other popular series include the Conqueror and Dragonback novels. With David Weber and Thomas Pope, he is the author of novels A Call to Duty, A Call to Arms, A Call to Vengeance, and A Call to Insurrection. Zahn has written more than 50 novels, including the recent Cobra Rebellion series entries Cobra Outlaw and Cobra Traitor.