A Matter of Oaths

► A compelling, mind-bending future that's finally come home to the present ◄ Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet When Commander Rallya of the patrol ship Bhattya hires Rafe as their new Web officer, she knows she is taking a risk. As an oath breaker, Rafe has suffered the ultimate punishment – identity wipe – but luckily for him, there's no one else around qualified for the job. Shunned by his previous shipmates, Rafe is ready to keep his head down and do his job, but his competence quickly earns him respect, admiration, and, in one particular case, love. It's difficult to maintain the glow of acceptance however, when his past is chasing him across the galaxy in the shape of an assassin, intent on dealing once and for all with Rafe, whatever the cost. Originally published in 1988, A Matter of Oaths is a space opera with heart, intergalactic intrigue and epic space battle. With a new introduction by Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. *** ► This is a vivid, vital and energetic space opera, full of incident and emotion. Its vision of a space-faring society doesn't seem out of place to a contemporary reader, the way many other future visions of the eighties and nineties do, because Wright's space opera includes in positive, sympathetic ways people that those other visions leave out... It's really compelling and a hell of a lot of fun. I recommend it highly. GO AND READ IT. ◄ Tor.com ► A Matter of Oaths (1988) engagingly presents a familiar sf character – the amnesiac protagonist who experiences flashback hints of a destiny larger than any of those around him dare contemplate – within a cogently described post-cyberpunk frame dominated by The Guild of Webbers, starship pilots who link two corrupt galactic empires, each ruled by an immortal emperor. The protagonist is Black; the covers for both British and the American editions portray a white hero. ◄ SFE *** First published in 1988 by Methuen Cover artist uncredited