Highly Recommended - Rated 
I don't need to give plot details as other reviewers have done enough of this but I've just finished this book & found it engrossing & would recommend it as containing a balanced mixture of action, convincing intelligent alien life & relevant issues (ecology, sanctity of life, damage done to individuals, cultures & environment both intentionally and by accident). The plot moves ahead at an appropriate pace (for me at least) although in retrospect I thought I noticed one glitch in continuity (will have to read it again to be sure).
I note that reviewers of some of the later books in the series say it tails off but I will definitely be reading the next one & then we'll see.
spare a copper - Rated 
The start of a series of science fiction novels that introduces us to shan frankland, veteran policewoman working in environmental protection somewhen in the future. About to retire from her job, she is asked to go on a mission to a faraway world where contact has just been re-established with a long lost colony. The full details of the mission are buried in her mind and will only come out in due course. And the humans on this world are protected by aras, an alien with a dark past.
Against all the odds, an unlikely friendship begins to develop...
An excellent read and the kind of book that makes you want to rush out and buy everything else by the same writer. Shan is a believable character whom you can relate to. and the writer and the character being british means the slang she uses is totally believable. Aras also is a very interesting creation. Whilst not a lot happens at points in the book, it's still good enough and well written enough to keep you turning the pages. and this is well rewarded with some interesting developments in the last third. the fate of one character sparked a bit of an emotional reaction in me. and that is a sign of good writing.
Now then, let's go and order her next book. I can't wait to find what happens next.
Finest Science Fiction - Rated
I think this novel is a rare treat for the most demanding readers of Science Fiction: clear and profound narrative, intriguing, original story, marvelously described aliens (Weinbaum and Vance come to mind) , interesting characters, plausible and competent in scientific speculation. The commander of an expedition to a forgotten Earth Colony on planet Cavanagh II believed extinct finds the colony alive, but also finds the expedition is less than welcome, as the humans on the planet have managed to adapt to the alien and complex eco-political balance under the surveillance of the planet appointed aklien Guardian, Aras. From this, the tale which unfolds largely from the POV of alien species, which the Author depicts with unusual skill and originality. No little green men with silly antennas, here, but truly alien beings here, thinking in alien ways. Isaac Asimov would have been delighted as I've been by Karen Traviss narrative art.
First in an excellent series - Rated
First book in a very imaginative and fascinating series. One of very few science fiction books which has aliens who are both plausible and genuinely different from humans and other terrestial creatures.
The sequence is: Book One, City of Pearl
Book Two, Crossing the Line
Book Three, The World Before
Book Four, Matriarch
Book Five, Ally
Due in April 2008: book 6, Judge.
The series works best when read in this sequence.
more, more, more - Rated
I began reading this series with book no. 2 for some reason and thorougly enjoyed that. I wondered how Shan got infected and decided to buy no. 1 - no regrets. This is an excellent beginning to a new series. The characters are neither one nor two dimensional but seem like real people. The definition of people is challenged in this book - even with regards to the creatures on this earth. Humans are seen for what they are - monkeys with power. Environmental Hazard Enforcement officer Shan Frankland agreed to lead a mission to Cavanagh's Star, knowing that 150 years would elapse before she could finally return home. They all thought they would go to an unchartered planet - one that humans possibly could take over and make into their own. But alas, three separate alien societies have claims on Cavanagh's Star already. With her on her mission, Shan has Marines and scientists. They meet up with the human colony, and are told by Aras - the Wess'har protector of Besenjey (the planet) - that they may not collect any samples of anything. Information will be provided. Being human ensures that this order will not be followed by all. From there on one catastrophe after another comes about for the humans away from home. Shan discovers that Aras is something more than Wess'har. It turns out he has been infected by something called c'naatat - an entity (bacteria/parasite/whatever) that infects a body and adapts it so that it will survive anything but an explosion. She understands the implications of this. If humans get their hands on something like c'naatat they will go crazy. There is a lot happening all the time in the book. Traviss has done an excellent job and I would recommend it to anyone wholeheartedly.
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