Publisher's Synopsis
Lieutenant Francis Raleigh, a young officer on the cruiser Edward Russel of the United Colonies Space Force, gets in trouble as his guest and friend, a Chando Alien whom he called Floyd, beats up a powerful local politician. Albeit from a wealthy family of landowners, Raleigh finds it difficult to protect his friend from the ensuing legal proceedings. But then he is offered a fishy deal which could get his friend out of trouble. Soon, that issue is almost forgotten because Francis Raleigh is deployed with the cruiser Edward Russel to aid Alien allies of the United Colonies in their struggle against the Ourland Federation, a highly industrialised civilisation which ruthlessly pursues its interests. One dangerous event chases the other and Raleigh is busy with surviving, when he sees again the politician whom he had trouble with in his home town. But now, that fellow's role had changed completely. With the cruiser Edward Russel damaged badly and Francis Raleigh being held captive by galactic terrorists, only the good nose of a certain friend could help him.Dancing with the Dragon is a science fiction novel that takes the reader into a distant future, where Humans and Aliens cooperate, compete, and occasionally also fight with each other, on the background of advanced hyperspace technology. Society is determined by the clashes of different interests, the most powerful being the landowners who call themselves the First Arrivals, for they conquered other planets and built up their civilisations on these worlds. The following generations of immigrants are challenging the predominance of the old class of real-estate possessing rich families, which leads to intensive political struggles. When a great war breaks out between the major civilisations in the galaxy, this is due to vested interests and pressure groups using mass media to stir up hatred among the general population and set the course for a fatal clash of mighty empires.In the middle of these struggles lives Francis Raleigh, young and from a rich family, but nevertheless affected by the political and military struggles which are going on. Doing his best to survive and remain an honourable gentleman, he faces difficult decisions and is challenged to the limits of his abilities by the demands of a remorseless war and an unforgiving environment.
