Fire Dancer
by Ann Maxwell, Elizabeth Lowell

FIRE DANCER is a fantastic science fiction novel of slavery and rebellion and the acts that are tolerated by polite society and culture. Until those acts prove so terrible that revolt is the only answer.

An Elizabeth Lowell classic. First time in e-book.

Rheba and Kirtin are the last survivors of their homeworld, at the edges of the Concord, forgotten but rich in history and traditions. Rheba is a fire dancer, able to focus and manipulate vast amounts of energy through discipline and motion and form. Kirtin is her protector and mentor, training her in these skills and knowing that one day these energies may grow to consume her unless she masters her own emotions and the power she derives from them.

In search of rumored other survivors like themselves, they set out amongst the worlds of the “civilized” Concord, finding that the presented superior and enlightened cultures they encounter conceal hypocrisies that assist even greater crimes. Entire civilizations built upon slavery and degradation are tolerated so long as they play the proper games of power and civility.

Led by the promise of knowledge regarding one of her kin, Rheba and Kirtin are brought to Loo, a planet ruled by a hereditary empire of slavers and decadents. There, both of them are consigned to slave pits beneath the gleaming cities and palaces of the surface. Amongst the forgotten and cast-off, Rheba and Kirtin find others like themselves, stolen or abandoned by their homeworlds and left to languish here, subject to labors and appetites and whims of the planet’s rulers.

But not everyone wants to remain a slave…

Originally published (writing as Ann Maxwell) December 1982 in mass market paperback by Roc and reissued July 1995 in mass market paperback by Kensington/Pinnacle.

Other Books by Ann Maxwell

Shadow and Silk

The Diamond Tiger

The Ruby
Risk Ltd. Book 1

Ann Maxwell's Bio

Individually and with co-author/husband Evan, Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one non-fiction book. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. The novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery to suspense. Writing as Ann Maxwell, she began her career in 1975 with a science fiction novel, CHANGE. Since then, seven of her nine science fiction novels have been recommended for the Science Fiction Writers of America Nebula Award; A DEAD GOD DANCING was nominated for what was then called TABA (The American Book Award). In 1976 Ann and Evan (as A. E. Maxwell) collaborated with a Norwegian hunter and photographer, Ivar Ruud, on The Year-Long Day, a nonfiction work that was condensed in Reader's Digest and published in four foreign editions and three book club editions. In 1985, the first A. E. Maxwell crime novel featuring a couple called Fiddler and Fiora was published by Doubleday. THE FROG AND THE SCORPION, received a creative writing award from the University of California. The fourth book in the series, JUST ENOUGH LIGHT TO KILL, was named by Time magazine as one of the best crime novels of 1988. Ann and Evan (writing as Ann Maxwell) have published four suspense novels, the most recent of which is SHADOWS AND SILK. These novels appeared on nation-wide bestseller lists. In 1982, Ann began publishing romances as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994). Since July of 1992, she has had 30 novels on the New York Times list.