The novel “The Wooden Spaceships” by Bob Shaw was published for the first time in 1988. It’s the second book of the Land and Overland trilogy and follows “The Ragged Astronauts”.

It’s been 23 years since the survivors of Land arrived on the Overland and during that time only a small part of the planet was colonized. Toller Maraquine is no longer a boy but still has a bad temper that keeps on getting him into trouble. He crossed the line with his king but is saved by the news that someone has come from Land.

On the old world there are those who survived the attack of the pterthas rebuilding a society. Now their king intends to subjugate the people of Overland, with the aggravating circumstance that the contact with Land’s inhabitants is toxic because of the ptertha’s venom. The only hope is a war in the sky and Toller Maraquine must guide the construction of new airships and more.

The novel “Starship: Rebel” by Mike Resnick was published for the first time in 2008. It’s the fourth novel in the “Starship” series and follows “Starship: Mercenary”.

Captain Wilson Cole, a former Republic officer, is earning a reputation as a mercenary. In command of a fleet increasingly large led by the former Republic starship Theodore Roosevelt, he’s doing bigger and bigger military operations. His enemies know that he’ll leave them a way out and that he’ll keep his word, which helps to limit the actual battles.

The bounty on Wilson Cole’s head keeps on increasing but generally the Republic Navy is too busy in its war against the Teroni Federation to hunt him in the Frontier territories. However, a dramatic event radically changes the situation and convinces Cole that the time has come to use the force against the starships operating in the Frontier.